St. Louis – Illinois State finished second to Drake University (8.787) in the annual Missouri Valley Conference All-Sports Championship standings, becoming the second private university in MVC history to win the first MVC All-Sports trophy.
Illinois State won one team title (women's golf) and had top-four finishes in baseball, men's cross country, men's outdoor track and field, men's indoor track and field, women's cross country, women's outdoor track and field, women's indoor track and field, softball, swimming and diving and tennis, finishing in second place with a combined score of 8.442.
Indiana State won six MVC championships and earned a third-place ranking (8.148). Belmont won fourth or better in eight sports and earned a fourth-place ranking (7.696). Missouri State (7.463) and Southern Illinois (7.411) rounded out the top six in the league. Ten schools won at least one regular-season league title last season.
Meanwhile, Illinois State, Missouri State and Wichita State had all won the league's all-sports championship trophy every year since 1995 until Drake's win this year. Illinois State won five of six all-sports championships from 1996-2001, Missouri State won five from 1999-2000 onwards and Wichita State had a spell winning 11 of 14 all-sports championships from 2003-2004. Notably, Illinois State has won a total of 16 championships in all sports and has finished first, second or third in 30 of the past 33 years.
The All-Sports Trophy is determined based on a school's average placement in each championship hosted by the Missouri Valley Conference. Teams are awarded a total of points – 12 points for 1st place, 11 points for 2nd place, 10 points for 3rd place, etc. – divided by the number of competitions the school participates in. For competitions not hosted by all MVC schools, points are reduced by the number of schools competing (i.e., for a competition with 10 teams, 12/10 = 1.20, so the total points are reduced by 1.20: 1st place = 12, 2nd place = 10.8, 3rd place = 9.6, etc.).
Standings for baseball, basketball, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball are based on regular season games played, except that institutions receive a three-point bonus for each postseason league win won in those sports. Other sports are determined by placements in championship tournaments or championship conferences.
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