FLORENCE, Ky. — The Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference has announced that 653 student-athletes at its 13 member institutions — the University of Rio Grande — have earned the distinction of 2015-16 KIAC All-Conference Scholar-Athletes in their respective sports.

One of the Rio Grande student/athletes honored was senior basketball standout Travis Elliott who played at Ironton High School.

Women’s Track and Field led the RedStorm’s honoree list with 20 student-athletes, while Men’s Soccer and Softball had 17 each.

To earn the award, student-athletes must maintain a grade-point average of 3.25 or higher, compete in a KIAC championship sport and be nominated by their athletic department.

Asbury University and Point Park University followed Rio Grande’s league-leading total with 89 and 73 honorees, respectively.

Rio 2nd in All-Sports Trophy

The University of Rio Grande posted a second place finish in the 2015-16 Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Commissioner’s All-Sports Cup, an award given annually to the top overall athletic department in the KIAC based on standings of sports throughout the year.

Rio Grande finished with an average of 10.95, trailing only Point Park University, which took the top spot for a second straight year and the third time in four years with an average of 11.31.

The KIAC Commissioner’s Cup standings are tabulated based on the regular-season standings in each of the KIAC’s 15 championship sports. The sports of cross country, golf and track and field use the championship meets to determine standings.

With 13 schools in the conference, 13 points are awarded for first place, 12 for second place and so on. Each school’s point total is divided by the number of sports sponsored at that school to produce an average. An average of 13.00 would represent a perfect score and first place in every sponsored sport.

Point Park scored 147 total points in their 13 sports, while Rio Grande had 120.5 points in its 11 sports.

Rio’s Payton voted top SID

University of Rio Grande sports information director Randy Payton was selected the KIAC Sports Information Director of the Year 2015-16 after the voting of the conference’s SIDs was announced by the league office on Wednesday.

The KIAC SID of the Year award was created in 2014-15 to recognize the most outstanding sports information director in the conference for a given year. The nominations are made by athletic directors, and voting is done by the SIDs in the conference. The KIAC winner is submitted as a nominee for the NAIA SID of the Year award.

Payton oversees the sports information for Rio Grande’s 11 varsity sports

Payton, who is completing his fifth year at the school, is the play-by-play voice of RedStorm athletics on Rio Grande’s Stretch Internet portal. His coverage of the Rio Grande basketball teams included doing home and away games throughout the season and a home women’s basketball playoff game.