HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Samford Athletics won the Germann Cup, which goes to the top women's athletics program in the Southern Conference when the all-sports awards were released by the league at its spring meetings Wednesday.
 
Samford also finished third in the Commissioner's Cup standings for the top men's athletic program in the league.
 
"Despite challenging circumstances, our teams had another outstanding year," Samford Director of Athletics Martin Newton said. "Winning nine championships shows how dedicated our student-athletes and coaches are to competing to the best of their abilities. While there is still room for improvement, I am so proud of the way our teams performed in competition, but also how they represented Samford University in the best way possible."
 
The awards were decided by a point system where each spot in the standings is worth an equal share of the 10 possible points available per sport, depending on how many teams compete in that sport. Two bonus points were awarded for winning a tournament championship in sports with regular-season champions. Only the top seven sports for each school count in the year-end total. The schools' scores were then divided by 70 (the maximum point total) to find their percentages.
 
Samford won a total of nine SoCon championships this year, the most in one academic year in school history. On the women's side, Samford earned the women's basketball regular season, indoor track and field, volleyball regular season, volleyball tournament, soccer regular season and outdoor track and field titles. Men's championships were won in indoor track and field, outdoor track and field and the baseball tournament.
 
In the Germann Cup standings, Samford finished with a percentage of .953, ahead of second-place Furman at .922. Furman was followed by Mercer (.757), ETSU (.700), Wofford (.682), Chattanooga (.615), Western Carolina (.591), UNCG (.546), The Citadel (.258) and VMI (.217).
 
On the men's side, Furman won the award with a percentage of .829. ETSU came in second at .809, followed by Samford at .738. VMI finished fourth at .672, followed by Wofford (.580), UNCG (.573), Mercer (.544), Western Carolina (.523), Chattanooga (.502) and The Citadel (.378).
 
This marks the third time Samford has won the Germann Cup, having earned the award in the 2009-10 and 2014-15 academic years.
 
The Commissioner's Cup was inaugurated in 1970 and the Germann Cup was first awarded in 1987. The latter is named for former SoCon Commissioner Ken Germann, who served as commissioner of the Southern Conference from 1974-86 and spearheaded the effort to introduce women's athletics to the league.
 
Germann Cup
(Women's athletics – final standings)

1. Samford	.953
2. Furman	.922
3. Mercer	.757
4. ETSU	.700
5. Wofford	.682
6. Chattanooga	.615
7. Western Carolina	.591
8. UNCG	.546
9. The Citadel	.258
10. VMI	.217

Commissioner's Cup
(Men's athletics – final standings)

1. Furman	.829
2. ETSU	.809
3. Samford	.738
4. VMI	.672
5. Wofford	.580
6. UNCG	.573
7. Mercer	.544
8. Western Carolina	.523
9. Chattanooga	.502
10. The Citadel	.378