Athletics | June 27, 2017

For as much as Austin Peay State University athletics accomplished on the field of competition in 2016-17, it's important to note how each team comported itself on the field did not go unnoticed at the conference level.

That was evident at the annual Ohio Valley Conference spring meetings, when Austin Peay was accorded the 2016-17 Institutional Sportsmanship Award. The Governors are one of five schools to earn multiple institution-wide sportsmanship honors from the league, joining Belmont, Eastern Kentucky, Southeast Missouri and former OVC member Samford.

In addition to the program's first institution-wide honor since 2007-08, Austin Peay claimed four team honors in women's basketball, women's golf, outdoor track and field and softball. Women's basketball's second honor and women's golf's fourth tied them for most, in their respective sport, since the league instituted team sportsmanship honors in 2005-06. Meanwhile, the outdoor track and field team's award was its fourth in the last five seasons and fifth overall—tied with Eastern Kentucky (men's cross country, women's soccer) and UT Martin (men's golf, rifle) for second-most by an institution's individual athletic program since 2005-06.

In all, Austin Peay has now earned 27 team sportsmanship honors since 2005-06.