Around the Ohio Valley - March 1

Austin Peay & Belmont

Governor infielder, Reed Harper, and Bruin pitcher, Chase Brookshire, have each been named one of 30 baseball finalists for the 2013 Senior CLASS Award®. CLASS is acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School. To be eligible for the award a student athlete must qualify as an NCAA senior in Division I as well as have achievements in these areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2013 NCAA College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska June 15-26.

Eastern Illinois

Eastern Illinois Athletic Department Spring Fling is scheduled for April 13 in Lantz Arena at 6:00 p.m. Tickets are now available for the event for $50 per person, which includes entertainment by the Brat Pack, A Taste of Coles County food menu, and live and silent auction items. Call 217-581-2310 to purchase your tickets. The event has sold out the last two years. 

Eastern Kentucky

The Colonel men’s basketball team set a school record with 23 school wins with a victory over Tennessee Tech, as well as clinched the number three seed in the OVC tournament. The Colonels also remain alive for a share of the men’s regular season OVC Championship. In order to get a piece of the prize, they will have to beat Tennessee State on Saturday and Belmont will have to lose to Jacksonville State. 

Jacksonville State

The Gamecocks football schedule for 2013 has been finalized. The season opens on the road at Alabama State on August 31, and features six home matchups. The home opener takes place on September 7 against Jacksonville University.  The homecoming game features a matchup with the Tigers of Tennessee State, while the season wraps up against Southeast Missouri at home on November 23. 

Morehead State 

The Eagle softball team will travel to Johnson City, Tennessee this weekend to compete in the Holiday Inn Buccaneer Challenge. They will start the challenge with a game against Bowling Green at noon on Saturday, and follow it up with a matchup against East Tennessee State. Sunday’s games feature the same matchups with the Eagles taking on BGSU at 11 a.m. and ETSU at 3 p.m.  

Murray State

104 Racer student-athletes were selected to the Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll. These student-athletes were celebrated during halftime of Thursday’s game against UT Martin. The students had to earn a 3.25 GPA or higher to qualify for the honor. 13 of the student-athletes were recognized with the OVC Medal of Honor. To receive this distinction you must earn the highest GPA in your sport in the conference. 

Southeast Missouri

For the 3rd straight season the Redhawks have earned a spot in the Men’s OVC Basketball Tournament. They secured the 6th seed after Belmont beat SIUE 73-43 on Wednesday night. This is the program’s 12th trip overall to Nashville to compete in the Music City Madness. The tournament runs March 6-9 at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium. 

SIUE

The Cougar track team will be represented Friday at the Arkansas Final Qualifier as sophomores Ahmad Evans and Braxton Klavins will compete to qualify for the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships. Evans will compete in the 200m, which will take place at approximately 7:30 p.m., and Klavins will run in the 400m at 6:00 p.m. The events be held inside the Arkansas’ Randall Tyson Track Center. 

Tennessee State

In celebration of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, the TSU football program traveled to Robert E. Lillard Elementary School to read to the students on Friday morning. Coach Rod Reed as well as players read from many Dr. Seuss books and others to promote the importance of reading and learning to the youth of Nashville. 

Tennessee Tech 

In a matchup with Morehead State on Saturday evening the Golden Eagle Women’s basketball team will say goodbye to five of their seniors. Katherine Barker, Kellie Cook, Kylie Cook, Lashay Davis and Jala Harris will wear their home uniforms for the last time at the Eblen Center. Tip-off for the game in is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. with the recognition of the seniors set for halftime. 

UT Martin

The Skyhawk men’s basketball team got out to an early lead in a game at Murray State on Thursday night and held off the Racers down the stretch for the upset in the OVC matchup. The Skyhawks led for nearly the final 28 minutes of the game, and at one point stretched the lead to as many as 14 before hanging on to win in a thriller 69-68.