Belmont Places Fourth in MVC All-Sports Trophy Standings

ST. LOUIS - - Belmont University placed fourth in the 2023-24 Missouri Valley Conference All-Sports Trophy standings, the league office announced Tuesday.
 
For Belmont, in Year 2 of its MVC membership, placing fourth in the 12-member, tradition-rich conference represents further strides of comprehensive athletic achievement.
 
"Our finish in the MVC All-Sports Trophy reflects a tremendous measure of commitment and performance from our student-athletes, coaches and staff this year," said Belmont Vice President/Director of Athletics Scott Corley. "We are immensely proud of the broad-based, championship-level success we have achieved in the MVC in a short amount of time. During this time of innovation and investment across the Belmont University campus, we look forward to building on these successes for years to come."
 
Fueled by a conference championship in women's cross country, and strong finishes from softball, women's tennis, men's cross country, women's track & field – and the conference's second-best combined point total in men's and women's basketball – Belmont amassed 123.1 points. Belmont men's tennis also won the Horizon League regular season championship.
 
This comes two years after Belmont won the 2022 Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner's Cup after placing a remarkable 15 of its 17 sponsored sports in the Top 3 of league standings (including men's soccer in the Southern Conference).
 
It was another outstanding year on the national stage for the Bruins; Belmont posted 21 victories over autonomous conference competition, including wins over Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Auburn, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Indiana, Purdue, Maryland, Northwestern, Rutgers, Clemson, Florida State, Syracuse, Miami (FL), Georgia Tech, UCF, Kansas State, and West Virginia.
 
Belmont also had seven NCAA championship individual event qualifiers, headlined by distance running standout Kaitlyn Vanderkolk in both cross country and track & field.

Drake, Illinois State and Indiana State placed 1-2-3, respectively.
 
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.
 
Located near the heart of thriving Nashville, Tennessee, Belmont University consists of nearly 9,000 students who come from every state and 33 countries. The University is nationally recognized for its innovative approach as well as its commitment to undergraduate teaching (U.S. News & World Report). As a Christ-centered, student-focused community, Belmont's mission is to develop diverse leaders of purpose, character and wisdom who possess a transformational mindset and are eager and equipped to make the world a better place. With more than 115 areas of undergraduate study, 41 master's programs and five doctoral degrees, Belmont University aims to be the leading Christ-centered university in the world, producing leaders who will radically champion the pursuit of life abundant for all people. For more information, visit www.belmont.edu.