By TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – With the conclusion of the 2015-16 athletics year officially in the books for Tennessee Tech University, what better way to cap a strong season across the board than with a record-breaking finish in the Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner's Cup?
The Golden Eagles turned in their highest finish in the final standings of the league's annual award since the 2009-10 athletic season, finishing in sixth place with a record-breaking point total. One year after setting its top mark ever with 84 points, Tech turned up its standards by racking up 93.5 points for 2015-16.
"The final standings in this year's Commissioner's Cup standings truly speak volumes about the student-athletes and coaching staffs and their commitment to excellence here at Tennessee Tech," Director of Athletics Mark Wilson said. "Many of our programs have made major strides on the field and court this season while maintaining, and in several circumstances, overachieving with our academic progress and expectations."
Bolstering Tennessee Tech's sixth-place finish, which ranked the program higher than any other OVC institution in the state of Tennessee, were the men's tennis team's regular season and tournament championship runs, second-place showings by soccer and women's golf and a tie for second place in men's basketball.
"I want to extend my congratulations to each of our coaches and student-athletes for their continued dedication and achievements both on and off the field and for always striving for more," Wilson continued. "This is a proud accomplishment for our university and our athletics program, and we can't wait to build on the successes of this athletic year."
Eastern Kentucky – which captured its third-straight and fourth overall Cup title in the last five years – finished the year with 116.5 points, 1.25 points more than second-place Eastern Illinois, marking the closest margin of victory under the eight-year old scoring system (besting a 1.5 margin by EIU over two schools in 2010-11). EKU captured first-place finishes in men's and women's cross country and women's golf and second-place finishes in men's tennis and softball.
Prior to the Commissioner's Cup being instituted in 2008-09, the Colonels won an OVC record 15 Men's All-Sport Championships and seven Women's All-Sport Championships.
Eastern Illinois finished with 115.25 points while Murray State also eclipsed the 100 point mark (103). The standings were rounded out by Jacksonville State (97), Southeast Missouri (95), Tennessee Tech (93.5), Belmont (93.25), Morehead State (90.5), UT Martin (88.5), Austin Peay and Tennessee State (82.5 apiece) and SIUE (80).
The award (which started in 1962-63 for men's sports and 1980-81 for women's sports) was previously divided into a Men's All-Sport Champion and a Women's All-Sport Champion. The new format was put in place eight years ago. Points were awarded for each of the 18 sponsored sports and each school was required to count their totals from each sport in its grand total.
Under the latest scoring system, schools are required to count point totals for four main sports (football, volleyball, men's basketball and women's basketball) along with their next eight highest point totals from the remaining sports, regardless of gender. Belmont, Morehead State and SIUE, which do not compete in OVC football, count baseball as one of its four required sports.
The points system for scoring is as follows: For all sports (except rifle, men's indoor and men's outdoor track - which have fewer participating teams), the first place team earns 12 points, the second place team earns 11 points, etc. For rifle, men's indoor and men's outdoor track and field, the first-place team earns 12 points and subsequent point increments are calculated by dividing the total number of OVC member institutions by the number of institutions sponsoring the sport (for rifle that number is 2.4 less, for men's indoor track that number is 2.0 less and for men's outdoor track that number is 1.75 less). The scoring system also includes a bonus point for the winner of OVC Tournaments (soccer, volleyball, basketball, tennis, softball and baseball).
Photo by Jim Dillon
