Golden Eagle women's track team wins OVC Sportsmanship Award
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennnessee Tech University has been voted winner of the Ohio Valley Conference Team Sportsmanship Award for 2009 in Women's Outdoor Track & Field.
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennnessee Tech University has been voted
winner of the Ohio Valley Conference Team Sportsmanship Award for
2009 in Women's Outdoor Track & Field. On Tuesday, the league
office announced that Tech is the recipient in women's track and
Southeast Missouri won the men’s award.
Voted on by the student-athletes and coaches of the respective
sports, the team awards are bestowed upon the Conference squads
deemed to have best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and
ethical behavior as outlined by the OVC and NCAA. Included in the
areas for evaluation are the conduct of student-athletes, coaches,
staff and administrators and fans.
"I have a great group of young ladies
on this team and they always
exemplify sportsmanship in the way
hey go about doing their events...
These ladies show a lot of class
whether in winning or defeat."
--- TTU head coach Tony Cox
"The Ohio Valley Conference puts a great deal of value on
sportsmanship and respect for your opponent,” said Brad
Walker, Interim OVC Commissioner. “Student-athletes are the
most visible representatives of their institutions as well as the
OVC and we have high expectations on them to show sportsmanlike
behavior. The OVC Sportsmanship Award winner should take pride in
being honored by their peers as the program that exemplifies the
league's commitment to sportsmanship."
"The Team Sportsmanship Award is an important honor for any of our
teams, and I am really proud of coach (Tony) Cox and the ladies on
the track & field team," said TTU Director of Athletics Mark
Wilson. "We consider showing good sportsmanship to be among the top
priorities in each of our programs, right up there with striving
for success in academics leading to graduation. Those are all key
elements in educating our student-athletes for success in
life."
The 2008-09 school year marks the fourth year the team
sportsmanship honors have been awarded. It is the first award for
Tennessee Tech and SEMO in women's track.
The Tennessee Tech women’s team placed eighth at the OVC
Championships in 2009, totaling 25.5 points.
"I am very excited that our team won this award,” said
Tennessee Tech head coach Tony Cox. “This is a great honor
for the team. I have a great group of young ladies on this team and
they always exemplify sportsmanship in the way they go about doing
their events. We talk a lot about knowing the rules of the events
and staying within the rules when competing. These ladies show a
lot of class whether in winning or defeat."
The Southeast Missouri men’s team finished third at this
year’s outdoor championship, scoring 124 team points.
“It is good to know that the other teams in our conference
think our men are good sports,” said Southeast Missouri State
head coach Eric Crumpecker. “Our men work hard to win, but
have been gracious in winning and losing. We want our athletes to
conduct themselves in a manner the University can be proud of. We
want to be a class act."
Implemented in August 2005, the team honors are the most recent
addition to an awards program that recognizes and celebrates
sportsmanship within the Conference. In 1998, the league
established the Steve Hamilton Sportsmanship Award, presented
annually to a male or female student-athlete of junior or senior
status who best exemplifies the characteristics of the late
Morehead State student-athlete, coach and administrator. Five years
later, the Conference added the OVC Sportsmanship Award, presented
annually to the member institution selected by its peers to have
best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and ethical behavior
as outlined by the OVC and NCAA.
In 1995, the Ohio Valley Conference implemented a
first-of-its-kind “Sportsmanship Statement,” a policy
promoting principles of fair play, ethical conduct and respect for
one’s opponent. The statement answered the challenge of the
NCAA Presidents Commission to improve sportsmanship in collegiate
athletics, and has become a model for others to follow across the
nation.
