{"id":133438,"date":"2021-01-05T15:25:09","date_gmt":"2021-01-06T01:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=133438"},"modified":"2021-03-08T10:23:38","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T20:23:38","slug":"ncaa-recognizes-vulcans-for-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/01\/05\/ncaa-recognizes-vulcans-for-service\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA<\/abbr> recognizes Vulcans for service"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"students
All corn harvested by the Vulcans will be donated to a local food bank.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When COVID-19 shut down all University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Hilo<\/a> athletic events from March to December 2020, Vulcan teams kept active by serving the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Island community.<\/p>\n

Local groups noticed, and so did the NCAA<\/abbr>. On January 5, they honored the Vulcans with the Award of Excellence.<\/p>\n

Twenty-eight schools and one conference were named finalists for the 2021 Division II<\/abbr> Award of Excellence. A finalist was chosen from each of the division’s 23 conferences. Six additional finalists were picked as at-large honorees for submitting a strong nomination that was not chosen as the finalist for their conference. A national winner will be selected from the finalists on January 15.<\/p>\n

The Vulcans and Concordia (California) were both selected from the Pacific West Conference.<\/p>\n

Through a partnership with the California and Hawaii Foliage Growers, UH<\/abbr> Hilo student-athletes and coaches picked and harvested more than 15,000 ears of corn<\/a>. They also cooked breakfast<\/a> at a recovery home, harvested coffee beans<\/a>, drew attention to mental health<\/a>, rallied students to vote<\/a> and helped at a local food basket.<\/p>\n

More about the award<\/h2>\n

Division II<\/abbr> honors its members each year for conducting events that promote student-athletes giving back and serving as leaders within their communities or on their campuses.<\/p>\n

The national winner, runner-up and second runner-up will all receive cash prizes. The Vulcans are already guaranteed $500 as a finalist, to be used in a future community service project. The national winner will receive $2,500, the runner-up $1,250 and the second runner-up will earn $1,000.<\/p>\n

A committee of athletics administrators determined this year’s finalists, and the national Division II<\/abbr> Student-Athlete Advisory Committee selects the winner, who will be announced at the Division II<\/abbr> business session January 15 at the virtual 2021 NCAA<\/abbr> Convention.<\/p>\n

Go to the UH<\/abbr> Hilo athletics website for more on the story.<\/a><\/p>\n

—By Russ Blunck<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NCAA honored the Vulcans with the Award of Excellence giving back and serving as leaders within their communities or on their campuses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1362],"tags":[58,1411,1416,660,714,14,151],"class_list":["post-133438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","tag-athletics","tag-covid-19","tag-covid-19-uh-helps","tag-student-recognition","tag-student-athlete","tag-uh-hilo","tag-hilo-athletics","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t