BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Tech women's outdoor track & field team has captured the Ohio Valley Conference 2009-10 Team Sportsmanship Award, the second year in a row the honor has gone to coach Tony Cox' Golden Eagle squad.

The OVC announced the honors Wednesday, with Morehead State University receiving the honor in men’s outdoor track and field.

The track teams becomes the third Tech squad this year to win an OVC Team Sportsmanship Award, following the soccer and women's golf teams.

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,” she said.

The 2009-10 school year marks the fifth year the team sportsmanship honors have been awarded. This marks the third award for the Morehead State men’s program (they also won in 2005-06 and 2007-08) and the second-straight award for the Tennessee Tech women’s program.

This year’s host for the OVC Outdoor Championship, the Tennessee Tech women's team had its highest finish in school history, placing fifth overall

“It is an honor to win the sportsmanship award,” said Tennessee Tech head coach Tony Cox. “We won it last year, so to win it two years in a row is a surprise. It is especially rewarding to win this award this year, since we hosted the conference meet.  We put a lot of work into making this meet enjoyable for the visiting teams. 

"Showing good sportsmanship was an important part of that," he added. "This award is a reflection of the character of the young women on this team.  This year's team was a special group of athletes.  They worked hard to come up the highest finish in school history, and were able to show respect and sportsmanship to the other teams at the same time.  I am so proud of what they have accomplished.”

Morehead State placed fifth at this year’s OVC Outdoor Championship.

“It is an honor to win this award,” said Morehead State head coach Tommy Barksdale. “We have a great group of young men and they work very hard. They know that in our sport, sportsmanship means everything. This award certainly shows what type of young men we have and want.”

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.