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to more than double their amount from the previous year. Flagler
also won the Most Improved Award in 2010.
Overall, PBC schools raised $56,471 duing the 2016-17 year.
Last year, the conference had the second-highest total in the
nation.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants wishes to children with
life-threatening illnesses. The Division II Student-Athlete Advi-
sory 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 contribu-
tions. 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.
Georgia College Wins PBC Institution of the Year
Sportsmanship Award
HILTON HEAD, SC – Georgia College was presented with their
first-ever PBC Institution of the Year Sportsmanship Award on
Tuesday night at the PBC Annual Awards Dinner in Hilton Head. A
banner that rotates from winning school to winning
school will hang in Milledgeville, Ga., for the first time
after spending the last six years at Flagler College in St.
Augustine, Fla.
The annual honor is given to the institution
displaying the best overall sportsmanship for the
2016-17 season and culminates the PBC’s season-long
sportsmanship recognition program.
Following each championship sports season a
Team Sportsmanship Award is presented to the team
in that sport that best exemplifies what the award
stands for: the spirit of sportsmanship, a high degree of
integrity, character and class. Each team award is voted
on by other teams who compete in that sport and points
are awarded on how each team finished in the voting.
In 2016-17, Georgia College was a co-winner of
the Team Sportsmanship Award in women’s tennis and
won outright in men’s tennis and volleyball. GC has won
12 Team Sportsmanship Awards all-time.
Armstrong State Receives PBC Sports Information
Staff of the Year Award
HILTON HEAD, SC – Armstrong State University was presented with
the Peach Belt Conference Sports Information Staff of the Year
Award on Tuesday at the league’s annual awards dinner in Hilton
Head.
Director of Sports Communications Chad Jackson was on hand
to receive the honor after guiding the Pirate media relations effort
through one of the most challenging environments any Division II
school has ever been faced with. In January, the University System
of Georgia Board of Regents announced that Armstrong State will
merge with Georgia Southern University. It was later announced
that the athletic programs at Armstrong State will cease operations
at the end of the 2017-18 season.
Throughout that process, Jackson and the sports communica-
tion office at Armstrong State provided as much information as
was available as readily as possible while maintaining consistent
coverage of the school’s 12 intercollegiate sports.
“I’m grateful to my colleagues and friends among the Peach
Belt Conference SIDs for selecting Armstrong State for this honor,”
Jackson said. “Even though I am a ‘one-man shop,’ I could not have
done my job effectively without the support and hard work from
our administration, gameday workers and students. I am proud to
have had the great opportunity to publicize and work for the Pirates
these last 18 years.”
Jackson and his staff provided coverage throughout all
of it, broadcasting over 100 events, maintaining their social media
presence and providing coverage through local media, armstrong-
2016-17