Wingate Leads Echols Athletic Excellence Award Standings after Fall Season

ROCK HILL, S.C. – With each of the SAC's fall sport regular seasons having been completed, Wingate is the current leader in the 2012-13 Echols Athletic Excellence Award standings, which is determined by cumulative final finishes in each of the conference's sports.

The award, which has been won by Wingate the past six seasons, is named after former SAC commissioner Doug Echols. Calculations are based on regular-season standings for football, volleyball, soccer, basketball, baseball, tennis, softball and baseball, while SAC Championship results are used for cross country and golf.

The Bulldogs' lead in the standings comes after winning the regular-season SAC title in volleyball and finishing second in women's soccer. The WU men and women's cross country teams also each placed second at the 2012 Food Lion SAC Cross Country Championship.

None of Wingate's fall teams finished lower than fourth in their respective sports' standings.

Just 3.5 points behind Wingate is No. 2 Lenoir-Rhyne, which won fall championships in football, women's cross country and women's soccer.

L-R was also helped by its men's cross country team's third-place performance at the SAC Championship.

Mars Hill is currently third in the Echols standings with 42 points. The Lions won fall championships in men's soccer and men's cross country – the program's 16th-straight.

Lincoln Memorial is No. 4 in the standings with 34 points, followed by No. 5 Tusculum with 30 and No. 6 Anderson with 27.5.

LMU's men's soccer and volleyball teams both finished third in the SAC standings, while Tusculum's point total was aided by its volleyball team's second-place finish.

Rounding out the current Echols Award standings are No. 7 Catawba, No. 8 Carson-Newman, No. 9 Newberry and No. 10 Brevard.

The 2012-13 Echols Athletic Excellence Award standings will be updated again at the conclusion of the basketball season.

2012-13 SAC Echols Athletic Excellence Award (Fall Standings)