The Georgia Southwestern athletic department was presented with their first-ever PBC President's Cup at the league's annual meeting in Hilton Head, S.C. The award recognizes excellence in academics concerning all of an institution's student-athletes. 2007-08 is the third year the award has been presented.

This spring, the Peach Belt Conference asked each of the league's 11 members to submit an average GPA for the undergraduate student body and a GPA for all student-athletes. These two numbers were then used to create a ratio identifying which school's athletes were performing the most ahead of the curve in comparison to the student body. Schools were not measured against one another, just their athletes to their students. Georgia Southwestern had the highest ratio at 1.0718.

At 10 of the 11 member institutions the student-athletes had, on average, a better GPA than the general student body.

The President's Cup is part of a larger conference program to highlight the accomplishments of PBC student-athletes in the classroom as well as on the field and will be presented each spring.

(Pictured from left to right are GSW Athletic Director Randolph Barksdale, Faculty Athletic Representative Dr. Liz Wilson, Associate Athletic Director Jaclyn Kaylor and GSW President Dr. Kendall Blanchard) 

PHOTO BY: Ken Gerlinger