Akron Wins 2014 Reese Trophy
MAC ANNOUNCES TOP MEN’S INSTITUTIONAL AWARD FOR 2013-14 ACADEMIC YEAR
Akron wins first ever Reese Trophy as the top men’s athletic program.
Cleveland, Ohio – The top Mid-American Conference (MAC) men’s institutional award was handed out tonight at the MAC Honors Dinner, as part of the conference meetings at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel. For the first time in school history, the University of Akron was honored with the Reese Trophy as the top men’s athletic program from the MAC.
During the 2013-14 academic year, Akron competed in seven men’s sports and won the MAC men’s soccer and indoor track and field tournament championships.
The men’s soccer program earned its 10th MAC Tournament title and ninth-consecutive regular season crown en route to the squad’s 28th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Akron posted a 17-4-1 record, spent the entire campaign ranked in the top-25 nationally and achieved a No. 7 designation in the final poll of the regular season.
With four runners finishing in the top 14, the cross country team posted its best finish ever at the conference championship meet. The Zips finished runner-up in the event, 37 points ahead of third place. A program-best four Zips earned Second-Team All-MAC honors.
The Zips’ football team finished the season with a 5-7 mark, going 4-4 in MAC play. Akron finished tied for third in the MAC East with Ohio thanks to wins in three-straight and four of the last five games to end the year. Seven Zips earned All-MAC honors.
During the winter, the men’s indoor track and field team won its third indoor MAC championship in the last four years, coming from behind to down host Kent State in the next-to-last event. Akron sophomore Shawn Barber became the school’s first male individual national champion by winning the pole vault.
The men’s basketball program posted its ninth-straight season of 21 or more wins to finish the campaign with a 21-13 mark overall, 12-6 in MAC play. The Zips finish second in the East Division and advanced to the MAC Tournament semifinals for a ninth-straight season. The Zips received a postseason invitation to the CIT Basketball Tournament.
The men’s golf team opened the spring championship schedule with a second-place finish at the MAC Championship earlier this month. Two Zips finished in the top-five to help Akron tie the program mark for best finish at the MAC Championship event.
The men’s outdoor track and field team will look for its fourth-straight outdoor title this weekend at the MAC Championships in Athens, Ohio, while the baseball team will play a three-game series at Kent State beginning Thursday with a spot in the MAC Tournament on the line.
For the Reese Trophy, points are awarded based on each school’s finish, with the overall total divided by the number of sports sponsored by each school. An institution may count either indoor track and field or outdoor track and field, but not both.
The men’s trophy is named for former MAC Commissioner David E. Reese. Reese was the first-ever MAC Commissioner and served the conference from its inception in 1946 until 1964.
