Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech Share 2011 Sgt. York Championship; TSU Takes Home Trophy 11/19/2011 11:30:00 PM Sgt. York Trophy History/BackgroundWith a victory over Austin Peay on Saturday, Tennessee Tech claimed a share of the 2011 Sgt. York Championship, sharing the crown with Tennessee State. Both teams finished 2-1 in Sgt. York competition this season.The Sgt. York Trophy goes to the winner of the quadrangular season football series between the four OVC schools located in the state of Tennessee - Austin Peay State University, Tennessee State University, Tennessee Technological University and the University of Tennessee at Martin.The teams are co-champions but Tennessee State will take home the actual trophy following the tiebreaker that gives the trophy to the institution that has gone the most seasons without winning the trophy. Prior to this season Tennessee State last won the trophy in 2008, while Tennessee Tech won the trophy in 2009.The award will be presented at the Pepsi Celebration of Champions hosted by the Nashville Sports Council in the spring (February 22).This year's tie for the trophy marks only the second time in five years of competition that two teams have shared the honor. Tennessee State and Austin Peay tied for the trophy in 2007 with TSU taking it back to campus due to a victory in the head-to-head matchup (which was the tiebreaker criteria only the first season of the trophy). The Tigers repeated as champions in 2008 before Tennessee Tech claimed is first trophy in 2009. UT Martin claimed its first championship last year and became the third-straight team to go 3-0 in the series during the year. The award is only the second traveling trophy that involves more than two teams in college sports; the other is the Commander in Chief's Trophy which has been contested between Air Force, Army and Navy annually since 1972. The award, created in 2007 by the Nashville Sports Council, is presented to the winning institution annually at the NSC's Celebration of Champions. The event was created in 1999 and salutes amateur and professional sports in Tennessee.The award is named in honor of Alvin C. York, the most noted Soldier of World War I. As a corporal in the 2nd battalion, 328th Infantry, in the Battle of the Meuse River-Argonne (Oct. 8, 1918), York and seven other soldiers captured 132 prisoners, was promoted to sergeant and received the Distinguished Service Cross, the French Croix de Guerre, the French Legion of Honor, the Croce di Guerra of Italy and the War Medal of Montenegro. Upon his return to the United States in 1919, he was bestowed the Congressional Medal of Honor. Following the war York returned his home in Pall Mall, Tenn. (located in north central Tennessee, 55 miles northeast of Cookeville) where he dedicated his life to improving education and facilitating educational opportunities for children in the state of Tennessee. In 1927 he established the Alvin C. York Institute after spending several years raising money for the school which opened as a private institution. That school was established, in part, to provide educational opportunities denied to the boys and girls of Fentress Country. In 1937, the Institute became a state special school after an appeal to the Tennessee State Legislature. The school, located in Jamestown, Tenn., is still in operation today.York died on Sept. 2, 1964 and the foundation which he helped establish in 1920 - The Sergeant York Patriotic Foundation - was dormant for many years. The Foundation was re-established by Lipscomb Davis, Jr. in 1992 and is currently run by Sgt. York's grandson Gerald (U.S. Army Colonel, Retired). York's papers are archived by Michael E. Birdwell, Ph.D., who is an associate professor of history at Tennessee Technological University, one of the four institutions that competes for the yearly honor.2011 Sgt. York Trophy Games ResultsOct. 1 - @Austin Peay 37, Tennessee State 34Oct. 1 - Tennessee Tech 34, @UT Martin 31Oct. 8 - @UT Martin 61, Austin Peay 23Oct. 15 - Tennessee State 42, @Tennessee Tech 40Nov. 12 - @Tennessee State 35, UT Martin 30Nov. 19 - @Tennessee Tech 49, Austin Peay 7All-Time Sgt. York Trophy Winners2007 - Tennessee State*, Austin Peay2008 - Tennessee State2009 - Tennessee Tech2010 - UT Martin2011 - Tennessee State*, Tennessee Tech*Took home the trophy due to winning the tiebreaker