Cal finishes ninth in Dixon Trophy standings

For the Mon Valley Independent

California (Pa.) placed ninth in the final 2023-24 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Dixon Trophy standings, announced by the league office Wednesday.

The Dixon Trophy standings are based on an average score for every PSAC Championship sport that an institution sponsors. Each conference sport champion is awarded 18 points and a descending point value is given for respective place finishes. The second-through last-place values vary depending on the number of teams that sponsor the sport.

Cal averaged 9.85 overall points throughout the academic year, including 10.0 points during the spring season. Softball led the spring sports with 14 points, while three other sports accounted for at least 10 points.

Softball won an elimination game in the PSAC Tournament for a consecutive season after finishing third in the divisional standings. Women’s outdoor track & field accounted for 11 points after placing seventh at the league championships and women’s golf tallied 10 points after finishing sixth at the conference meet. Tennis earned 7.5 points after placing fifth in the PSAC West standings.

On the men’s side, outdoor track & field earned nine points after finishing seventh at the league championships. Baseball totaled 8.5 points following a fifth-place finish in the divisional standings.

Slippery Rock captured the Dixon Trophy for the second time in school history with the previous time being in the 2007-08 academic year. The Rock jumped from third place following the winter season to win the Dixon Trophy with an average of 12.76 points behind conference titles in women’s cross country and women’s indoor track & field, plus runner-up finishes in men’s cross country, football, women’s tennis and women’s outdoor track & field.

Two-time, defending Dixon Trophy Champion Gannon placed second with 12.53 points after leading the standings following both the fall and winter seasons. East Stroudsburg finished third with 11.73 points and West Chester ranked fourth at 11.20 points, while Kutztown rounded out the top five at 11.03 points.

Nine different institutions have won the Dixon Trophy, led by Shippensburg with eight titles. The other schools are West Chester (five), Bloomsburg (three), Lock Haven (three), Cal (two), Gannon (two), Slippery Rock (two), Kutztown (one) and Millersville (one).

Jeff Helsel / MVI Sports