Southern Conference concludes annual spring meetings

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – The Southern Conference wrapped up its 2023 spring meetings at the Sonesta Resort in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, on Thursday. The three-day meetings were attended by the institutional presidents and chancellors, athletic directors, senior woman administrators and faculty athletic representatives, as well as Southern Conference staff.
 
Incoming SoCon Commissioner Michael Cross was also on-hand to meet those groups.
 
Among the business conducted, The Brand Leader addressed the school groups about a brand refreshment for the league, while NCAA Director of Division I Leeland Zeller spoke about the recommendations of the NCAA Division I Transformation Committee.
 
Future championship sites were determined for the SoCon indoor and outdoor track and field and softball championships. VMI will host the indoor track and field championships through 2027, Samford will host the outdoor track and field championships in 2024 and 2025, Western Carolina will host the outdoor track and field championships in 2026 and 2027 and the softball championship will be hosted by UNCG, Chattanooga and Wofford in 2024, 2025 and 2026, respectively.
 
At the Honors Reception on Wednesday evening, the SoCon recognized the league’s annual award winners, beginning with the 10 SoCon postgraduate scholarship winners.
 
Among the institutional awards, the Barrett-Bonner Award, given annually to the school with the highest percentage of its student-athletes on the SoCon Honor Roll, went to Mercer for the eighth consecutive year, as the Bears had 71.4 percent of their student-athletes earn the necessary 3.0 GPA for inclusion on the SoCon Academic Honor Roll. The D.S. McAlister Award, presented annually to the school judged by the league’s administrators and head coaches to have exhibited the highest degree of sportsmanship, went to The Citadel for the second straight season and fifth time overall. The Graduation Rate Award went to Samford, which paced the league in the latest NCAA Graduation Success Rate data with a score of 98. It was the Bulldogs’ third straight Graduation Rate Award win.
 
Samford was awarded the Commissioner’s Cup for fielding the best men’s programs in the league for the first time in its history, while the Bulldogs’ women’s programs were recognized for winning the Germann Cup, which honors the school with the top women’s programs, for the third straight season and the fifth time overall.
 
The league also recognized retiring SoCon Commissioner Jim Schaus at the conclusion of the Honors Reception.
 
“The meetings were very productive,” Schaus said. “We had healthy discussions about a variety of subjects from the conference and school levels to those that affect the NCAA and college athletics as a whole.”
 

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