The University of North Georgia captured their first-ever Peach Belt Conference Commissioner's Cup on Tuesday night at the annual awards dinner in Hilton Head. UNG also laid claim to the league's Presidents' Academic Award for the first time in school history and earned the LeeAnn Noble Make-A-Wish Award for the eighth straight year.
On hand at the league's annual meeting to accept the awards were Director of Athletics Lindsay Reeves, Assistant Athletic Director/SWA Mary Rob Plunkett and Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Janet Marling.
"The University of North Georgia is honored to be able to accept these three awards tonight," stated Reeves. "The honors are a testament to our all-around commitment to success - on the field, in the classroom and in the community."
Commissioner's Cup
The Commissioner's Cup is the first-ever for the UNG athletic department with UNG's previous best finish was third in 2015. Prior to 2015, the Nighthawks' best finish was ninth since joining the league officially in 2006.
North Georgia had a remarkable season from start to finish with regular-season championships in baseball and softball. The women's cross country team was second at the PBC championships while men's and women's soccer were tied for second, women's tennis tied for fourth, men's tennis alone in fourth and women's track & field third in their first year of competition.
The Cup is presented annually to the best overall athletic department based on regular-season standings and select championships. The Nighthawks captured 102 of a possible 138 points available to them based on the number of sports sponsored. That is a .739 rating, tops in the league and the first for the program.
The PBC Commissioner's Cup is determined by calculating the number of points possible to each school, given the number of sports they participate in, divided by the number of points earned during the year. Points are determined by placement in the final regular-season standings in each of the PBC's 15 championship sports.
Presidents' Academic Award
The award recognizes excellence in academics concerning all of an institution's student-athletes.
At the end of the academic school year the Peach Belt Conference asked each of the league's 14 members to submit an average GPA for the undergraduate student body and a GPA for all student-athletes. These two numbers were used to determine each institutions' GPA ratio that identifies which school's athletes are performing most ahead of the curve in comparison to the student body. The schools are not measured against one another, just their athletes to their students. North Georgia had the highest ratio at 1.09375, and at 13 of the 14 PBC member institutions the student-athletes had, on average, a better GPA than the general student body.
The President's Academic Award is part of a larger conference program to highlight the accomplishments of PBC student-athletes in the classroom as well as on the field.
LeeAnn Noble Make-A-Wish Award
North Georgia led the nation in 2015-16 in Make-A-Wish giving and will be a contender for that honor once again after raising $26,000 during the 2016-17 season. The Nighthawks have hit the five-digit mark in giving for seven straight years and remain the only PBC school to do so. This is UNG's eighth straight Most Funds raised award.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses. The Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which is the primary student-based group that contributes to policy-making for the division, established the Make-A-Wish partnership in 2003 and has since become one of the foundation's largest and most consistent contributors.
Division II has raised more than $4 million toward granting the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. More than 500 "wishes" have been granted through Division II contributions. These wishes can serve as a game changer in children's fights against their illnesses, helping them feel better, and in some cases even get better.
The PBC Make-A-Wish awards were renamed the LeeAnn Noble Make-A-Wish Awards following the 2013-14 season. Noble was a women's golfer at the University of North Georgia and former wish recipient from Make-A-Wish. She appeared on the cover of NCAA Champion Magazine in the fall of 2013 and sadly passed away in March of 2014. Her dedication to the Make-A-Wish program will live on with these awards that will forever bear her name.
