St. Thomas University has been named the 2017 Buffalo Funds Five-Star NAIA Champions of Character Softball Team Award winner for its excellence as a character-driven intercollegiate athletics program.
The prestigious award is given to the team that best demonstrates in every-day decisions the NAIA Champions of Character core values of integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship and servant leadership. The award further commemorates the team that best strives for excellence in and out of competition, while giving back to the community.
“In all my years in collegiate athletics, the 2017 Bobcat Softball team demonstrated the highest level of Champions of Character spirit I have ever witnessed,” said Laura Courtley-Todd, St. Thomas University director of athletics. “These student-athletes and coaches exemplified through their actions exactly what the NAIA Champions of Character program stands for.”
The 2017 Bobcat softball team, under the direction of head coach Jeff Norman, along with assistant coaches Melissa King and Melissa Giesler-Hassell, became the first athletic team at St. Thomas University to ever win the highly sought after Buffalo Funds Award.