BOSTON – After an unprecedented year, the UMass Lowell River Hawks finished tied for third in the Stuart P. Haskell, Jr. America East Commissioner's Cup standings, as announced by the conference office on Wednesday.
 
The third-place finish (245 points) matches the school's highest mark during its eight years of membership in the America East conference. In 2019, the River Hawks also finished in third place with 276 total points.
 

	Institution	Points
1	Stony Brook	296
2	UAlbany	294
T3	UMass Lowell	245
T3	UMBC	245
5	Vermont	223
6	New Hampshire	212
7	Binghamton	186
8	Maine	167
9	Hartford	135
10	NJIT	101

With outstanding postseason runs, the men's and women's basketball programs led the way for the River Hawks, bringing in a combined 75 points. This season, the men made it to the conference title game, where they fell in a tight game against Hartford. On the women's side, UMass Lowell went deep in the conference tournament, reaching the semifinal round to compete against eventual champion Stony Brook.
 
Sweeping the conference titles, the men's and women's cross country programs earned 20 points each for the River Hawks, earning their third and first-ever conference championships, respectively. Additionally, later in the spring, the men would go on to finish second overall in the standings at the 2021 America East Outdoor Track Championships to bring in 18 points, while the women's third-place finish earned an additional 16.
 
In a first since joining Division I in 2013, the River Hawks women's soccer program picked up 23 points in the Commissioner's Cup standings after its first-ever AE regular-season title with a perfect 4-0-0 conference record.
 
Field hockey brought in 27 points for UMass Lowell after a record-setting season. Defeating Stanford for the first time in program history, the River Hawks advanced to the America East Championship for the first time since 2017 on the heels of a Division I record five league victories.
 
The Commissioner's Cup annually recognizes the strongest athletic program in America East as determined by a scoring system which rewards a school for success both during the regular season and championship competition in the conference's 18 sports.  

The scoring system for the Stuart P. Haskell, Jr. Commissioner's Cup is as follows: In sports where regular-season round robin competition is conducted, the first-place institution in the final standings receives four points times the total number of teams involved in conference play. The second-place institution receives four less points; third place receives eight less points, and so on. Additionally, the America East (tournament) champion receives two points times the total number of teams participating in the championship. The second-place institution receives two less points; third place receives four less points and so on down to the last-place institution which receives two points.

In sports where regular-season round robin competition is not conducted (cross country, tennis, track & field, swimming & diving), the first-place institution at the America East championship receives two points times the total number of teams participating in the championship. The second-place institution receives two less points; third place gets four less points and so on down to the last place team which receives two points.