KANSAS CITY, Mo. – This past week at the annual Heart Business Meetings held on the Graceland University campus in Lamoni, Iowa, Heart of America Athletic Conference Commissioner Nik Rule announced the final standings for the 2024-25 Heart Commissioners Cup.
Benedictine Athletics finished in third place with a score of .715, just .001 points behind Park University in second place at .716 and .006 points behind 2024-25 Commissioners Cup winner MNU with a score of .721.
“This year’s finals standings show how competitive the Heart of America Athletic Conference remains,” said Benedictine Athletic Director Charlie Gartenmayer. “We are committed to remaining competitive within the conference every year and are excited to get back to work on winning the 2025-26 Commissioners Cup in August.”
MNU earned back-to-back Commissioner Cup wins, which is the highest finish in the standings for Park. Benedictine finished in second place last year and this year, won Heart titles in Football, Men’s Indoor Track, Women’s Outdoor Track, and Women’s Lacrosse. They also won Heart Tournament Championships in Volleyball, Women’s Basketball, and Women’s Lacrosse.
About the Heart Commissioners Cup:
The award, which will be presented by Commissioner Nik Rule to MidAmerica Nazarene this fall on campus, serves as a symbol of athletic excellence in conference-sponsored championships.
The 13 Heart schools earn points throughout the season contributing to the Commissioner’s Cup for their finish in the Heart sponsored sports of: men’s cross country, women’s cross country, women’s volleyball, football, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, women’s basketball, men’s basketball, men’s indoor track & field, women’s indoor track & field, men’s volleyball, men’s wrestling, women’s wrestling, cheer, dance, men’s bowling, women’s bowling, baseball, softball, men’s golf, women’s golf, men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse, men’s outdoor track & field and women’s track & field.
Each conference regular season champion for the following sports earned a maximum amount of points based on the amount of teams participating in that sport. Then that number is divided by the amount of teams participating in that sport:
Women’s volleyball, football, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, women’s basketball, men’s basketball, men’s volleyball, baseball, women’s lacrosse, men’s lacrosse, and softball.
For example: Women’s Soccer Regular Season, Missouri Valley earned 13 points out of 13 teams competing, and they earned a 1.00 percentage.
13/13 = 1.00 – Percentage (First Place)
12/13 = .92 – Percentage (Second Place)
The same formula was put in place for the following sports and their finishes by Heart teams in the respective Heart Conference Championships:
Men’s cross country, women’s cross country, men’s indoor track & field, women’s indoor track & field, men’s wrestling, women’s wrestling, cheer, dance, men’s bowling, women’s bowling, men’s golf, women’s golf, men’s outdoor track & field and women’s outdoor track & field.
For example: Cheer Heart Conference Champion, Grand View earned 10 points out of 10 teams competing, and they earned a 1.00 percentage.
10/10 = 1.00 – Percentage (First Place)
9/10 = .90 – Percentage (Second Place)
To compile the final list of the 2024-25 Heart Commissioner’s Cup Standings, each team’s percentage in each sport they compete in was added up and divided by the amount of total sports they compete in. Final results are an average cumulative Heart finish for each institution in every conference sport that they sponsor.
Behind MNU, Park and Benedictine in the final standings was CMU (.627), Mount Mercy (.624), Grand View (.602), Baker (.572), William Penn (.551), Missouri Valley (.473), Peru State (.417), Clarke (.416), Culver-Stockton (.405) and Graceland (.318).
Previous Commissioners Cup winners:
2024-25 MidAmerica Nazarene University
2023-24 – MidAmerica Nazarene University
2022-23 – Grand View University
2021-22 – Grand View University
2020-21 – Grand View University
2019-20 – Central Methodist University
2018-19 – Benedictine College
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