Redbirds Finish Second In The 2023-2024 MVC All-Sports Trophy Standings

ST. LOUIS – Illinois State finished second in the annual Missouri Valley Conference All-Sports Championship standings behind Drake (8.787), which earned its first MVC All-Sports Trophy as just the second private institution in MVC history to earn the honor.

Illinois State had one team title (women's golf) and added top-four finishes in baseball, men's cross country, men's outdoor track & field, men's indoor track & field, women's cross country, women's outdoor track & field, women's indoor track & field, softball, swimming & diving, and tennis to yield an aggregate score of 8.442 to finish second.  

Indiana State recorded six MVC first-place finishes to take third in the standings (8.148), Belmont finished fourth or better in eight sports to finish fourth in the standings (7.696) and Missouri State (7.463) and Southern Illinois (7.411) rounded out the league's top-six finishers. Ten different institutions claimed at least one regular-season league title this past season. 

Illinois State, Missouri State or Wichita State, meanwhile, had earned the league's all-sports championship trophy every year since 1995 before Drake's win this year. Illinois State won five of six all-sports championships from 1996-01, Missouri State has five titles since 1999-00, and Wichita State had a stretch where it won 11 of 14 all-sports trophies from 2003-04 through 2016-17. Notably, Illinois State has 16 all-sports crowns in total and has finished first, second, or third in 30 of the past 33 years.
 
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 12 points for first, 11 for second, 10 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 10 teams compete, 12/10 = 1.20, so point totals decrease by 1.20; 1st = 12, 2nd = 10.8, 3rd = 9.6, 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.

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