2016-17 PBC Yearbook 1617 yearbook | Page 74

P B C Y E A R B O O K 72 in women’s soccer, women’s basketball, women’s tennis and were co-champions in men’s tennis. UNC Pembroke won the men’s bas- 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 class- room as well as on the field. Montevallo’s Thompson, GSW’s Ward Named PBC Scholar-Athletes of the Year ketball east division title and the men’s track & field championship. 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. North Georgia Claims PBC Presidents’ Academic Award HILTON HEAD, SC – University of Montevallo cross country and track standout Cheyenne Thompson and Georgia Southwestern State University golfer Nick Ward were named the 2017 PBC Scholar-Ath- letes of the Year on Tuesday in Hilton Head. The award is the highest individual honor given by the PBC to a student-athlete during the year and is selected by the league’s Faculty Athletic Representatives. Thompson finishes her career at Montevallo as one of the most decorated runners in PBC history. The Chelsea, Ala., native graduat- ed with a degree in chemistry and a minor in biology with a perfect 4.00 GPA. A two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American, she received the PBC Elite 15 Award in both cross country and track this season in addition to earning her fourth consecutive Presidential Honor Roll Gold Scholar honor. HILTON HEAD, SC – The University of North Georgia won their first-ever Presidents’ Academic Award on Tuesday night at the Peach Belt Conference annual awards dinner in Hilton Head. 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 identi- fies 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 2016-17