Rock Hill, S.C.----For the 15th consecutive year, the Wingate University Bulldogs have won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award. The 'Dogs piled up the conference titles in historic fashion in 2022-23, winning by 361 points over second-place Lenoir-Rhyne. Wingate piled up 1,955.4 points while collecting 20 SAC trophies on the year.

"We are blessed to have a fantastic group of student-athletes and coaches with whom to work," interim director of athletics Joe Reich says. "The Excellence Cup is the byproduct of the work that group puts in day in and day out." 

The Echols Athletic Excellence Award is presented annually to the member athletic department that earns the highest point total based on cumulative final standings in each of the Conference's 23 sports.  Regular season finish is used in the sports of men's and women's soccer, volleyball, football, field hockey, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's lacrosse, baseball and softball, while SAC Championship results are used for men's and women's cross country, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's golf, and men's and women's indoor and outdoor track. 

The Bulldogs have 15 Excellence Cups all-time. Wingate's 15-year run is now the longest in league history by seven years, eclipsing Elon's eight-year run from 1990-1997. The Bulldogs have won 15 Excellence Cups, while the other current 12 current SAC schools have combined to win five. Wingate, Carson-Newman and Catawba are the only three SAC schools to win an Excellence Cup this century.

As usual, the 'Dogs got off to a hot start in the fall. Both cross country teams rolled to SAC titles, which they followed up by winning region championships, with the men adding a national runner-up finish. The Bulldog volleyball team won the SAC regular season and tournament titles, then went on to capture the sixth regional championship in program history. The Wingate football team shared the division title, then made a run to the NCAA national quarterfinals by picking up a pair of road wins over top-15 opponents. The men's soccer team also took home the regular season SAC championship, then won a pair of NCAA Tournament contests to advance to the regional semifinals.

The winter saw the two swim teams win 29 of 38 events, rolling to a pair of titles in the inaugural SAC swimming championships. They both followed with top-10 showings at the NCAA championships. Both track and field teams rolled to victories at the SAC indoor championships. The men would go on to finish 10th at the Indoor national championship meet, capturing a pair of national titles.

The spring saw both tennis teams pick up regular season SAC titles, then follow up with a pair of tournament championships. The women's lacrosse team cruised to their first-ever regular season SAC title, following up with their first-ever tournament championship. The men's lacrosse team went 9-0 to notch their first-ever undefeated SAC season to pick up the title. The Wingate softball team won their first regular season SAC championship since the 2009 season. The 'Dogs travel to Georgia this week, playing in their first-ever NCAA Super Regional. Both track and field teams followed indoor titles by winning a pair of championships at the SAC outdoor meet.

In addition to the 20 titles, the 'Dogs added second-place finishes in baseball, men's and women's basketball and women's golf.

Along with dominating in conference play, Wingate was second in the most recent LEARFIELD Directors' Cup standings, with seven top-10 national finishes so far this year. The 'Dogs will look to add to that total this month, with softball heading to Georgia for super regionals and the track and field NCAA championship participants being announced later today.

2022-23 SAC Echols Athletic Excellence Award Final Standings

Rank	School	Points
1.	Wingate	1955.4
2.	Lenoir-Rhyne	1594.65
3.	Carson-Newman	1369
4.	Catawba	1306
5.	Anderson	1228.25
6.	Limestone	1224.4
7.	Newberry	1197.4
8.	Tusculum	1055.5
9.	Lincoln Memorial	1015
10.	Mars Hill	543.4
11.	Coker	539.75
12.	Emory & Henry	437.75
13.	UVA Wise	359

WINGATE UNIVERSITY
 
Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a laboratory of difference-making that serves more than 3,400 students in North Carolina. Wingate offers 38 undergraduate majors as well as seven master's and four doctoral degrees. The University is home to the Cannon College of Arts and Sciences; the Levine College of Health Sciences; the Byrum School of Business; the Thayer School of Education; and the School of Sport Sciences. 
 
Wingate is a leader in healthcare education, and nearly one in five Wingate undergraduate students is preparing to be a pharmacist, physician assistant, physical therapist, occupational therapist or nurse. Student-athletes on Wingate's 25 teams compete in NCAA Division II and have brought home the SAC Echols Athletic Excellence Award the past 15 times it has been awarded. The University's motto is "Faith, Knowledge, Service." View current news and videos at www.wingate.edu.
 
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