Griz second, third in All-Sports standings
5/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | General
The University of Montana women finished second and the UM men took third in the annual competition for the Big Sky Conference All-Sports trophies the league office announced Thursday. The Sacramento State women captured their third straight All Sports Trophy, while the Weber State men won their second straight trophy and Big Sky-record 16th overall.
By a slim margin of 10.04 to 10.00, Montana topped Northern Arizona for the Big Sky lead in 2009-10 overall athletic points. Overall athletic points, which are a combination of each school???s women???s and men???s Big Sky finishes, are a key component in determining the annual Sterling Savings Bank Presidents Cup, which will be awarded in July.
Montana led the Presidents Cup standings following the winter semester.
The Griz women were consistently successful across the fall, winter and spring seasons, with five of UM???s eight women???s programs finishing in the top three in the Big Sky.
Basketball tied for second. Cross country, indoor track and field, tennis and outdoor track and field all finished third.
The Hornets, who averaged 11.00 points per sport using the Big Sky???s standings scoring system, got off to a slow start in the fall but rallied with nothing worse than a second-place tie through the winter and spring. Sac State won the indoor and outdoor track and field and tennis titles, finished runner-up in golf and tied for second in women???s basketball.
Eastern Washington (9.43) had a strong showing in women???s basketball (first), soccer (second) and volleyball (tie for second), but Montana (9.50) outscored the Eagles in all three spring sports to jump past EWU and into second.
Northern Arizona (9.06) finished fourth, Portland State (8.69) fifth, Idaho State (6.81) sixth, Northern Colorado (5.38) seventh, Montana State (5.07) eighth and Weber State (4.81) ninth.
The Weber State (13.25) men won basketball and outdoor track and field titles and finished in the top four in the Big Sky across all six men???s sports to handily win their trophy.
The Northern Arizona (11.25) men were strong in their usual sports ??? finishing first in cross country and indoor track and field and second in outdoor track and field ??? to outpoint Montana (10.75) for second.
The Grizzlies won the football title, tied for second in tennis, finished third in cross country and tied for third in basketball.
Montana State (9.50) finished fourth, Sacramento State (7.92) fifth, Eastern Washington (7.83) sixth, Northern Colorado (5.50) seventh, Portland State (3.83) eighth and Idaho State (3.83) ninth.
In overall athletic points, Montana and Northern Arizona were followed by Sacramento State (9.67), Eastern Washington (8.75), Weber State (8.17), Montana State (7.11), Portland State (6.61), Idaho State (5.54) and Northern Colorado (5.43).
The Big Sky???s standings scoring system uses regular-season finishes for the sports of soccer, volleyball, football, men???s and women???s basketball and men???s and women???s tennis and postseason tournament/championships finishes for men???s and women???s cross country, men???s and women???s indoor and outdoor track and field and golf.
