Eastern Kentucky wins its third straight OVC Commissioner’s Cup

Eastern Kentucky won the Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner’s Cup for the 2015-16 school year.

It was the third straight and fourth overall Cup title in the last five years for the Colonels under a format that began eight years ago. The Colonels also won in 2011-12.

The award, which is a symbol of overall athletics excellence in conference-sponsored championships, will be presented to university officials on June 3 in Nashville.

“We are very proud to have been recognized as the top athletics department in the conference four of the last five years,” EKU Director of Athletics Stephen Lochmueller said in a news release by the school. “This is truly a symbol of the hard work and dedication that Colonel student-athletes put into their teams each year.”

Eastern Kentucky finished with 116.5 points, 1.25 points more than second-place Eastern Illinois. That was the closest margin of victory under this scoring system, besting a 1.5 margin by EIU over two schools in 2010-11.

EKU was bolstered by first-place finishes in men’s and women’s cross country and women’s golf and second-place finishes in men’s tennis and softball.

Prior to the Commissioner’s Cup being instituted in 2008-09, the Colonels won 15 OVC Men’s All-Sport Championships and seven OVC Women’s All-Sport Championships.

Eastern Illinois finished with 115.25 points while Murray State also eclipsed the 100-point mark with 103. The standings were rounded out by Jacksonville State (97), Southeast Missouri (95), Tennessee Tech (93.5), Belmont (93.25), Morehead State (90.5), Tennessee-Martin (88.5), Austin Peay and Tennessee State (82.5 apiece) and SIUE (80).

This story was originally published May 31, 2016 at 12:55 PM with the headline "Eastern Kentucky wins its third straight OVC Commissioner’s Cup."