WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Previously ranked 10th, the University of New Haven women’s cross country/track team has jumped nine spots to claim first place with 410 points in the 2010-11 Charger Cup standings as of April 14, 2011. The women’s basketball team drops one spot after two consecutive weeks in the lead and is now in second with 301 points while women’s soccer ranks third with 292 points.

The Charger Cup is a competition that is played by all the UNH athletic teams as part of the greater NCAA Champs/Life Skills program, in order to provide a means by which student-athletes can compete for points in various life skills categories. These categories focus on servicing the community, developing leadership, teamwork, supporting fellow student-athletes, and recognizing both academic and athletic achievement.

The competition offers an outwardly visible account of our Charger’s living by the six NCAA Division II attributes which are: Balance, Service, Passion, Resourcefulness, Learning, and Sportsmanship. It also holds student-athletes, coaches, and teams as a whole accountable for their point total in various categories, and for the competitive side our student-athletes to be used towards something other than just athletic participation.

At the UNH Department of Athletics annual Awards Banquet at the end of the academic year, the winning team will be placed on the Charger Cup, which is kept in the UNH Department of Athletics trophy case in Charger Gymnasium.