EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles stood out in the Ohio Valley Conference during 2023-24, earning the league’s Institutional Achievement Award for the second-straight season. The honor is presented to the institution with the greatest percentage of eligible student athletes that earn a 3.25 grade point average (GPA) or higher for an academic year.
“To win this award in our first two years of Division I is amazing,” said USI Vice President and Athletics Director Jon Mark Hall. “I applaud the efforts of our student-athletes, coaches, administrative academic support staff, and faculty at USI.
“With all the noise going on around our young people today, it is awesome that they have stayed focused on what is truly important,” continued Hall. “This is an award that the entire campus should be proud of.”
Three Eagle programs also won OVC Team Academic Achievement Awards, which are presented annually in each conference-sponsored sport member institution’s team with the greatest percentage of its eligible student athletes who achieved a 3.25 GPA or higher. USI had the top programs in softball, while men’s basketball tied for the top spot for the second year in a row, tying with the University of Tennessee at Martin.
Eleven different member institutions garnered at least one team award with UT Martin claiming four, followed closely by Southeast Missouri State University and Western Illinois University with three apiece and Eastern Illinois University and USI also earning
multiple awards with two each.
The 2023-24 team honorees are:
Baseball: Lindenwood
Men’s Basketball: USI & UT Martin
Women’s Basketball: Western Illinois
Beach Volleyball: Tennessee Tech
Men’s Cross Country: Southeast Missouri
Women’s Cross Country: Southeast Missouri
Football: UT Martin
Men’s Golf: UT Martin
Women’s Golf: Little Rock & Western Illinois
Rifle: Morehead State
Men’s Soccer: Liberty
Women’s Soccer: Eastern Illinois
Softball: USI
Men’s Tennis: Tennessee State
Women’s Tennis: Western Illinois
Men’s Track and Field: Southeast Missouri
Women’s Track and Field: Eastern Illinois
Women’s Volleyball: UT Martin
