Tusculum’s Maples, Presbyterian’s Wright Receive 2004-05 South Atlantic Conference President’s Award

ROCK HILL, SC - A pair of student-athletes who made significant contributions with their teams, in the classroom, and in their communities have been named the 2004-05 South Atlantic Conference Presidents Award recipients, following a vote of the league's Faculty Athletics Representatives at the annual SAC Business Meetings in Asheville, N.C.

Senior men's soccer player Michael Wright from Presbyterian College and senior women's basketball player Julie Maples from Tusculum College are this year's honorees.

Tusculum's Julie Maples is a winner of the prestigious SAC President's Award. She played basketball and graduated this spring with a 3.99 GPA in English Education.

Maples graduated from Tusculum with a 3.99 GPA in English Education. She was a three-time winner of the Scholar-Athlete Award for women's basketball. She was named to the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll, the Tusculum Athletic Directors Honor Roll, the Tusculum Dean's List and President's List during her academic career. She was a three-time selection to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Four team.

On the court, Maples was a three-time All-Conference selection and is the school's all-time leader in free-throw percentage (.809) and 3-point field goals (125) and finished with 1,346 career points.

She is active in the community and on campus, volunteering for park and road clean-up events and Adopt-A-Family projects. Julie has worked at a Bible and sports camp and has put on health and fitness demonstrations in local elementary schools. She is also vice president of the Tusculum Student Athlete Advisory Committee and serves as an English tutor and a tutor at the Adult Education Center.

Presbyterian's Michael Wright has been selected as the men's recipient of the President's Award. He is a Rhodes Scholar nominee and graduated with a 4.0 GPA as a history and political science major.

Wright, a defender from Socastee, S.C., graduated with a 4.0 GPA as a history and political science major. He is a Rhodes Scholar nominee and received the 2004-05 Independent College Student of the Year Award from the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities. He was one of six nationwide recipients of the Pi Kappa Phi National Scholar Award and has received the Presbyterian College Student Leader of the Year Award and the Presbyterian College Parent's Council Leadership Award.

Wright began his athletic career as a walk-on, and was a three-year letterwinner for Presbyterian, where he was a key substitute and part-time starter on a Blue Hose defense which ranked second in the league in goal against average this season.

He is one of Presbyterian College's top campus leaders, serving on numerous campus committees and organization boards, including the PC Unite Steering Committee, a diversity and understanding group; Academic Affairs; Student Life; Student Government Finance Committee; Religious Life, Conservation Committee; Constitution Committee; NCAA Strategic Planning Commission and PC's 135th Anniversary Committee. He served as Presbyterian's Student Government Association President as a sophomore, only the second person in the history of the college to serve as president as a sophomore. He also helps in the community by volunteering with Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity and Big Brother.

The SAC Presidents Award is considered one of the most prestigious awards the conference awards to its student-athletes. It exemplifies the finest combined qualities of excellence in athletics, academics and community leadership. During the year, the South Atlantic Conference recognizes 14 Scholar-Athletes, representing each of the conference-sponsored sports. The top male and female SAC Scholar-Athletes from each represented member school are then nominated for the Presidents Award.