• Academic Achievement Award History | Team Academic Award History | Commissioner's Honor Roll | Academic Medal of Honor
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Belmont University has been awarded the 2017-18 Ohio Valley Conference Institutional Academic Achievement Award. The award is presented annually to the member institution with the greatest percentage of its eligible student-athletes that earn a 3.25 grade point average or higher for that academic year.
It marks the sixth-straight crown for Belmont who joined the OVC prior to the 2012-13 season. Morehead State, the 2011-12 champions, holds the record with 12 OVC Academic Achievement Awards. Eastern Kentucky is next on the list with eight crowns and Austin Peay has two awards while Jacksonville State, Tennessee State and UT Martin have earned one award apiece.
The league also announced the recipients of 16 OVC Team Academic Achievement Awards, which are presented annually in each Conference-sponsored sport to the member institution's team with the greatest percentage of its eligible student-athletes who achieved a 3.25 grade point average or higher. Austin Peay, Jacksonville State, Morehead State and SIUE each claimed an OVC-best three awards, while Eastern Kentucky and Murray State won two apiece. In total, nine different member institutions garnered at least one team award.
The team/institution honorees are:
Baseball: Jacksonville State
Men's Basketball: Tennessee Tech
Women's Basketball: Belmont
Men's Cross Country: Murray State & SIUE
Women's Cross Country: Jacksonville State
Football: Jacksonville State
Men's Golf: Eastern Kentucky
Women's Golf: Morehead State
Rifle: Morehead State
Women's Soccer: Eastern Kentucky
Softball: Murray State
Men's Tennis: Austin Peay & Tennessee State
Women's Tennis: Austin Peay
Men's Track and Field: SIUE
Women's Track and Field: Morehead State
Women's Volleyball: Austin Peay & SIUE
The awards cap a week of announcements regarding 2017-18 academic year awards. It was previously announced that a record 1,349 OVC student-athletes were named to the Commissioner's Honor Roll (for having a 3.25 GPA or better) while 240 student-athletes achieved perfect 4.0 GPA's to earn the OVC Academic Medal of Honor.