ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Wednesday, June 7th, the annual Robert J. Hiegert Commissioner's Cup standings were announced at the conference's spring Executive Council meetings in San Francisco. Cal State San Marcos ran away with the Commissioner's Cup recording 90.12 points for their first cup title in school history. Sonoma State put together another solid athletic year with 10 of the 11 programs qualifying for conference postseason action. The Seawolves finished 5th in this year's Commissioner's Cup standings for the second straight year and recorded 69.3 points.
The award, named in honor of former long-time Commissioner and CCAA Hall of Famer Robert J. Hiegert, is given to the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) member institution with the highest aggregate ranking in eight of the CCAA's 13 championship sports.
LEAGUE TITLES AND NOTABLE POSTSEASON FINISHES
The 2022-23 athletic year got started with a bang as the Seawolves women's soccer team went 7-2-2 in conference play to capture their third straight league title dating back to the 2019 season. Sonoma State would also play host for the CCAA Tournament and secure a thrilling overtime win over Chico State to advance to the championship match. Head coach Emiria Salzmann went on to record the program's 18th NCAA tournament appearance as the Seawolves went on to earn the 6th seed in the west region.
A historic spring season for Sonoma State athletics would include a CCAA league title, an NCAA Regional title, and a CCAA Track & Field Championship individual medalist. The Seawolves softball team would go 23-8 in conference play to record the first ever league title in program history. As a result, SSU would earn the 3rd seed in the NCAA West Regional for their 14th tournament appearance. Additional program firsts also included the conference coach of the year, freshman of the year and player of the year (Jennifer Bridges, Charlie Johnson, and Anna Zoia-Buescher).
Despite a 5th place finish at the CCAA Championships, the Sonoma State men's golf team would take advantage of being the west/south central regional host and pull off an epic comeback to win the NCAA Regional. Head coach Val Verhunce and his squad would climb five spots on the final day to force a playoff with Western Washington. After tying the first two playoff holes, the Seawolves would be declared regional champs due to a card off and secure their third regional title in program history. SSU senior Griffin Pace would also take home the individual title after finishing the regional 12-under-par good for a program record with the lowest individual performance at an NCAA regional.
The Seawolves track & field team had a historic season of their own as freshman Gianna Bomarito led SSU to their best team finish at the CCAA Championships in program history. Bomarito broke two records during the spring season and then went on to win the 10000 meters at the conference championships. Fellow freshman Ariyah Ford also recorded a podium finish as she placed second in the discus event. Sonoma State would finish 8th out of the 11 competing teams for their best finish in program history.
COMPLETE POSTSEASON APPEARANCES
Additional postseason appearances included men's soccer, women's volleyball, women's basketball and men's basketball. Head men's soccer coach Marcus Ziemer recorded the program's 15th conference tournament appearance and second straight dating back to 2021. They would pull off one of the greatest upsets in recent memory as goalkeeper Reinier ter Riet would make 12 saves to force penalties. There, he would make a diving save to his right to give the Seawolves a 7-6 penalties win upsetting Cal Poly Pomona.
The Seawolves volleyball program made an improbable run in the conference tournament as they upset the top seed in Cal State LA and advanced to the championship match against Cal Poly Pomona. Despite a tough 5-set defeat in the championship match, they would earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.
First year head coach Des Abeyta would lead the Seawolves women's basketball program to their 6th straight CCAA Tournament after finishing 6th in the conference standings. Abeyta and her squad went 13-9 in conference play and recorded the most conference wins since 2008. On the men's side, sophomore Jaylen Wells would make history and become just the second CCAA Player of the Year in program history after leading the conference in scoring. Wells averaged over 22 points per game and helped the Seawolves to their first conference tournament appearance since 2017.
The full 2022-23 Robert J. Hiegert Commissioner's Cup standings can be found below:
| 2022-23 CCAA Commissioner's Cup Standings |
| 1 |
Cal State San Marcos |
90.12 |
| 2 |
Cal Poly Pomona |
84.61 |
| 3 |
Chico State |
82.51 |
| 4 |
Cal State San Bernardino |
79.25 |
| 5 |
Sonoma State |
69.3 |
| 6 |
Cal State LA |
66.91 |
| 7 |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
62.25 |
| 8 |
Stanislaus State |
62.17 |
| 9 |
Cal State East Bay |
61.8 |
| T10 |
Cal State Dominguez Hills |
50.69 |
| T10 |
Cal Poly Humboldt |
50.69 |
| 12 |
San Francisco State |
50.54 |
Past winners and full standings of the Robert J. Hiegert Commissioner's Cup can be found
HERE.
LOOKING AHEAD
Be sure to follow your Seawolves on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to get all the latest SSU athletics updates and information. Sonoma State athletics also has launched a new fan app in partnership with From Now On. Download the free app today in both the Apple and Google Play stores by searching Sonoma State Seawolves in the app store. @SonomaSeawolves | #NomaNation
