BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – The Morehead State men’s track and field team was honored with the 2010 Ohio Valley Conference Team Sportsmanship Award, the league office announced Friday May 14.
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.
“It is an honor to win this award," said coach
Tommy Barksdale. "We have 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.”
Morehead State finished fifth at the 2010 OVC conference meet. JT Stone and
Josh Wakeman led the Eagles, as Stone scored in three throwing events that included the shot put, hammer throw and discus, while Wakeman took third place in the 10,000 meter run.
“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.
Tennessee Tech won the women's outdoor track and field sportsmanship award.