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Westfield State Wins Fourth Straight Smith Cup

Westfield State Wins Fourth Straight Smith Cup

WESTFIELD, Mass. -- Westfield State clinched its fourth straight Howard C. Smith Cup as the best overall athletics program in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference, the league formally announced on Wednesday.

It is the first time the Owls have won the cup in four straight seasons, and Westfield becomes just the second MASCAC team to have done so.

Westfield State ended the year with 114 points (71.25 percent) out of a possible 160 points. The Owls took home the top spot in women's basketball, women's lacrosse and women's outdoor track and field and a tie for first in baseball and women's soccer. They finished second in women's cross country and men's outdoor track and field and tied for second in volleyball.

"As a department, the Smith Cup is something that we shoot for each year, and really represents the full breadth and depth of our athletic offerings," said Dick Lenfest, the Westfield State University Director of Athletics.

"Our spring teams did a great job, as baseball, women's track and women's lacrosse won conference titles, men's track was second, and the softball team ended the year very strong to move into third place in the conference standings, and the net effect was that Westfield was able to move past Worcester State, who had been leading the standings after the winter seasons," said Lenfest.

Worcester State finished second with 110.67 points (69.17 percent) out of a possible 160 points. Framingham State was third with 85.67 points (57.88 percent) out of 148 possible points.

"We were able to announce to our student-athletes that we had retained the cup at our end of year Student-Athlete Awards Banquet," said Lenfest. "It validates the hard work that our teams put in with both practice and class work, as well as the long hours our coaches, staff and administrators put in in order to give our students the best odds for success in their sports."

Westfield has won the Smith Cup eight times in the last 12 years, dating back to the 2006-7 seasons.

The Smith Cup is awarded to the MASCAC institution which compiles the most points based on the placement of each of its programs competing in the 15 league championships.

The Smith Cup is named in honor of former Massachusetts State College Trustee Howard C. Smith, who in 1970, urged the athletic directors of the eight State institutions to hold a series of meetings to discuss the possibility of forming an intercollegiate conference. In June of 1971, Smith's dream became a reality as an agreement was reached and the MASCAC was created.

Salem State is the only other MASCAC school to have won four straight Smith Cups. The Vikings won seven in a row from 1987-88 to 1993-94.

Westfield will begin the "Drive for Five" straight Smith Cups when the Owls football team kicks off the 2018-19 season with a home game against Nichols College on August 31.