Syracuse, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz landed in second place on the league's leaderboard through the fall semester of competition in the SUNYAC Commissioner's Cup race, released Wednesday by the conference office. The final results won't conclude until the end of the spring 2026 semester.
The Hawks took second in the final SUNYAC Commissioner's Cup standings at the conclusion of the 2024-25 academic year, its highest finish ever, and is on pace to match that result in their final year in the SUNYAC before transitioning to the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) ahead of the 2026-27 season.
The Patrick R. Damore Commissioner's Cup is determined by the 22 different conference sports in the fall, winter and spring. A 10-point system is used in each sport with the first-place team getting 10 points, second earning nine points and so on. A team's regular season finish is added to their postseason finish and divided by two for their final total for that sport. The total number of points that a school accumulates is then divided by the number of conference sports they have.
Through the fall, SUNY New Paltz accumulated 7.25 total points, only behind SUNY Cortland with 9.39. Buffalo State trailed in third place with 6.40 points, followed by Oneonta (6.18), Oswego (5.93), Fredonia (5.92), Plattsburgh (5.75), Morrisville (4.00), Potsdam (1.30) and Canton (1.10).
All six fall programs competed in postseason competition, which was highlighted by women's tennis dominating through another undefeated conference season en route to their fourth-straight title and 11th overall. They swept postseason awards as well with Justine Stanejko, Sam Orstrander and coach Rob Bruley all named to major accolades to conclude the program's last season within the SUNYAC. Seven other Hawks were also recognized including sophomore Sydney Sladicka, junior Olivia Kunz, freshman Patrycja Filonik, freshman Lula Brown-Vann, freshman Alex Krol, senior Nina Genzone and sophomore Angelica Gabriel.
The cross country team also had a solid fall season, as the men's side had their best finish since 2018 at the conference meet, landing third overall with Oliver Melara-Perez having the best individual finish at SUNYAC's on the men's side for the Hawks, crossing in second place with a time of 26:14.8 to earn first team honors and an induction into the SUNYAC Hall of Fame. Evan Miller and Corbin Smith also had top 15 finishes, notching the first time the program had three in the top 15 at SUNYAC's. The women took a sixth-place team finish, led by Orquidea Briceno who placed 11th overall after setting a personal best time of 22 minutes, 53.2 seconds. SUNY New Paltz went on to make history at the NCAA Division III Regional meet as well, as the men tallied its highest placing in program history, recording 13th of 26 teams, while the women earned 17 of 25 teams.
Women's Volleyball made its 21st playoff appearance and its fifth consecutive into the semifinal round after clinching the No. 3 seed in the SUNYAC Tournament. The Hawks hosted No. 6 SUNY Morrisville in the quarters held in the Hawk Center and came away with a 3-0 sweep to set up a matchup against No. 2 seeded Oswego. Courtney Meyer was named to the SUNYAC All-Tournament team, while junior setter Kim Braun and freshman outside Reagan Dyba earned their first All-SUNYAC honors following their performances throughout the season with the team finishing the year at 16-14 overall and 6-3 in regular season SUNYAC competition.
Both the men's and women's soccer teams ended the fall with winning records, as the men finished 10-4-4 overall and earned regional recognition before ending the year at 5-2-2 in the SUNYAC to claim a No. 4 seed in the conference standings for their fifth consecutive postseason appearance. Alex Wyant, Colin Brant and Samuel Snider were all recognized for their standout individual seasons, named to the All-SUNYAC squad.
SUNY New Paltz women's soccer, meanwhile, finished a tough schedule at 7-4-6 overall and 3-1-5 in the SUNYAC to clinch its fifth-straight postseason berth. The Hawks secured the No. 5 seed after ending the year with two wins and three ties against league competition. Five players earned All-SUNYAC honors which included first team selections in senior forward Brooke Kelleher and midfielder Mia Baldinger, second team for senior midfielder Laney Schmitz and defender Sam Wohlmut and third team honors for senior forward Addison Weiner.
SUNY New Paltz field hockey also battled through a challenging non-conference schedule where it competed against four nationally ranked programs, which included No. 1 nationally ranked Christopher Newport and No. 4 nationally ranked Salisbury, with the latter featured in the league for the first time ahead of the fall. The Hawks went 10-9 overall and 4-1 in the SUNYAC with their only loss coming on the road against the Gulls. They defeated rival and defending SUNYAC Champions Cortland in the regular season, 2-1 thanks to goals from Rachel Tama and a game-winner from freshman Mattie Betts who tallied her first collegiate goal with the score. The victory over the Red Dragons helped SUNY New Paltz claim the No. 2 seed in the tournament for the third-straight year, and because it was the highest ranked Northeast school in the SUNYAC secured hosting duties for the final four of the conference postseason tournament. Four Hawks earned postseason accolades, including first team honors for seniors Meghan Gunning, Rachel Tama and Madeline Meyer with sophomore Sophia Bronzi landing on second team.
To read the official SUNYAC press release, click here.
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