SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Biola Athletics earned its highest finish ever in the PacWest Commissioner's Cup with its performance in 2021-22, finishing second overall to Azusa Pacific.

It's a two-spot improvement from the Eagles' fourth-place finish the last time this honor was handed out (2018-19). Biola leapfrogged its two other Southern California rivals, Point Loma and Concordia University Irvine, who finished third and fourth last time out.

A Southern California program has won the PacWest Commissioner's Cup each of the last six times it's been awarded, dating back to 2013-14. Biola's improved it's placing in the award standings each year it's been eligible, finishing eighth in 2017-18, fourth in 2018-19 and now second this year.

The PacWest Commissioner's Cup was established in 2007-08 to honor the athletic program with the best overall performance in that academic year. The competition is based upon average finish in PacWest sports. Each school's points are totaled and then divided by the number of PacWest athletic programs it offers, giving an overall average finish for the school.

The PacWest Commissioner's Cup scoring system awards points to schools based on their finishes in conference-sponsored sports. Point totals vary from sport to sport and are based upon the number of schools competing. Regular-season standings are used for baseball, basketball, soccer, softball and volleyball, while the results of the conference championships in the sports of cross country, golf and tennis. When teams are tied in the standings, the points awarded to those positions are added together then distributed evenly among the schools.

This season, Biola finished the year with an average score of 10.29, keeping a narrow advantage over third-place Point Loma. Women's Golf was the Eagles' highest-scoring team, bringing in 15 points with its first-place conference finish. Head Coach Jane Carr's team secured its first PacWest Conference Championship and Biola's third-ever.

Biola also saw double-digit scoring efforts from men's soccer, volleyball, cross country, men's basketball, softball and baseball. The Eagles' sponsor more PacWest Conference sports than any other conference member school (14).

Azusa Pacific won this year's cup on the merits of their six regular season PacWest Conference Championships (men's soccer, m/w track & field, m/w tennis, w basketball). They finished with an average score of 13.38, which is the best mark in the history of the PacWest Commissioner's Cup.

The Eagles reached new heights of success in the conference in 2021-22, but the plan for 2022-23 is to close that gap and look to overtake the rivals from the east.