Wingate Wins South Atlantic Conference Record 11th-Straight Echols Athletic Excellence Award

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) –Wingate won the 2016-17 South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for a South Atlantic Conference record 11th-consecutive year.  Wingate turned in 1,413 points in the standings. 

The Bulldogs won the Conference championship in men’s soccer, volleyball, women’s tennis and women’s track and field.  Wingate also posted second-place finishes in women’s cross country, men’s tennis and men’s track and field, while finishing tied for second in football, women’s basketball, women’s lacrosse and men’s lacrosse.

Queens placed second in the standings with 1,181.1 points with League titles in women’s cross country, men’s tennis, women’s lacrosse and men’s track and field.  The Royals also finished as the regular season co-champs in men’s basketball.  Lenoir-Rhyne rounded up 1080 points to come in at No. 3 in the standings as it took home outright SAC titles in women’s golf and men’s lacrosse, while finishing tied for first in softball and women’s soccer.  Lincoln Memorial landed at No. 4 in the final standings as it posted 1014.5 points.  The Railsplitters earned the outright South Atlantic Conference championship in women’s basketball as the Railsplitter men were co-champs on the hardwood.  Tusculum finished tied for first in women’s soccer and rounded out the top five in the final standings with 929.07 points.

Carson-Newman placed at No. 6 in the standings with 910.16 points, while Anderson came in at No. 7 with 891.83 points.  Catawba’s 825.5 points was good for No. 8 in the standings, ahead of Newberry, who racked up 816 points to place ninth.  Coker placed 10^th with 748.75 points as Mars Hill (604.08 points) and Brevard (254 points) rounded out the final 2016-17 final Echols Athletic Excellence Award standings.

The Eagles won the outright men’s golf championship and were co-champs in women’s soccer and softball.  Catawba took home the SAC baseball championship, while Newberry won the football League crown and Mars Hill raced to the men’s cross country Conference championship.

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 varied based on the number of schools that sponsor that particular sport.  

2016-17 SAC Echols Athletic Excellence Award Standings