Wingate Wins Twelfth Straight Echols Athletic Excellence Award

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Wingate University won it's 12^th-consecutiive South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award, the Conference announced on Tuesday (May 8).  The Bulldogs earned 1,778.5 points for the year to take home the 2017-18 award.   

Wingate won the Conference championship in men's soccer, football, men's tennis, women's golf and women's outdoor track and field.  The Bulldogs also posted second-place finishes in men's cross country, women's soccer, women's volleyball, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's outdoor track and field and baseball.

Queens University of Charlotte placed second in the standings with 1,462 points. The Royals took home conference titles in men's and women's cross country, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's tennis, and men's outdoor track and field. Lenoir-Rhyne University came in at No. 3 in the standings with 1,293.7 points, as it took home SAC titles in men's and women's lacrosse and softball. Carson-Newman University finished the year with 1,207.5 points, earning fourth place in the standings. The Eagles brought home Conference titles in women's soccer and women's basketball, and Lincoln Memorial University rounded out the top-five with 1,087.5 points.

Anderson University was No. 6 in the standings with 1,055.5 points, while Tusculum College came in at No. 7 with 841.3 points.  Coker College's 814.16 points was good for No. 8 in the standings, with Catawba College coming in at No. 9 with 796.5 points.  Newberry College earned 704.49 points to take the No. 10 spot and Mars Hill University closed out the year with 521.5 points, earning the final spot in the 2017-18 Echols Athletic Excellence Award standings.

The Echols Athletic Excellence Award is presented annually to the member athletic department that earns the highest point total based on cumulative final standings in each of the Conference's 20 sports.  Regular season finish is used in the sports of men's and women's soccer, volleyball, football, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's lacrosse, baseball and softball, while SAC Championship results are used for men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf and men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field.

The 2017-18 Echols Athletic Excellence Award will be presented during the SAC's Annual meetings on May 31, in Greenville, S.C.

2017-18 SAC Echols Athletic Excellence Award Standings

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