BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – The Eastern Kentucky University men’s cross country team received the Team Sportsmanship Award for its respective sport on Tuesday from the Ohio Valley Conference. It is the fourth year in a row the team has earned this recognition from the OVC.
The award has only been in existence for five years.
On winning the sportsmanship award for the fourth consecutive year, head coach Rick Erdmann said: “It is a credit to the character of the individuals we have on this team.”
Morehead State received the award for women’s cross country.
Along with being good sports, the cross country Colonels also won their fourth straight OVC banner in 2009, placing four of the top-five and eight of the top-13 runners at the conference championships in Nashville two weeks ago.
Junior Wesley Ruttoh won the championships with a time of 25:39.24, while a trio of seniors –
Stanley Mugo (26:03.90),
Elkana Kurgat (26:08.61) and
Chris Rengifo (26:08.81) - finished third-fifth and within five seconds of each other to put EKU in position to win.
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,” OVC Commissioner Beth DeBauche said. “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.
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.
The EKU men’s and women’s cross country teams return to action this Saturday, Nov. 14, when they travel to Louisville for the Southeast Region Championships.
