By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – As another academic year has come to a close and all of the Ohio Valley Conference competition has concluded for another season, the OVC released its final standings for the Commissioner's Cup.
While the final tally saw Eastern Kentucky hoist the trophy for the fourth straight season and fifth of the last six, the Tennessee Tech athletic teams finished fifth in the final standings, with its highest ever point total with 101.5 points, more than eclipsing last season's record finish of 93.5.
Tech finished sixth in last year's standings.
"It is amazing to see how our student-athletes and coaches have steadily improved and keep striving for even greater heights," said Tennessee Tech Director of Athletics Mark Wilson. "With their will and determination, as well as their commitment to academic excellence, I have complete faith that we will keep raising the bar."
The Golden Eagles put together an amazing spring. Even though Tech was in fourth place in March after the conclusion of the winter sports with 58.5 points, the Golden Eagles scored 43 points in the spring sports alone.
The spring highlights included:
- The Golden Eagle baseball team claimed both the OVC regular-season and tournament championships as the team won 40 games for the second straight year. Tech defeated Belmont in the OVC tourney championship this past weekend in Oxford, Ala., to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and will face Florida State to open the Tallahassee Regional on Friday. Junior Ryan Flick was named the tournament MVP with five of the tournament's 50 home runs and a tally of 16 RBI, including nine against Southeast Missouri.
- The Tech women's outdoor track and field team finished third in the OVC outdoor championship earlier this month for its best ever finish in the meet. Na'Asha Robinson and D'Airrien Jackson earned berths in the 400 meters at the NCAA Preliminaries, while Robinson advanced to this weekend's NCAA Championships at Eugene, Ore.
- The Golden Eagle men's tennis team finished a perfect 6-0 in league play as Tech cruised to its fifth regular-season title in six years and second straight OVC tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth. In addition to the team tournament appearance against California, Eduardo Mena also earned an NCAA singles tournament berth, advancing to the second round with a victory over Baylor's Maxime Tchoutakian.
- The Tech men's golf team finished sixth at the OVC Championships in Muscle Shoals, Ala., with freshman Charles Seals earning a fourth-place finish and an All-Tournament nod with a three-round score of 216, his career low. The women's team finished sixth in the championship at Owens Cross Roads, Ala. Hollee Sadler led the Golden Eagles with a three-round 227 for a 14thplace finish.
- The Golden Eagle softball team finished 16-30 and 8-8 in the OVC to earn a berth to the conference tournament, the 23rd time Tech has made the field out of 24 years held.
"This has been an amazing spring for our student-athletes," Wilson continued. "These young men and women have represented our university to the highest degree and have shown great pride in their programs as well as their continued success. With all of the hard work shown this year, I can't wait to see what we are able to accomplish in the 2017-18 academic year."
The Commissioner's Cup combined both the Men's All-Sport Trophy and the Women's All-Sport Trophy in the 2008-09 season. Tech won the Men's All-Sport Trophy in 1989-90 and the Women's All-Sport Trophy in 1986-87 and 2000-01.
Following EKU's 106.75-point total, Belmont was second with 106.375, Murray State was third with 106.5 and Jacksonville State jumped from 10th in March to fourth with a 103.875 total.
After Tech in fifth, Eastern Illinois (93.5), SIUE (91.25), UT Martin (89), Southeast Missouri (84), Austin Peay (83.375), Morehead State (80) and Tennessee State (75.625) rounded out the standings.
According to the conference, with the latest scoring system, schools are required to count point totals for the four main sports – football, volleyball, as well as men's 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 tennis and 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 tennis and 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 3 less, for men's tennis and men's indoor track that number is 1.75 less and for men's outdoor track that number is 1.5 less). The scoring system also includes a bonus point for the winner of OVC Tournaments (soccer, volleyball, basketball, tennis, softball and baseball).
