INDIANAPOLIS – Bellarmine University has earned the Great Lakes Valley Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Overall Sportsmanship Award. The institution will be presented the award at the 2011 Enterprise Rent-a-Car Spring Awards Banquet in St. Louis on May 24. Bellarmine was recognized for best displaying ‘Good Sportsmanship’ across all sports sponsored by the GLVC during the 2010-11 season.
The SAAC Overall Sportsmanship Award is determined by the institution receiving the most points at the end of the academic year based on the results of the SAAC Team Sportsmanship Awards.
The Knights earned the team sportsmanship award in seven of the league’s seventeen sports. The Bellarmine men’s and women’s cross country and track and field teams, all coached by Jim Vargo, were honored for demonstrating sportsmanship throughout their seasons.
Additionally, the men’s basketball team earned the team sportsmanship award for the Knights in the same season the club won the NCAA D-II National Championship. It was the first national title and first team sportsmanship for the men’s basketball team coached by Scott Davenport.
The 2011 SAAC Overall Sportsmanship Award is the second consecutive overall award for Bellarmine. The Knights claimed their first SAAC Overall Sportsmanship Award for the 2009-10 season. Bellarmine is also the first institution to be a repeat winner of the award. Northern Kentucky claimed the inaugural award in 2007-08 and UW-Parkside earned the overall award in 2008-09.