Feb. 16, 2004

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Two University of North Carolina teams have been honored with Atlantic Coast Conference Fall Sportsmanship Awards, the league announced recently. Carolina was selected as the men's soccer winner and the Tar Heels shared the field hockey award with Wake Forest.

The awards, in their first year of existence, go to squads that have conducted themselves with a high degree of character and good sportsmanship and are determined by voting from the league's teams. The conference presents sportsmanship awards for each of its 25 sponsored sports.

The concept of these awards was created by the ACC Student Athlete Advisory Committee in an effort to recognize teams who earned the utmost regard from their peers during competition. As is stated in the conference's Mission Statement, the ACC "strongly adheres to the principles of integrity and sportsmanship, and supports the total development of the student-athlete and each member institution's athletics department staff, with the intent of producing enlightened leadership for tomorrow."

The UNC men's soccer team finished the 2003 season 12-4-4 while the Tar Heel field hockey team was 16-6.

Florida State, North Carolina and Wake Forest each had two selections among fall sports, while Virginia had one.

The following is a complete list of the ACC Fall Sportsmanship Award recipients:

Men's Cross Country: Florida State

Women's Cross Country: Florida State

Field Hockey: North Carolina/Wake Forest

Men's Soccer: North Carolina

Women's Soccer: Wake Forest

Volleyball: Virginia