The All State

Media Credit: Patrick Armstrong Displayed in the APSU Sports Information office are the many awards the athletics department earned over the course of the year [Click to enlarge]

In addition to success on the field or on a court, the athletes of APSU earned several awards this year.

Throughout the summer, the APSU athletics department was honored with recognition for scholarship, diversity and sportsmanship.

First, the NCAA and Texas A&M University's Laboratory for Diversity in Sports chose APSU for one of its seven 2008 Diversity in Athletics Awards.

Specifically, APSU was honored in the area of African American Graduation Male Student-Athletes.

According to APSU Sports Information, athletics director Dave Loos spoke about receiving the award. "We are honored to be recognized for the accomplishments of our athletics staff and student athletes in the classroom," Loos said. "As a department, we take great pride in our ability to get our student-athletes to graduation and have made a concerted effort to provide them with the best resources available despite the challenges facing our department."

Sports Information went on to reveal that during the spring semester, APSU athletes experienced success in the classroom. In fact, they posted an athletics program collective record high 2.909 GPA.

Also a new record, 161 of the total 284 APSU athletes were named to the Spring 2008 Athletics Director's Honor Roll.

Included in the 161 athletes were 74 named to the Dean's List (earning at least a 3.5 GPA) and 20 named to the President's List (earning a 4.0 GPA).

The scholastic efforts of the APSU student-athletes led to more awards. Earlier this month, the OVC office announced 10 APSU student-athletes who earned OVC Medals of Honor for the 2007-08 academic year.

The Medal of Honor is awarded annually to athletes with the highest grade-point average in a sport sponsored by the OVC. Every APSU athlete who was honored with the award had earned a 4.0 GPA.

In addition, 76 APSU athletes earned a 3.25 GPA and placement on the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll.

A complete list of Medal of Honor and Commissioner's Honor Roll winners can be found at www.letsgopeay.com.

Finally, APSU also received the OVC's annual Institutional Sportsmanship Award.

APSU Sports Information reported that OVC Commissioner Jon A. Steinbrecher spoke about the award at the OVC annual Honors Luncheon in Nashville.

"Sportsmanship is a core value of the Ohio Valley Conference," said Steinbrecher.

"This award provides us with the opportunity to recognize excellence in sportsmanship as well as reinforce and celebrate the importance of ethical behavior in how our institutions conduct their programs."

The Institutional Sportsmanship Award is awarded by peers to the institution they feel has best exhibited the OVC and NCAA standards of both sportsmanship and ethical conduct.

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