Sunday, February 19, 2012

Around the Ohio Valley – Feb. 18

Austin Peay – The Governors were selected by the OVC office as the preseason favorite in baseball polls last week, and four APSU players were named to the preseason All-OVC team, including seniors Michael Blanchard and Zach Toney, junior Reed Harper and sophomore Jordan Hankins. Austin Peay, last year’s regular season champion, received seven of the nine possible first place votes in the poll, beating out second-place picked Jacksonville State by six votes. For the full poll results, visit this link on OVCSports.com.

Eastern Illinois
– Both the men’s and women’s Panther cross country teams were recognized for their scholarly efforts by the USTFCCCA this week by earning All-Academic Team honors. The EIU men posted a team GPA of 3.47 and ranked 15th out of 147 recognized teams. The women’s team posted a team GPA of 3.39. Also earning All-Academic honors from the OVC were Southeast Missouri on the men’s side and Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State and Morehead State on the women’s. Congrats to all the runners!

Eastern Kentucky
Four Colonel football players were named to the All-Commonwealth Collegiate team last week, an honor given to the best collegiate football players in the state of Kentucky. Lineman Anthony Brown, running back Matt Denham, defensive back Patrick McClellan and linebacker Ichiro Vance will be honored on June 15 by the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame, which selects the All-Commonwealth team. EKU will look to defend its share of the OVC title beginning on Sept. 1 versus Purdue.

Jacksonville State
– The OVC champion Gamecock rifle team had yet another solid performance at a tune-up match in Fairbanks, Alaska this week, and is competing at the NCAA Sectional qualifier today. At the match in Fairbanks, JSU finished second with an aggregate score of 4648 (2307 in smallbore and 2341 in air rifle), finishing second to Alaska by only 15 points and topping Nebraska.

Morehead State
– Former Eagle basketball player, current Denver Nugget standout and Twitter sensation Kenneth Faried was selected as 2011 Kentucky Sportsman of the Year this week by the state’s media. During his time at MSU, Faried was named OVC Player of the Year twice and Defensive Player of the Year three times, and set an NCAA record for career rebounds with 1,673. He also became the first Eagle to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. Congrats, Kenneth!

Murray State
– The Racers’ efforts to bring ESPN broadcasting legend Dick Vitale to campus have paid off: Dickie V will be in Murray tonight to call the Racers’ BracketBusters game when the 14th-ranked men’s basketball team takes on 21-ranked Saint Mary’s. Today’s game marks the first time two top-25 teams have played at the CFSB Center, and the game sold out before Dickie V even announced his visit. Good luck Racers!

Southeast Missouri
– Redhawk senior baseball player Trenton Moses continues to rake in the preseason awards; after being named OVC Preseason Player of the Year, Moses was named a Second Team Preseason All-American by CollegeBaseballInsider.com. The award is well-deserved as Moses, a third baseman, hit .395 last season with 11 home runs and 53 RBI’s last season and was named OVC Player of the year.

SIUE
– Freshman Marten Jonsson is leading the way for the Cougars on the tennis court so far this season, with a perfect 5-0 record at No. 1 singles. His most recent victory came this past week with a victory over Joe Flanagan from Saint Louis, and he has also defeated foes from IUPUI, Wright State, Northern Illinois, and IPFW. Jonsson is also 4-1 in doubles with his partner Jacob Tanulanond, losing only to Wright State on Jan. 21.

Tennessee State
– Junior TSU basketball player Robert Covington was named Mid-Major National Player of the Week by College Sports Madness this week after a solid week against opponents Murray State, Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State. In TSU’s win over Murray State (the Racers’ only loss so far this season), Covington dropped 17 points with 8 rebounds, followed up with 16 points and 2 rebounds against TTU and then scored 28 points with 12 rebounds against Jacksonville State.

Tennessee Tech
– Kevin Murphy, a senior men’s basketball player at TTU, has been named a finalist for the 2012 Lou Henson Player of the Year award, which is given to the best player mid-major men’s player in Division I. The award is selected through both fan voting and the CollegeInsider.com selection committee. Murphy leads the OVC in scoring this season, averaging 20.4 points per game. Also nominated from the OVC for award is Murray State’s Isaiah Canaan. To vote for the Henson Award, click here.

UT Martin
– Skyhawk equestrian senior Caroline Cramer won the consolation bracket last week at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Fla. After falling short to Georgia’s Carly Anthony by five points in the first round, Cramer came roaring back to defeat riders from Oklahoma State, Sacred Heart and SMU to take the consolation bracket. The No. 10-ranked Skyhawks returned to action today at Fresno State to take on their hosts and No. 9 TCU.


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