League Announces Winter ‘Team Sportsmanship Award’ Winners

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High Point, NC – Conference Carolinas announces the 2011-12 winter sportsmanship award recipients for men’s and women’s basketball. Teams from Belmont Abbey and Mount Olive are recognized as demonstrating the best sportsmanship in Conference Carolinas basketball during the winter season. The designation was by a vote of member basketball coaches and student athletes throughout the league.

Women’s Basketball -Belmont Abbey College: This is the second consecutive year that the Abbey team receives the women’s basketball sportsmanship award under the leadership of head coach Susan Yow.  The Crusader team saw their season come to an end with a valiant 72-58 loss at East Division top-seeded Barton College in the quarterfinal round of the 2012 Conference Carolinas Tournament. The well-fought season ended with the team finishing at 8-10 in league play and a 12-16 overall record. 

Men’s Basketball –Mount Olive College: The award comes after a very successful season for the Trojans who finished 21-8 overall & 12-4 in league play. Mount Olive beat overall No. 1 seeded King before falling to archrival Barton in the conference championship game in what turned out to be their final game after the regionally sixth-ranked Trojans were denied a bid to the NCAA regional.  Leading the team to the first ever sportsmanship team recognition award was Coach Joey Higginbotham a former Mount Olive College graduate and student-athlete.

The sportsmanship awards are presented annually to the member institution judged to have exhibited the highest degree of sportsmanship among its players, coaches, and fans during their regular playing season. This year marks the second year that there is an individual sport ‘Team Sportsmanship Award’ highlighting Conference Carolinas efforts to honor institutions exhibiting sportsmanlike behaviors.

The sportsmanship award is decided using a voting process implemented by Athletics Directors that calls for a coach and student-athlete representative to vote together and judge conference competitors’ sportsmanship. After all the votes have been submitted the conference office averages the results and the institution with the highest overall average in a particular sport is awarded the ‘Team Sportsmanship Award’. These awards will now correspond with the current “Messick Sportsmanship Award” that recognizes the school with the overall best average across all conference sports throughout the year.

 

 


 

 

Conference Carolinas is a NCAA Division II athletic conference made up of 12 teams from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. These institutions consist of: Barton College, Belmont Abbey College, Coker College, Converse College, Erskine College, King College, Lees-McRae College, Limestone College, Mount Olive College, North Greenville University, Pfeiffer University, and Queens University of Charlotte.