MILWAUKEE, Wis. (May 27, 2009) - Another stellar year for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Athletic Department now officially includes the McCafferty Trophy. The award was officially presented to UWM officials Wednesday night at the Horizon League's Executive Council meeting in Chicago.

This marks the fifth time UWM has won the trophy, given to the Horizon League's overall all-sports champion. Plus, UWM claimed the Women's All-Sports Award for the eighth time.

The Panthers claimed the crowns, in part, by collecting seven regular season and postseason league titles. The women's volleyball team won both the regular season and tournament titles, while the women's soccer team also won both crowns. Plus, the men's track and field team won both the indoor and outdoor league titles while the women's team captured the indoor crown.

UWM also boosted its standing for the women's award by claiming second-place finishes in cross country and swimming and diving.

"UW-Milwaukee goes to great lengths to prepare our student-athletes for excellence in the classroom and their chosen sports," Milwaukee Athletics Director George Koonce said. "This award recognizes our student-athletes, coaches and staff for the hard work on and off the field."

UWM first broke through in winning the all-sports award following the 2000-2001 school year, and the claimed the award in three-straight years from 2004-2006. UWM and Butler are the only two current League institutions to win the award more than once.

This year, UWM compiled 49 points, including 17 on the men's side and 32 on the women's side. UIC took second in the standings with 46 points.

The McCafferty Trophy is awarded annually by the Horizon League to the member institution compiling the greatest number of performance points in league championships. The trophy is presented in honor of James J. McCafferty, the former Xavier University men's basketball coach and director of athletics who served as the league's first commissioner in 1979-80.

Schools earn performance points based on their finish in all 19 championship sports offered by the Horizon League. For the sports of men's and women's soccer, women's volleyball, men's and women's basketball, softball and baseball, points are awarded based on the combined regular season and championship finish. In the sports of men's and women's cross country, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's golf, and men's and women's tennis, points are awarded based on the finish in the league championship. Each school then counts five men's and five women's sports toward its championship total.