The Drake University Athletic Department finished third among the 12 Missouri Valley Conference institutions in the MVC All-Sports standings. Drake earned an MVC-best three league postseason tournament crowns (men's basketball, women's basketball, women's tennis) for its best and the highest finish by a private school since the 1994-95 campaign (also third).
"I am incredibly proud of the student-athletes, coaches, and staff for this fantastic accomplishment," Director of Athletics Brian Hardin said. "This result is the byproduct of tremendous effort by everyone within our athletics department as well as loyal support from alumni and fans."
This year marked the fifth time Drake has finished in the Top 3 (the most of any private school since 1970-71). Since 1970-71, a private school has not finished better than third in the MVC All-Sports standings.
Illinois State won the MVC All-Sports Trophy with an aggregate score of 8.551. Missouri State finished second in the all-sports trophy race with an aggregate score of 8.341. Drake (8.147), Southern Illinois (7.870), UNI (7.812), and Indiana state (7.758) rounded out the Top 6.
"We are committed to our pursuit of sustained excellence in the classroom, community, and competition," Hardin said. "In the past month, we have received a fabulous academic report that showed all our teams recorded a spring GPA of at least 3.1 and our department GPA was 3.44. Our staff and coaches committed hours of community service through our annual 515 Day activities to improve Central Iowa. And now our Missouri Valley Conference teams are celebrated for arguably one of the best athletic years of competition in school history. It truly is a great time to be a Drake Bulldog!"
The All-Sports Trophy is based on a school's average finish in each of the sponsored championships by the Missouri Valley Conference. Teams are awarded 10 points for first, nine for second, eight for third, etc., and the total accumulated points are divided by the number of sports in which a particular school competes. For sports not sponsored by every MVC school, the points decrease by number of competing schools (i.e., in a sport where eight teams compete, 10/8 = 1.25, so point totals decrease by 1.25; 1st = 10, 2nd = 8.75, 3rd = 7.5, etc.)
Finishes in baseball, basketball, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball are based on regular-season competition. However, institutions receive three bonus points for each league post-season championship earned in those aforementioned sports. All other sports are determined by finish at the championship tournament or championship meet.
