CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Big South Conference’s Team Sportsmanship Awards for golf, outdoor track & field and softball have been determined, and Liberty University was voted the winner in three sports, followed by Winthrop University, Charleston Southern University, Radford University and High Point University with one each.  The honors are part of the Big South’s Sportsmanship Awards program that began in 2005-06.

Liberty received the Big South’s Team Sportsmanship Award in men’s golf and men’s outdoor track & field, and shared the women’s outdoor track & field honor with High Point.  Charleston Southern and Radford tied for the women’s golf award, while Winthrop was honored in softball.

The Team Sportsmanship Awards are voted on by Big South student-athletes and are awarded at the end of each competitive season.  Teams cannot vote for themselves.  Each institution ranks and votes for its top three.  Teams receive three points for a first-place ranking, two points for a second-place ranking and one point for a third-place ranking.  

The Flames earn their first honor in men’s golf and repeat in both men’s and women’s outdoor track.  Liberty has claimed six Team Sportsmanship Awards thus far in the 2007-08 athletic season.  High Point receives its third Team Sportsmanship Award of the year, and its first honor in women’s outdoor track & field.  With its women’s golf honor, Radford has now won its fourth Team Sportsmanship Award of the season, while Charleston Southern collects its second team honor in 2007-08.  It is the first women’s golf honor for both Radford and Charleston Southern.  Winthrop repeats as the softball winner and earns its first Team Sportsmanship Award of the year.

At the conclusion of the 2007-08 athletic season, the Big South Conference’s Institutional Sportsmanship Award will be announced.  An institution’s sport winners count towards the Institution Sportsmanship Award and the winner is determined on a system recognizing the highest percentage of the maximum possible points each institution is capable of achieving in that year.  The institution with the highest percentage will win the award.  VMI has won the Big South’s Institutional Sportsmanship Award the first two years.

2007-08 Big South Team Sportsmanship Award Winners
Softball:......................................Winthrop
Women’s Outdoor Track:...........High Point, Liberty
Men’s Outdoor Track:................Liberty
Women’s Golf:...........................Charleston Southern, Radford
Men’s Golf:................................Liberty
Women’s Tennis:........................Radford
Men’s Tennis:.............................High Point
Women’s Basketball:..................Charleston Southern
Men’s Basketball:.......................Radford
Women’s Indoor Track:..............Liberty
Men’s Indoor Track:...................Radford
Football:.....................................VMI
Volleyball:...................................Liberty
Men’s Soccer:............................VMI
Women’s Soccer:.......................VMI
Men’s Cross Country:.................Liberty
Women’s Cross Country:............High Point