BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – The Ohio Valley Conference announced on Thursday that Eastern Kentucky University’s men’s and women’s squads are the recipients of the 2009-10 Team Sportsmanship Award for indoor track and field.
The 2009-10 school year marks the fifth year the team sportsmanship honors have been awarded, and fourth year the indoor track and field awards have been distributed. This marks the second award for the EKU men’s program (2007-08 was the other) and first for the EKU women’s program.
At this year’s OVC Indoor Championship, the Eastern Kentucky women finished second while the Colonel men were third.
"We are very proud of the way these student-athletes to continue to represent the University in a positive manner," head coach Rick Erdmann said. "This award truly is a testament to their character, and they should be congratulated."
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.
“Without sportsmanship there are truly no meaningful victories,” said Beth DeBauche, OVC Commissioner. “The recipients of the OVC Team Sportsmanship awards should accept this award with great pride for their fellow competitors have made it clear their teams exemplify the best in intercollegiate athletics. In receiving this prestigious honor other competitors are saying these student-athletes compete with class, respect their opponents and value fair play. That is quite a compliment as those are all traits that will lead to true victories throughout the course of life.”
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.
