The Catawba College Indians, who rallied with a strong spring, won the 2004-05 South Atlantic Conference Athletic Excellence Award, taking the award for the first time in school history, it was announced by the league office.
The Indians won three regular-season titles for the year, with two of those coming in the spring. Catawba shared the baseball title with Tusculum, while the women’s golf team won the school’s first title in that sport. That helped Catawba erase a 6.5-point deficit after the winter sports and win by seven points.
Catawba finished with 81 points. The Indians also won the men’s basketball title and finished lower than fourth in only one sport all year – a sixth-place finish in women’s cross country. Catawba was third in the points total last year, while finishing runner-up the two years prior to that.
The SAC Athletic Excellence Award is presented annually to the member athletic department that earns the highest overall finish based on final regular season standings in each of the 14 conference-sponsored sports. Points are based on final tournament standings in the sports of men’s cross country, women’s cross country, men’s golf and women’s golf. The trophy is presented at the SAC Annual Business Meeting at the conclusion of each year.
Carson-Newman College, the two-time defending champion, finished second with 74 points. The Eagles won the league title in football, men’s soccer, women’s soccer and softball. Tusculum College finished third with 69 points. The Pioneers won the men’s tennis title and shared the baseball crown with Catawba and the women’s soccer title with Carson-Newman.
Wingate University finished fourth with 67.5 points. The Bulldogs won the women’s basketball championship. Presbyterian College was fifth with 64.5 points. The Blue Hose won conference championships in men’s golf and women’s tennis, and shared the volleyball title.
Lenoir-Rhyne College finished sixth with 52 points. The Bears captured conference championships in volleyball and finished second in men’s cross country and men’s basketball. Mars Hill College collected 50 points. The Lions won league titles in men’s and women’s cross country. Newberry College finished with 39 points. The Indians’ best finish in the conference standings was second in women’s golf.
