The Benko Briefing
3/10/2022 3:15:00 PM | Baseball, Football, General, Men's Golf, Men's Basketball, Men's Tennis, Women's Basketball, Women's Tennis, Women's Rifle, Women's Golf
AD addresses Eagle Nation in letter form
Eagle Nation,
I pray this note finds you and your family safe and healthy.
It is hard to imagine that spring is officially upon us. This is always one of my favorite times of the year, as we have a majority of our 17 teams in competitive play. On that note, I want to thank all of you for your continued support of our student-athletes at our home and away game competitions – your encouragement means a great deal to them!
This past weekend, rifle captured the program's first SoCon overall team title, and also won the smallbore team title for the second year in a row. Ashley Judson was selected as the SoCon Air Rifle Athlete of the Year, while Erin Ballard collected SoCon Smallbore Athlete of the Year honors after winning the individual title. Additionally, head coach Sandra Worman notched SoCon Coach of the Year honors.
Both golf programs are off to fast starts this spring. This past Tuesday, the men's golf team shot a 30-under at the Colleton River Collegiate en route to a first-place team finish. Men's golf also carded a Top-5 finish at the Gator Invitational last month, placing them at No. 4 ahead of several ranked teams. Individually, Ben Carr entered March ranked among the top 10 collegiate golfers in the country, checking in at No. 9. We are excited to host the Schenkel Invitational next week and look forward to welcoming teams from across the nation to Statesboro.
Women's golf notched its fourth Top-5 finish of the year this past Tuesday at the UNF Collegiate. In her first year at the helm of the program, head coach Mimi Burke has the Eagles on the path to notch a Top 100-team ranking in the near future.
Both of our basketball teams concluded play last week in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Tournament, marking the first time since the 2013-14 postseason when we were still in the SoCon that both teams have advanced in conference tournament play.
Baseball notched a big 13-5 win over No. 20 Georgia this past Tuesday at SRP Park in Augusta. The Eagles scored 13 unanswered runs to secure the mid-week win. We have collected five wins in our last six games - including one over 19th-ranked Georgia Tech - and open a three-game homestand tomorrow at J.I. Clements Stadium against William & Mary.
Our men's and women's tennis programs are gearing up for Sun Belt play next week, with the women hosting Coastal Carolina on Sunday and the men taking on South Alabama on March 19. Both squads continue to play their best tennis and are primed to make runs in postseason play next month.
April 23 is a day many have circled on the calendar with our True Blue & BBQ event. Highlighted by the Blue vs. White Spring Game, presented by Morris Bank and Southern Exchange, starting at noon, several athletic and campus events are planned on this day. Our goal is to create a "seventh home game" each spring by driving fans, donors and alumni back to Statesboro for this event. More details on True Blue & BBQ are forthcoming soon.
Coach Clay Helton and his staff are continuing their offseason workouts and are excited to open spring practice in less than two weeks on March 22. Significant strides have already taken place in the strength & conditioning and nutrition areas, and I share Coach Helton's excitement for starting spring ball here soon. As a friendly reminder, all practices are open, and I encourage you to stop by Paulson Stadium on any Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday through April 23 to watch practice.
The Anthony P. Tippins Family Indoor Practice Facility (IPF) groundbreaking is set for April 23. This innovative facility will provide a state-of-the-art year-round training facility for our 400+ student-athletes while also enhancing the game day experience at Paulson Stadium. Updated renderings and additional facility information will be forthcoming in the next few weeks. Additionally, work is continuing on the Jack and Ruth Ann Hill Convocation Center, and I look forward to sharing more information on this transformative facility in my next briefing.
I am excited to announce two new initiatives within our APEX (Athletes Preparing for Employment EXperiences) program – our Atlanta Career Tour and the Eagles Worldwide Study Abroad Program. We currently have 23 student-athletes registered for the Atlanta Career Tour, highlighted by networking visits to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Home Depot and the Atlanta Braves. Our student-athletes will also stop by Macon en route to Atlanta and will visit the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. Additionally, I am excited to announce that four student-athletes have been selected to study abroad this summer through a competitive application process. We had a lot of interest in this new initiative. Each student-athlete submitted a resume, a statement of interest, took part in multiple interviews and then presented to our leadership group within Athletics. Our student-athletes continue to amaze me daily!
I also want to remind you that the deadline to renew season football tickets and parking is March 31. We rolled out a "We Need You" campaign last month highlighting the modernization of our ticketing process and I encourage you to visit the site at GSEagles.com/WeNeedYou as you make your decisions now that the football schedule has been released by the conference.
