Three Students Receive Guilford College's Top Athletic Honor

Greensboro, N.C. (2/19/07) -- Three elite Guilford College student-athletes received the 2007 Nereus C. English '26 Athletic Leadership Award at a banquet Monday night in Founders Hall on Guilford's campus. This year's English Award recipients were Jennah Carter, Joseph Poplin and Ben Strong. Since Guilford first presented the honor in 1977, 166 students have received the English Award.

 

Named for one of Guilford's most loyal alumni, the annual prize is the college's highest honor for athletic ability and leadership. The school's athletic staff members nominate and select the award winners who display the highest ideals of athletic accomplishment, leadership and academic achievement.

A three-year starter and captain of coach Eric Lewis' soccer team, Carter became Guilford's first women's soccer performance All-American with her selection to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas NCAA Division III Second Team squad last fall. She is a two-time First Team All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) and First Team NSCAA/adidas All-South selection. The senior forward was selected to the college division all-state team by the North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association (NCCSIA) three straight years. Carter ranks second among Guilford's career points (128) and goals (52) leaders, and set the school record with 24 career assists. A three-time ODAC Player of the Week in 2006, she finished second in the league in points (48), third in points per match (2.18) and third in goals per match (0.95). She led the Quakers in points and goals for three straight years. Carter is a criminal justice major and four-time member of Guilford's Student-Athlete Honor Roll.

A regular in Guilford's lineup for four years on coach Jack Jensen's golf team, Poplin boasts Guilford's best stroke average (72.00) through the conclusion of the 2006 fall season. He has played in the NCAA Tournament in each of his three years as a Quaker and earned 2006 Second Team PING All-America honors by virtue of his 13th-place NCAA finish. Poplin was named First Team All-ODAC in 2006 and earned 2004 All-ODAC Tournament honors. He tied the school record for the lowest round with a 66 in the first day of last year's Camp Lejeune Intercollegiate. The senior has helped the Quakers to two ODAC titles and the 2005 NCAA Division III National Championship. A two-time member of Guilford's Student-Athlete Honor Roll, Poplin is a sport management major.

Strong, a junior center for coach Tom Palombo's basketball team, garnered First Team All-ODAC laurels for the first time in 2006. He has also earned ODAC Player of the Week honors eight times in his career, including a school-record five times this year. Strong was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-South Second Team, the D3hoops.com All-South Third Team and NCCSIA's All-State Second Team in 2006. He has led the ODAC in blocks per game all three years as a Quaker, and also paced the league's scorers over the past two seasons. Strong helped the Quakers to a 10-0 start in 2006-07, the best in school history. This year's team is ranked in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll for the first time in the program's history. Strong has played a huge role in the team's success, averaging 24.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game, which all rank among the NCAA Division III leaders. He surpassed 1,000 career points this year and ranks 16th among Guilford's career scoring leaders with 1,333 points in 78 games. A two-time member of the Guilford Student-Athlete Honor Roll, Strong is a sport management major.

A native of Thomasville, N.C., Nereus C. English graduated from Guilford in 1926, but maintained close contact with the college after graduation. His loyalty and genuine interest in its students led to the creation of the English Endowment Fund and the Nereus C. and Mae Martin English Scholarship Fund in 1965. With his brother, the late T.R. English, he made possible Guilford's English Hall dormitory in 1957. In 1962, Nereus English received the Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Guilford College Alumni Association.