Big Night, Big Year, Big South

Well, we've made it to the next day...whew!
What am I talking about THIS time? Let's jump back to Thursday night and review...


The Big South Conference 2009 Awards & 25th Anniversary Dinner--a gathering of not only VIPs from all the Big South member institutions and sponsorship partners, but also of great student-athletes and coaches from the full span of Conference history! It was a special night at McBryde Hall on the campus of Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC.


The Sunbelt Rentals Scholarships were formally awarded.
The Christenberry Award and Graduate Fellowship recipients were recognized.


Then came the major yearly awards--the All-Sports Trophies: Liberty won the Men's, Coastal Carolina won the Women's, and Liberty earned the Sasser Cup for overall sports performance. The Flames had a sensational year, pulling down Conference championships in men's cross country, men's track (indoor and outdoor), football, volleyball, and women's basketball. In addition, LU also notched five runner-up finishes. A sensational season, congratulations to Liberty University!


But as amazing as those honors and awards are, they only served as preamble to the highlight of the night: a salute to the 25th Anniversary "Best of the Best," followed by the announcement of the Top Ten Countdown for the "Best of the Best" through a special video--this one right here, as a matter of fact...

In summation (or for those who don't have a few spare minutes to watch):

10-Martin Sayer, Radford tennis--player of the year all four of his seasons
9-UNCA MBB 2003--first-ever NCAA MBB tourney win for the Big South
8-LU Track & Field--dominant winner of vast majority of Conference titles
7-Coastal Carolina Baseball--nationally prominent and still on a long run of success
6-Josh McDougal, Liberty track--distance sensation, National Champion, 14-time All-American
5-Katie Feenstra, Liberty WBB--among nation's best players, engine for title run
4-Radford WBB Dynasty--the Highlanders were virtually untouchable for a decade
3-CCU Men's Soccer/Joseph Ngwenya--great player and team to Sweet 16
2-Winthrop MBB 2007--knock off Notre Dame in NCAA tourney, go to 2nd round
1-Libery WBB Dynasty--10 straight Big South titles & Sweet 16 berth!!!

There you have it--a fantastic night for the Big South...

Meanwhile, Coastal Carolina Baseball is at the Chapel Hill Regional, just starting against Kansas--AND several Big South student-athletes are at the East Regional for NCAA Track & Field. Good luck to all our remaining competitors!

Have a great weekend, everybody...