GORHAM, Maine   –  After a tremendous 2022-2023 season that saw Husky student-athletes succeed in the classroom, in competition and in the community, University of Southern Maine Huskies' Athletics finished as runners up in both the Little East Conference Sportsmanship Cup and the LEC's Commissioner's Cup.  
 
The LEC Sportsmanship Cup is the newest institutional honor sponsored by the Little East Conference. Huskies' Athletics was the inaugural winner of the award in 2021-2022.  The Huskies' second place finish in the Commissioner's Cup -  the LEC's top honor for overall institutional athletic performance among the conference's nine primary institutions in its championship sports – marks the second consecutive academic year that the Huskies have placed second.
 
"Integral to our department is success against our competition and winning championships; however, all involved in Huskies' Athletics, and at the University, value winning and competing the right way," said Director of Athletics Al Bean.  "As administrators, we all understand the importance of sportsmanship and ethical conduct and the role it plays in intercollegiate competition.  I'm very proud that we have finished second in the voting for both awards, indicating a very strong performance in both areas."
 
"While finishing first will always be our goal, our 2022-23 standings reflect a balance and strong performance in competition and conducting our events with professionalism and dignity. These are significant awards as the Commissioner's Cup measures the performance of your teams in competition while the Sportsmanship Cup takes into account many areas including conduct of players and coaches as well as spectators," continued Bean. "It measures the entire game or event experience for visiting teams from being greeted upon arrival, game and event management, quality and professionalism of our athletic communications effort, including our broadcast team. My thanks and congratulations to everyone involved for their continued outstanding work and performances, well done."
 
The Huskies finished LEC Sportsmanship Cup standings with a scoring average of 6.66 across their 19 LEC sports.  Eleven of USM's teams ranked in the top three in voting, and the Huskies were the top-ranked program in baseball, field hockey, men's soccer and women's basketball.  Additionally, 15 of the Huskies' 19 programs were in the top four.  Castleton University claimed the Sportsmanship Cup trophy with a scoring average of 6.92 across their 19 LEC sports, while Plymouth State University placed third (6.13).   
 
To determine the ranking, primary member head coaches across all 21 LEC sports ranked their peers in the areas of conduct of student-athletes, coaches and spectators, and interactions with event management and
operations. The team with the top ranking was awarded nine points, second was awarded eight points, and so on. Point averages were then determined based on the number of LEC sports sponsored by each institution, as is done with the LEC Commissioner's Cup.
 
Committed to excellence on and off of the field of competition, USM Athletics places emphasis on its Five Pillars of Huskies' Athletics: Academic Excellence, Athletic Achievement, Personal Growth, Professional Development and Service to Community.  Continuing to achieve its goal of excellence in competition, USM finished second in the LEC Commissioners' Cup standings with a scoring average of 6.26 points.  The Huskies were the top scoring program in women's indoor and outdoor track & field, field hockey and women's soccer, and were third in baseball, softball, men's basketball, men's golf, men's indoor and outdoor track & field, and women's lacrosse.  Fourteen of the Huskies' 19 LEC sponsored sports finished in the top five of their respective seasons. 
 
For sports in which the LEC conducts in-season play (baseball, basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball), points are determined by the ranked order of finish in the final regular season
standings. For sports that do not conduct in-season play (cross country, swimming & diving, track & field), points are awarded based on the order of finish at the LEC championship meet.
 
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