Skyhawks Earn Record Tenth OVC Team Sportsmanship Award
2/20/2026 11:56:00 AM | Rifle
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – For the fourth consecutive season and tenth time overall, the University of Tennessee at Martin has been named as the recipient of the Ohio Valley Conference Team Sportsmanship Award for the sport of rifle.
The ten OVC Team Sportsmanship Awards for Skyhawk rifle are more than any other OVC program in history. UT Martin rifle has additionally won this award – voted on by the student-athletes and coaches of each respective sport – for the 2007-08, 2009-10, 2011-12, 2013-14, 2015-16, 2019-20, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.
The team awards are bestowed upon the Conference squads deemed to have best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and ethical behavior as outlined by the OVC and NCAA. Included in the areas for evaluation are the conduct of student-athletes, coaches, staff, administrators and fans.
The 2025-26 school year marks the 21st year the team sportsmanship honors have been awarded.
Implemented in August 2005, the team honors are the most recent addition to an awards program that recognizes and celebrates sportsmanship within the Conference. In 1998, the league established the Steve Hamilton Sportsmanship Award, presented annually to a male or female student-athlete of junior or senior status who best exemplifies the characteristics of the late Morehead State student-athlete, coach and administrator. Five years later, the Conference added the OVC Sportsmanship Award, presented annually to the member institution selected by its peers to have best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and ethical behavior as outlined by the OVC and NCAA.
In 1995, the Ohio Valley Conference implemented a first-of-its-kind "Sportsmanship Statement," a policy promoting principles of fair play, ethical conduct and respect for one's opponent. The statement answered the challenge of the NCAA Presidents Commission to improve sportsmanship in collegiate athletics and has become a model for others to follow across the nation.
The ten OVC Team Sportsmanship Awards for Skyhawk rifle are more than any other OVC program in history. UT Martin rifle has additionally won this award – voted on by the student-athletes and coaches of each respective sport – for the 2007-08, 2009-10, 2011-12, 2013-14, 2015-16, 2019-20, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.
The team awards are bestowed upon the Conference squads deemed to have best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and ethical behavior as outlined by the OVC and NCAA. Included in the areas for evaluation are the conduct of student-athletes, coaches, staff, administrators and fans.
The 2025-26 school year marks the 21st year the team sportsmanship honors have been awarded.
Implemented in August 2005, the team honors are the most recent addition to an awards program that recognizes and celebrates sportsmanship within the Conference. In 1998, the league established the Steve Hamilton Sportsmanship Award, presented annually to a male or female student-athlete of junior or senior status who best exemplifies the characteristics of the late Morehead State student-athlete, coach and administrator. Five years later, the Conference added the OVC Sportsmanship Award, presented annually to the member institution selected by its peers to have best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and ethical behavior as outlined by the OVC and NCAA.
In 1995, the Ohio Valley Conference implemented a first-of-its-kind "Sportsmanship Statement," a policy promoting principles of fair play, ethical conduct and respect for one's opponent. The statement answered the challenge of the NCAA Presidents Commission to improve sportsmanship in collegiate athletics and has become a model for others to follow across the nation.
Skyhawk Sports Talk - Season 3, Episode 24
Tuesday, February 24
Skyhawk Sports Talk - Season 3, Episode 20
Tuesday, January 20
Skyhawk Sports Talk - Season 3, Episode 7
Tuesday, October 07
Skyhawk Sports Talk - Season 3, Episode 5
Tuesday, September 23