Reinhardt Eagles celebrate 2018 RESPY award ceremony
By Laqwan Scott
WALESKA, Ga. – On August 30th, Reinhardt held the 2nd annual RESPY award ceremony as the student body, faculty and staff came together with family and friends to celebrate athletic achievement in 2017. Our Reinhardt Eagles’ student athletes achieved new heights, with Men’s Lacrosse claiming a second national championship and Baseball reaching the national invitational for the first time in program history.
Every chair was filled at the Brown Athletic Center in preparation for the event. During the ceremony, athletes were honored for their successful academic accomplishments as well as success in sports, both as individuals, and as a team.
A new Reinhardt Hall of Fame class was announced as well. The 2018 Reinhardt Eagles Hall of Fame class is William G. Hasty Jr (67), Sam Allen, Men’s Basketball (03), Maddie Monroe, Softball (13), Greg Ihlenburg, Baseball (08) and the Golden Eagles: Erinn Marroquin for Volleyball and Qua Stocks for Football and Men’s Track.
The room was filled with emotions as each Hall of Fame member gave a speech, covering why you should do your best and constantly work hard. These speeches brought tears to some student athletes’ eyes, as they felt a personal connection with the speaker’s message. The speakers spoke about putting in maximum effort on things you really want to accomplish, and not settling with being average. They also spoke about how you should never let anyone outwork you and always commit yourself to your craft because what you put in it is what you get out of it.
Director of Athletics and VP of Athletics Bill Popp gave ample congratulations to our student athletes and gave words of appreciation and support. He said, “it was a tremendous feeling seeing the students supporting and cheering for one another looking good and dressed for success. They took pride in their attire and represented the school and themselves very well.”
150 student-athletes from Reinhardt university held a cumulative GPA of 3.7 or higher in the previous year. Our student-athletes strive in the classroom as much as they strive outside of the classroom. That is no easy task keeping your GPA so high, especially due to the time restraints many of our student athletes face. They dedicate their lives, times, and hearts to doing their best, whether it’s in the classroom or outside.
The 2018 RESPYs are in the books. With our alumni athletes honored and our current athletes inspired, next year’s RESPYs should be even better.
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