JSU fifth best overall in OVC

When Jacksonvile State joined the Ohio Valley Conference in 2003, there was a general perception the Gamecocks would become a instant power in the league.

In the years that have passed, the Gamecocks have either fallen back or the rest of the league has caught up.

League officials announced the Comissioner' Cup standings for the 2008-09 academic year, ostensibly the All-Sports Trophy, and JSU was a distant fifth behind champion Murray State.

Murray State finished the year with 102 points, 11 more points than second place Eastern Kentucky. JSU has 82.

The Racers were bolstered by first place finishes in women’s soccer, women’s basketball and women’s golf and second place finishes in women’s cross country, men’s golf and baseball.

Here are the standings:

Murray State 102 points, Eastern Kentucky 91, Eastern Illinois 88, Morehead State 87, JSU 82, Southeast Missouri 81, Tennessee Tech 70.5, UT Martin 68.5, Austin Peay 65 and Tennessee State 55.5.

The Gamecocks picked up the majority of their points through first-place finishes in rifle and softball.

The award -- 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 new 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. Morehead State, which does not compete in OVC football, counted baseball as one of its four required sports.