Women's Cross Country Wins OVC Award

 

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – On Thursday the Ohio Valley Conference announced that Eastern Kentucky University’s men’s and Eastern Illinois University’s women’s cross country teams are the recipients of the 2008-09 Team Sportsmanship Awards in their respective sports.

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.

“The OVC places high value on sportsmanship and ethical conduct,” said OVC Commissioner Dr. Jon A. Steinbrecher. “Our awards recognize excellence and are special because it is recognition that comes from one’s peers.”

The 2008-09 school year marks the fourth year the team sportsmanship honors have been awarded. This marks the third straight award for the EKU men while it’s the first for the EIU women.

"This is a great honor for our men's cross country team," head coach Rick Erdmann said. "We are very proud of the way they conduct themselves on and off the course, and the way they represent Eastern Kentucky University on a daily basis."

Eastern Kentucky finished the season by winning its 17th OVC Men’s Cross Country Championship at the Jaycee Golf Course in Cape Girardeau, Mo. The Colonels finished sixth at the NCAA Regionals and were led by Joseph Maina who placed 17th.

The Eastern Illinois women’s team finished fifth overall at the OVC Championships. The Panthers were led by Erin O’Grady who finished in the top 20.

"I am extremely proud of our women and how they carry themselves on and off the field. It is an honor and tribute to them that their fellow OVC competitors look at them in such a favorable light,” head coach Geoff Masanet said.

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.