• Academic Achievement Award History | Commissioner's Honor Roll | Academic Medal of Honor
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. –
Belmont University has been awarded the 2015-16 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.
SIUE was second in the team standings followed by Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky.
It marks the fourth-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, UT Martin and former member Middle Tennessee State 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. Jacksonville State claimed an OVC-best four awards, followed by Morehead State and Southeast Missouri with three and Belmont, Eastern Kentucky, Murray State and SIUE with two apiece. In total, 10 different member institutions garnered at least one team award.
The team/institution honorees are:
Baseball: SIUE
Men's Basketball: Belmont
Women's Basketball: Belmont
Men's Cross Country: Murray State
Women's Cross Country: Southeast Missouri
Football: Jacksonville State
Men's Golf: Jacksonville State
Women's Golf: Jacksonville State, Morehead State, Murray State
Rifle: UT Martin
Women's Soccer: Southeast Missouri
Softball: Morehead State
Men's Tennis: SIUE
Women's Tennis: Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Southeast Missouri
Men's Track and Field: Tennessee Tech
Women's Track and Field: Eastern Kentucky
Women's Volleyball: Morehead State
The awards cap a week of announcements regarding 2015-16 academic year awards. It was previously announced that a record 1,336 OVC student-athletes were named to the Commissioner's Honor Roll (for having a 3.25 GPA or better) while a record 248 student-athletes achieved perfect 4.0 GPA's to earn the OVC Academic Medal of Honor.