LaGrange, GA -- Piedmont College men's athletics have been awarded the inaugural Great South Athletic Conference Institutional Sportsmanship of the Year Award as announced by the league office. The honor was awarded to PC based on the votes of all male student-athletes within the GSAC and is the first of its kind in the conference.

With the beginning of the 2009-2010 academic year, two types GSAC sportsmanship awards, individual and institutional, were created in line with the sportsmanship initiative to award institutions and individual student-athletes within the conference that exemplify the best qualities of sportsmanship. According to the conference, sportsmanship is defined as a commitment to excellence through an atmosphere of fair play that demonstrates respect for teammates, coaches, opposing student athletes and coaches, officials, and fans.

In addition to an individual student-athlete being selected from a member institution as a representative of sportsmanship as defined by the conference, a member institution on both the female and male sides of athletics is also selected for the GSAC Institutional Sportsmanship of the Year Award each year. Piedmont took home the unique honor as the men's institutional winner for the 2009-2010 academic year.

For more information on the commitment from both Piedmont College and the Great South Athletic Conference to sportsmanship, please visit the GSAC website at www.greatsouth.org.