** During the month of July EIUpanthers.com will take a look back at 13 moments, events or performances that helped shape the 2014-15 school year. ** Eastern Illinois athletics placed second in this year's Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner's Cup race as the league announced the final standings. Eastern Kentucky placed first in the standings with 124.5 points. EIU was second with 108 while Murray State placed third with 105.6 points.
The current OVC Commissioner's Cup has been awarded in this format for the past seven years with EIU winning the award three times in 2010, 2011 and 2013. The Panthers have finished no lower than second in all seven years of the award. During the season EIU won conference championships in women's indoor track and men's outdoor track.
The award (which started in 1962-63 for men's sports and 1980-81 for women's sports) was previously divided into a Men's All-Sport Champion and a Women's All-Sport Champion. Points were awarded for each of the 18 sponsored sports and each school was required to count its totals from each sport in its grand total.
Under the latest scoring system, schools are required to count point totals for four main sports (football, volleyball, men's basketball and women's basketball) along with their next eight highest point totals from the remaining sports, regardless of gender. Belmont, Morehead State and SIUE, which do not compete in OVC football, count baseball as one of its four required sports.
The points system for scoring is as follows. For all sports (except rifle, men's indoor and men's outdoor track - which have fewer participating teams), the first place team earns 12 points, the second place team earns 11 points, etc. For rifle, men's indoor and men's outdoor track and field, the first-place team earns 12 points and subsequent point increments are calculated by dividing the total number of OVC member institutions by the number of institutions sponsoring the sport (for rifle that number is 2.4 less, for men's indoor track that number is 2.0 less and for men's outdoor track that number is 1.75 less). The scoring system also includes a bonus point for the winner of OVC Tournaments (soccer, volleyball, basketball, tennis, softball and baseball).
Eastern Kentucky finished the year with 124.5 points. EKU was bolstered by first-place finishes in men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf and first-place ties in each men's and women's tennis. Eastern Illinois finished with 108 points while Murray State (105.6), Jacksonville State (103.5), SIUE (102.5) and Belmont (100.5) each eclipsed the 100-point mark. The standings were rounded out by Southeast Missouri (99.25), Morehead State (89), Tennessee Tech (84), Austin Peay (76.5), UT Martin (74.7) and Tennessee State (62.25).
OVC Commissioner's Cup Winners
2009 - Murray State
2010 - Eastern Illinois
2011 - Eastern Illinois
2012 - Eastern Kentucky
2013 - Eastern Illinois
2014 - Eastern Kentucky
2015 - Eastern Kentucky EIU Year In ReviewNo. 13 – Akers, Blackburn Win OVC Coach Of The Year HonorsNo. 12 – Women's Basketball Makes 8th Straight OVC Tournament AppearanceNo. 11 – Three New Coaches Hired During 2014-15 School YearNo. 10 – EIU football players look to continue career in NFL and CFLNo. 9 – Baldwin, Johnston Win OVC Freshman of the Year HonorsNo. 8 – EIU Men's Track wins 15th OVC Outdoor ChampionshipNo. 7 – EIU Women's Track wins sixth OVC Indoor Championship
