The South Atlantic Conference Announces 2016 Fall Echols Athletic Excellence Award Standings

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Wingate leads the 2016-17 South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award Standings after the conclusion of the 2016 SAC Fall Regular Season.  The Bulldogs won a pair of championships to garner 511.5 points as they took home the League title in men’s soccer and volleyball. Wingate also placed second in women’s cross country and tied for No. 2 in football.

The fall season was a tight race across all sports as the League saw seven schools win Conference Championships.  The South Atlantic Conference also had tri-champions in women’s soccer for the first time in Conference history.

In second place in the standings is Lenoir-Rhyne with 390.99 points.  The Bears claimed a share of the women’s soccer championship and placed third in men’s soccer.  At No. 3 in the rankings is Catawba with 389.5 points.  The Catawba Indians highlighted their fall season with a share of second-place in the football standings.

Queens claimed the 2016 SAC women’s cross country championship and is fourth with 375 points.  At No. 5 in the standings is Tusculum with 321.49 points as the Pioneers earned a share of 2016 women’s soccer championship during the fall season.  Mars Hill took the men’s cross country title and is No. 6 with 312.83 points, while Anderson sits at No. 7 with 312 points.  At No. 8 is Lincoln Memorial with 309 points and Newberry’s 2016 SAC football championship helped it earn the No. 9 position with a total of 266 points.

After earning a share of the women’s soccer championship, Carson-Newman landed at No. 10 with 256.66 points.  Coker posted 134 points to take the No. 11 spot and Brevard rounded out the standings with 130 points.

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 18 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 outdoor track. 

Starting this season, the SAC moved to what it believes is a more equitable new points system.  In the new formula, the champion will always receive 100 points and last place will receive 10 points regardless of the number of schools that sponsor that championship sport.  The points earned for all other place finishes will vary based on the number of schools that sponsor that particular sport. 

2016-17 SAC Echols Athletic Excellence Award Standings