Something we should all keep in mind when we consider the McCafferty trophy. The league claims that it represents achievement in all 19 sports. That is not true. Rather, points are awarded according to this formula. For the men, you count only your best performances in five sports, but you must count two results in what are considered the priority sports of soccer, basketball, and baseball. For the women, you count your best performances in six sports, but you must count three results in the priority sports of volleyball, soccer, basketball, and softball.
The worse feature of the McCafferty system is the discrimination against our strongest sport. Although the league gives out hardware and keeps records separately for indoor and outdoor track and field, the two sports are lumped together when awarding McCafferty points. So by winning FOUR titles in track this year, we gained only 14 points (7 each for men and women) instead of 28. Do the math. How ridiculous is the discrimination against track? Consider this. This year our men and Oakland's women won cross country titles. They each earned 7 points for their efforts. That sport consisted of one event that ended in less than an hour. During the winter and the spring, our track men and women competed in multiple events over FIVE DAYS. We earned 7 McCafferty points for each sex, same as the cross country runners. Absurd.
Oakland beat us because they had several third and fourth place finishes, especially in those priority sports. So if you are happy in putting up a sign that reads "We're number 3," then enjoy this award. Personally, I will take our six conference championships, three more than Oakland and six more than Milwaukee, Wright State, and Detroit.
From football to the six Horizon League titles to the #25 national ranking for our new bowling team, this has been a wonderful year.
