ROCK HILL, SC– Winthrop's softball team and the men's golf squad were voted as co-winners of the Big South Conference Team Sportsmanship Awards for the 2010 spring seasons. The two awards are the first for Winthrop since the 2007-08 year.
Out of the eight spring sports awards announced by the league office, Gardner-Webb was voted the winner in three sports, followed by Liberty, VMI and Winthrop receiving plaudits in two sports each. The honors are part of the Big South's Sportsmanship Awards program that began in 2005-06.
The team awards are voted on by Big South student-athletes and are awarded at the end of each competitive season. Each institution ranks and votes for its top three (excluding themselves) and teams receive three points for a first-place ranking, two points for a second-place ranking and one point for a third-place ranking.
Coach Mark Cooke's Lady Eagles shared the softball award with Gardner-Webb which also received the Sportsmanship Award in men's and women's tennis. The Winthrop softball team also earned the Big South Sportsmanship Award in 2007 and 2008. Coach Kevin Pendley's Eagle golf team shared the award with Liberty and Charleston Southern. Liberty also took the award in women's outdoor track and field. VMI was honored in men's outdoor track & field and received the baseball award for the third consecutive year, while Radfordclaimed the Team Sportsmanship Award in women's golf.
The Big South Conference's Institutional Sportsmanship Award will be announced next week. VMI has won the Big South's Institutional Sportsmanship Award all three years of the award's history.
2009-10 Big South Team Sportsmanship Award Winners
Baseball: VMI
Softball: Gardner-Webb, Winthrop
Women's Outdoor Track: Liberty
Men's Outdoor Track: VMI
Women's Golf: Radford
Men's Golf: Charleston Southern, Liberty, Winthrop
Women's Tennis: Gardner-Webb
Men's Tennis: Gardner-Webb
Women's Basketball: Presbyterian College
Men's Basketball: Gardner-Webb
Women's Indoor Track: VMI
Men's Indoor Track: Liberty
Football: VMI, Charleston Southern
Volleyball: Liberty
Men's Soccer: UNC Asheville
Women's Soccer: Presbyterian College
Women's Cross Country: VMI
Men's Cross Country: Liberty
