May 31, 2006

HILTON HEAD, S.C. -- Columbus State University was awarded the 2005-06 Peach Belt Conference Commissioners Cup at a special awards dinner here Tuesday evening at the leagues annual meeting.

The Cup is given to the PBC athletic program that had the best overall year in all PBC Championship sports it competes in and reflects excellence for an entire athletic program as opposed to just one team. The trophy is the first Columbus State has won since becoming an inaugural member of the league in 1990.

The Cougars had an outstanding year in 2005-06, winning PBC Championships in womens cross country and softball and tying for PBC titles in mens basketball, womens soccer and womens tennis. The Cougars also had a second-place conference finishes in mens golf and were third in mens cross country and baseball.

This was one of those years where we were fortunate enough to be pretty good in just about everything, said CSU Athletic Director Herbert Greene. It is a testament to the great job our coaches do year in and year out. We are glad to finally be able to win this award. It says a lot for the overall job our folks do in our program.

Columbus State earned 76.5 total points out of a maximum possible total of 93, giving them a .823 rating to win the Cup. Armstrong Atlantic State was second with a .788 while Clayton State was third at .704. The rating system was implemented in 2001 to give a weighted average derived from the number of championship sports sponsored.