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HomeSportsAPSU Athletics receives OVC Institutional Sportsmanship Award

APSU Athletics receives OVC Institutional Sportsmanship Award

Austin Peay State University Sports - APSU - Governors - Lady GovsBrentwood, TN – For the third time in program history, the Ohio Valley Conference bestowed the Austin Peay State University (APSU) athletics department with its annual Institutional Sportsmanship Award, Monday.

The award goes to the conference institution selected by its peers to have best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and ethical conduct as outlined by the OVC and NCAA. Austin Peay also grabbed the honor for the 2007-08 and 2016-17 academic years.

Austin Peay State University Athletics Department awarded OVC Institutional Sportsmanship honor. (APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay State University Athletics Department awarded OVC Institutional Sportsmanship honor. (APSU Sports Information)

“Winning is the standard we all strive for in college athletics,” said Austin Peay State University Director of Athletics Gerald Harrison. “But winning with class and dignity, showing grace to your opponent before, during, and after a contest—that is what sets Austin Peay apart.”

“I’m proud of our student-athletes and coaches for representing our institution in such a noticeable and impactful fashion, across all sports,”  Harrison stated.

This season, five APSU teams—softball, volleyball, women’s golf and both men’s and women’s tennis—earned the OVC’s Team Sportsmanship honor for their respective sports.

“Without sportsmanship there are truly no meaningful victories,” said Beth DeBauche, OVC Commissioner. “In receiving this prestigious honor other institutions are saying these teams and 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.”

The award, which was implemented in August 2003, is one of three accolades bestowed by the Conference to honor sportsmanship. In 1998, the league established the Steve Hamilton Sportsmanship Award, presented annually to a male or female student-athlete of junior or senior standing who best exemplifies characteristics of the late Morehead State University student-athlete and athletics director by way of significant athletics performance and good sportsmanship and citizenship.

For the past 16 years, the league has presented team-specific sportsmanship awards to programs at OVC member institutions based on the conduct of student-athletes, coaches, staff and administrators, and fans, and voted on by the league’s coaches and student-athletes in each respective sport.

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