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Springfield, Ohio — Showing tremendous balance across its 23 varsity intercollegiate athletics teams and enjoying consistent success through the fall, winter and spring sports seasons, Wittenberg University's athletics program has emerged victorious in the race for the 2009-10 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) All-Sports championship.

Tiger teams turned in 18 top-five finishes in the 22 NCAC championship sports to end up two points ahead of three-time defending all-sports champion Ohio Wesleyan. It was Wittenberg's first title since the 1995-96 school year and its second since joining the conference prior to the 1989-90 school year.

Tiger teams won or shared regular season championships in field hockey, football and volleyball to take the lead in the fall, followed by a conference crown in women's basketball in the winter and a pair of first-place finishes in the spring by men's golf and men's lacrosse. In addition, Wittenberg's women's soccer and women's cross country teams placed second and the men's basketball team added a third-place finish.

The all-sports standings are updated at the end of the fall, winter and spring seasons each school year, with the Dennis M. Collins All-Sports Trophy, recently named in honor of the NCAC's first commissioner who passed away in June 2009, given annually to the school that performs the best across the NCAC's 22 sports. Ten points are awarded for a first-place finish, nine for a second, eight for a third, and so on. Men's and women's performances are combined, exemplifying the North Coast's commitment to equity and balance among programs.

In addition to its two all-sports championships, Wittenberg has three other runner-up finishes (1995, 2002 and 2003) since joining the conference in 1989. Denison has the most titles with 11, followed by Ohio Wesleyan with nine and Wooster with five. Wittenberg is the only one of the four schools to win the All-Sports trophy that was not a charter member of the NCAC, which started competition in 1984.

"I am very proud of the efforts of everyone involved in Wittenberg athletics – from the student-athletes to the coaches to the administrators – who worked so hard during the 2009-10 school year to reach this goal," said Garnett Purnell, director of athletics and recreation. "This is a great collective achievement, and it is reason for our entire university to celebrate."

Written by: Ryan Maurer

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