SDSU Wins 5th Straight Commissioner’s Cup, Sweeps All-Sports Awards

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – South Dakota State earned its fifth straight Summit League Commissioner’s Cup and set a new league record with its 10th overall, the conference office announced Monday. The Jackrabbits claimed the top spot by earning 94 total points between their men’s and women’s programs and also swept the Dr. Helen Smiley Women’s All-Sports Award and Dr. William Steinbrecher Men’s All-Sports Award.

The Commissioner’s Cup is given annually to the member institution that collects the most combined points in relationship to its placement in the regular season standings for men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s tennis, softball and baseball and its championship placement in men’s and women’s cross country, swimming and diving, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field and golf. The All-Sports Awards are given to the institutions that accumulate the most points in men’s sports and women’s sports.

Under the direction of athletics director Justin Sell, SDSU won regular season titles in women’s basketball and volleyball and a championship title in women’s cross country. The Jackrabbit men became the first program since 2006-07 to capture cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field championships in the same season. The Jackrabbits’ men’s cross country victory this fall extended their run to nine consecutive titles, which is a league record.

Other significant point contributions came from the Jackrabbits’ women’s golf team, which finished runner-up at the Summit League Championship, along with women’s soccer, softball, men’s basketball and men’s swimming & diving, all of which finished third in their respective final standings.

The Jacks also won the Summit League Commissioner’s Cup in 2010-11, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24. SDSU was also the last Summit League member to sweep all three awards in the same season when the department accomplished that feat in 2014-15.

North Dakota State finished second in all three awards this season, while South Dakota took third. The Bison secured 87 overall points, while the Coyotes produced 78 across all sports.

SDSU claimed the Steinbrecher Award for the 10th time in the last 13 years, finishing with 38 points, while the Bison were second with 35 points and the Coyotes were third with 31 points.

The Jackrabbits topped the Dr. Helen Smiley Women’s All-Sports Award standings for the first time since 2020-21 and sixth time overall, finishing with 56 points, which was just four points ahead of the Bison. The Coyotes were third in the women’s all-sport standings with 47 points.

Summit League Commissioner Josh Fenton presented the trophies to South Dakota State at the League’s annual Joint Council meetings held in Omaha this year prior to the 2025 Summit League Baseball Championship.

The men’s award is named for former Valparaiso Director of Athletics Dr. William Steinbrecher, who guided the Crusaders from 1979-2004, while the women’s award is named for former Western Illinois Director of Athletics Dr. Helen Smiley, who headed WIU’s athletic program from 1994-2001.

Standings for the 2024-25 Commissioner’s Cup and the Dr. William Steinbrecher Men’s All-Sports and Dr. Helen Smiley Women’s All-Sports Awards are listed below. The breakdown of each institution’s points and finishes within each sport can be found on the Commissioner’s Cup webpage.