Hickory, N.C. - The PEF/Bears Club, the official fundraising arm for Lenoir-Rhyne University Athletics, hosted the 2011 Board Of Trustees Dinner on Tuesday, August 2, at the Lake Hickory Country Club.
The dinner and auction, which acknowledges the Bears' athletic accomplishments of the past year and helps usher in a new season for all of Lenoir-Rhyne's sports teams, was highlighted by the annual check to Lenoir-Rhyne.
This year, PEF/Bears Club President Blair "Tripp" Cody presented a check for $981,414 to Dr. Wayne Powell, President Of The College.
The PEF/Bears Club also honored its Dr. Rufus L. Moretz Scholar-Athletes Of The Year, given annually to the male and female Lenoir-Rhyne student-athletes with the highest grade point averages.
Senior Brittany Davidson (Fort Defiance, Va.), a member of the softball and volleyball teams, was named the female scholar-athlete of the year while senior Jamie Fisher (Millersville, Md.) earned the male scholar-athlete-of-the-year honors.
Fisher is a member of the men's cross country and track and field squads. Both Davidson and Fisher win the award for the second straight year.
Seniors Kate Griewisch (Banner Elk, N.C.) and Chandler Rearden (Greenwood, S.C.) were two of Lenoir-Rhyne's five All-Americans from last year who were also on hand and were recognized for their accomplishments.
Griewisch is L-R's first student-athlete of either gender to earn All-American honors in two different sports (women's cross country and women's outdoor track and field) while Rearden was named an All-American by five different publications in 2010.
The Bears Club also held a raffle for a trip on Wednesday, December 21, to see North Carolina host Texas in a men's basketball contest in Chapel Hill, N.C. All proceeds will go for the betterment of Lenoir-Rhyne's student-athletes.
Finally, the University of Texas Head Men's Basketball Coach and 1977 Lenoir-Rhyne graduate Rick Barnes was the keynote speaker.