Craig County High School is one of just 27 among the 316 schools in the Virginia High School League to earn the prestigious Claudia Dodson VHSL Sportsmanship, Ethics and Integrity Award for the 2016-17 school year. The winners were recently announced with the six award winners of the VHSL Wells Fargo Cup for overall athletic excellence.
The Claudia Dodson Award recognizes member schools that have established policies and procedures that make sportsmanship a priority and an expectation within the school and school community. The award was renamed in 2007 to honor the memory of Claudia Dodson, a VHSL Assistant Director from 1971-2002 and a 2003 National High School Fame inductee, who passed away in 2007.
“I consider this to be the Virginia High School League’s most prestigious award,” said VHSL assistant director Chris Robinson. “It’s the only award that the entire school is graded on.”
This year is the first time Craig County has been presented the award. Winners receive 50 points in the VHSL Wells Fargo Cup standings, and with that Craig finished 22nd among 55 Group 1A schools in the Wells Fargo Cup standings.
“This is a first for Craig County,” said Rockets’ athletic director Carrie Hutton. “I’m very proud of all our athletes.”
Radford, Maggie Walker, Blacksburg, Jamestown, Deep Run, and James Robinson claimed the top spots in VHSL athletic competition for the 2016-17 school year winning, the coveted Wells Fargo Cup for Groups 1A through 6A. Radford claimed its third Cup in four years in 1A and its sixth overall while Maggie Walker earned its fourth straight Cup in 2A while winning 10 state titles. In 3A, Blacksburg totaled a record 677.5 points earning the school’s 12th Cup title, second straight, and seventh in the past eight years. In 4A, Jamestown won its second Cup with its only other title coming in 2001. Deep Run was awarded its first Cup in 5A while Oakton won for the third time in five years in 6A.
First awarded in 1990, the Wells Fargo Cup goes to the school in each group classification that has achieved the best overall record in VHSL state-level competition in 27 sports – the state champions’ state champion. Cups are presented for athletic and academic activities to the top school in each of the League’s enrollment groups. Radford, Central-Wise, Cave Spring, Woodgrove, Princess Anne, and Clover Hill were announced earlier as 2015-16 winners for academic activities.
The winner of the Wells Fargo Cup is determined by a point system based on performance in state championship events. Points are awarded for all sanctioned sports in the following manner; first place-50 points, second-45, third-40, fourth-35, fifth-30, sixth-25, seventh-20 and eighth place-15. In the event of a tie, the schools received an equal number of points based on the number of schools that tie and the number schools that finish higher in the standings. Schools earning the League’s Sportsmanship, Ethics and Integrity Award, including Craig County, earn 50 points each.
In Group 1A, Radford returned to the top spot earning 377.5 points while defending Cup champion Auburn totaled 360 points. The Bobcats scored 132.5 fall points followed by 65 winter points and 180 spring points. Patrick Henry-Glade Spring (297.5); Mathews (250), and George Wythe-Wytheville (217.5) filled out the remaining spots in the top five.
“We congratulate all the schools who competed in this year’s VHSL championship events,” said John W. “Billy” Haun, Ed.D., VHSL executive director. “We especially congratulate the best of the best and we thank Wells Fargo for supporting this important recognition.”
The Wells Fargo Cup athletic and academic winners will be recognized during VHSL Day at a University of Virginia football game this fall in Charlottesville.
