CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Big South Conference’s Team Sportsmanship Awards for its eight spring sports have been determined, and Gardner-Webb University, Liberty University and VMI were voted the winner in two sports, followed by High Point and Presbyterian with one each.  The honors are part of the Big South’s Sportsmanship Awards program that began in 2005-06.

Gardner-Webb received the Big South’s Team Sportsmanship Award in women’s golf and women’s tennis, while Liberty was honored in men’s golf and softball.  VMI was the Team Sportsmanship Award winner in baseball and men’s outdoor track & field.  High Point was the women’s outdoor track & field honoree, while Presbyterian claimed the Team Sportsmanship Award in men’s tennis.

The team 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.  

VMI receives the honor in baseball for the third consecutive year, and earns the men’s indoor track & field award for the second time.  High Point receives its third honor of the 2008-09 campaign and ninth overall award.  Gardner-Webb collects its third and fourth Team Sportsmanship Awards in its first year of membership in the Big South, while Presbyterian also is a multiple winner in its first official year in the Big South, having won in women’s basketball during the winter campaign.  Liberty is honored for sportsmanship for the fifth time this season with its first-ever award in softball.

With the 2008-09 season complete, the Big South Conference’s Institutional Sportsmanship Award will be announced next week.  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 all three years of the award’s history.

2008-09 Big South Team Sportsmanship Award Winners
Baseball:.........................VMI
Softball:..........................Liberty
Women’s Outdoor Track:...High Point
Men’s Outdoor Track:........VMI
Women’s Golf:.................Gardner-Webb
Men’s Golf:......................Liberty
Women’s Tennis:.............Gardner-Webb
Men’s Tennis:..................Presbyterian
Women’s Basketball:........Presbyterian
Men’s Basketball:.............Gardner-Webb, VMI
Women’s Indoor Track:.....Gardner-Webb, High Point
Men’s Indoor Track:..........VMI
Football:..........................VMI
Volleyball:........................Liberty
Men’s Soccer:...................Radford
Women’s Soccer:..............Liberty
Men’s Cross Country:........High Point, VMI
Women’s Cross Country:...Liberty