Another McCafferty Trophy?

[pantherdon]

Well according to my calculations, we just wrapped up another McCafferty Trophy.
Third in a row, and 4 out of 6.

We're probably good to upgrade conferences now.

[teddyp00]

Not bad since it was a rebuilding year for the mens soccer team. Lets hope our basketball rebuilding year goes as well and at the end of the year we can say it was just a reload.

[Panther Backer]

Another McCafferty Trophy would look pretty sweet in the new trophy cases in the Klotsche Center.

[JimmyLemke]

My friend and I are thinking about donating that title belt we made to the Athletic Department. Get all the players to sign it, it would look awesome in a case.

[pantherdon]

It's Official.

UWM Claims Third-Straight McCafferty Trophy

Banner year sees Panthers also claim men's and women's all-sports honors

May 31, 2006

CHICAGO - Another stellar year for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Athletic Department now officially includes the McCafferty Trophy. The award was officially presented to UWM officials Wednesday night at the Horizon League's Executive Council meeting in Chicago.

This is the third-straight year UWM has won the trophy, given to the Horizon League's overall all-sports champion. Plus, thanks to balanced performances on the men's and women's side, UWM also won both the Men's All-Sports Award and the Women's All-Sports Award from the League.

The Panthers claimed the crowns, in part, by collecting 11 Horizon League regular season and postseason championships this past season, including regular season and tournament titles in men's basketball, women's basketball and women's soccer. The men's track and field team won both the indoor and outdoor championships while the women's track and field team won the indoor title. Plus, the women's volleyball team won the regular season title and the men's soccer team won the league tournament championship.

"It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to get to the top, but I think it takes even more of that hard work and dedication to stay on top," UWM Athletics Director Bud Haidet said. "It is a tremendous credit to our coaches, student-athletes and staff that we have been able to maintain a high level of success over an extended period of time. We face very high expectations in all of our sports on an annual basis, and we continue to both meet and exceed those expectations. We are fortunate to have assembled a tremendous staff and to have an institution that can attract high-quality student-athletes. Plus, we are able to continue our success thanks to the tremendous support we enjoy from our administration, the campus and the community. The success of our athletic program is something everyone associated with UWM can be proud of. We look forward to continuing our growth and success in the coming years."

This is the fourth time in the last six years UWM has won the McCafferty Trophy. The school first broke through by winning the award following the 2000-2001 school year, and has since claimed the award in 2003-2004 and 2004-2005. UWM and Butler are the only two current League institutions to win the award more than once, and current three-award streak equals Butler's feat of three-straight from 1997-1999. This year, UWM compiled 53 points, including 25 on the men's side and 28 on the women's side. This is the first time UWM has won both the men's and women's all-sports trophies in the same year. The school has won two previous men's all-sports awards and four previous women's all-sports honors.

Though it does not count in the McCafferty Trophy standings, UWM also experienced unprecedented postseason success during 2005-06. The men's soccer, women's soccer and men's basketball teams all advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the first time in school history three teams advanced in the tournament.

The McCafferty Trophy is awarded annually by the Horizon League to the member institution compiling the greatest number of performance points in league championships. The trophy is presented in honor of James J. McCafferty, the former Xavier University men's basketball coach and director of athletics who served as the league's first commissioner in 1979-80. Schools earn performance points based on their finish in all 19 championship sports offered by the Horizon League. For the sports of men's and women's soccer, women's volleyball, men's and women's basketball, softball and baseball, points are awarded based on the combined regular season and championship finish. In the sports of men's and women's cross country, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's golf, and men's and women's tennis, points are awarded based on the finish in the league championship. Each school then counts five men's and five women's sports toward its championship total.