Courtesy ECAC/Williams Sports Information

CAPE COD, Mass. - Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Commissioner Rudy Keeling announced today that Duke University and Williams College have been selected as the co-recipients of the 2009 Jostens Institution of the Year award. The award is given annually to the ECAC institution that best exemplifies the highest standards of collegiate academic and athletic performance.

Williams won the first ECAC Jostens Award presented in 1995 and has now won an ECAC-record five awards (1995, 1999, 2001, 2004 & 2009) in the 15-year history of the award.

The institutions will receive their awards on Tuesday, October 6, at the ECAC Honors Luncheon presented by Jostens. Presenting the award will be Jim Dougher, Jostens National Sports Manager and long-time supporter of the ECAC. The luncheon will be held at The Resort and Conference Center at Hyannis, Massachusetts during the 2009 ECAC Fall Convention and Trade Show.

“We are thrilled to win the Jostens ECAC Institution of the Year Award and honored to share it with a great institution and athletic department like Duke University,” said Eph Athletic Director Harry Sheehy. “This award recognizes the highest standard of academic and athletic success and I am thankful for the terrific coaches and student-athletes who have made this possible. The Jostens Award is one that the Williams College Athletic Department truly appreciates and cherishes.”

Williams won its 11th consecutive Directors’ Cup award in 2008-09 and 13th of the 14 awarded in NCAA Division III with a strong spring campaign that featured the women’s tennis team repeating as NCAA champions and women’s crew winning a record fourth consecutive NCAA title. Ten Eph teams finished in the top ten in the nation, eight in the top five, including women’s crew (1st), women’s tennis (1st), women’s cross country (3rd), men’s cross country (3rd), women’s soccer (3rd), women’s swimming and diving (4th), men’s tennis (5th), women’s volleyball (5th,), women’s lacrosse (9th), and wrestling (10th).

Williams won 10 NESCAC titles this past academic year, tops in NESCAC, and for the 24th straight year won the most Little Three titles in a year, in a competition with Amherst and Wesleyan that has 26 team titles up for grabs. The Ephs also captured four ECAC titles – men’s cross country, women’s cross country, women’s New England Rowing Championship, and the New England Rowing Championship overall team title. The four titles were tops in Division III and tied with Yale for most among all ECAC institutions this year.

Individually, freshman Logan Todhunter set NCAA Division III swimming records in winning the 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly events, and senior Lauren Philbrook won the 10,000 at the Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Sophomore Ryan Malo finished second at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championship at 197 pounds. Senior Macklin Chaffee placed second in the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the 1,500 for the second year in a row. In the classroom, 165 juniors and seniors earned Academic All-NESCAC Honors. Williams won the Scholar All-American Wrestling Team National Championship for the second year in a row with a 3.54 team GPA.