In closing, for Georgia Southern to reach its desired goals, I will continue to strategically highlight three (3) action steps that individuals and companies can take to help us:
Our Athletic Ticket Office is ready to assist you in purchasing tickets and can be reached at 1-800-GSU-WINS or via email at tickets@georgiasouthern.edu. For those wishing to donate, please go to: www.Give.GSEagles.com.
Our best days are ahead – thank you for your continued support!
Hail Southern! GATA!
Georgia Southern Director of Athletics
I pray this note finds you and your family safe and healthy.
It is hard to imagine that spring is officially upon us. This is always one of my favorite times of the year, as we have a majority of our 17 teams in competitive play. On that note, I want to thank all of you for your continued support of our student-athletes at our home and away game competitions – your encouragement means a great deal to them!
This past weekend, rifle captured the program's first SoCon overall team title, and also won the smallbore team title for the second year in a row. Ashley Judson was selected as the SoCon Air Rifle Athlete of the Year, while Erin Ballard collected SoCon Smallbore Athlete of the Year honors after winning the individual title. Additionally, head coach Sandra Worman notched SoCon Coach of the Year honors.
Both golf programs are off to fast starts this spring. This past Tuesday, the men's golf team shot a 30-under at the Colleton River Collegiate en route to a first-place team finish. Men's golf also carded a Top-5 finish at the Gator Invitational last month, placing them at No. 4 ahead of several ranked teams. Individually, Ben Carr entered March ranked among the top 10 collegiate golfers in the country, checking in at No. 9. We are excited to host the Schenkel Invitational next week and look forward to welcoming teams from across the nation to Statesboro.
Women's golf notched its fourth Top-5 finish of the year this past Tuesday at the UNF Collegiate. In her first year at the helm of the program, head coach Mimi Burke has the Eagles on the path to notch a Top 100-team ranking in the near future.
Both of our basketball teams concluded play last week in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Tournament, marking the first time since the 2013-14 postseason when we were still in the SoCon that both teams have advanced in conference tournament play.
Baseball notched a big 13-5 win over No. 20 Georgia this past Tuesday at SRP Park in Augusta. The Eagles scored 13 unanswered runs to secure the mid-week win. We have collected five wins in our last six games - including one over 19th-ranked Georgia Tech - and open a three-game homestand tomorrow at J.I. Clements Stadium against William & Mary.
Our men's and women's tennis programs are gearing up for Sun Belt play next week, with the women hosting Coastal Carolina on Sunday and the men taking on South Alabama on March 19. Both squads continue to play their best tennis and are primed to make runs in postseason play next month.
April 23 is a day many have circled on the calendar with our True Blue & BBQ event. Highlighted by the Blue vs. White Spring Game, presented by Morris Bank and Southern Exchange, starting at noon, several athletic and campus events are planned on this day. Our goal is to create a "seventh home game" each spring by driving fans, donors and alumni back to Statesboro for this event. More details on True Blue & BBQ are forthcoming soon.
Coach Clay Helton and his staff are continuing their offseason workouts and are excited to open spring practice in less than two weeks on March 22. Significant strides have already taken place in the strength & conditioning and nutrition areas, and I share Coach Helton's excitement for starting spring ball here soon. As a friendly reminder, all practices are open, and I encourage you to stop by Paulson Stadium on any Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday through April 23 to watch practice.
The Anthony P. Tippins Family Indoor Practice Facility (IPF) groundbreaking is set for April 23. This innovative facility will provide a state-of-the-art year-round training facility for our 400+ student-athletes while also enhancing the game day experience at Paulson Stadium. Updated renderings and additional facility information will be forthcoming in the next few weeks. Additionally, work is continuing on the Jack and Ruth Ann Hill Convocation Center, and I look forward to sharing more information on this transformative facility in my next briefing.
I am excited to announce two new initiatives within our APEX (Athletes Preparing for Employment EXperiences) program – our Atlanta Career Tour and the Eagles Worldwide Study Abroad Program. We currently have 23 student-athletes registered for the Atlanta Career Tour, highlighted by networking visits to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Home Depot and the Atlanta Braves. Our student-athletes will also stop by Macon en route to Atlanta and will visit the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. Additionally, I am excited to announce that four student-athletes have been selected to study abroad this summer through a competitive application process. We had a lot of interest in this new initiative. Each student-athlete submitted a resume, a statement of interest, took part in multiple interviews and then presented to our leadership group within Athletics. Our student-athletes continue to amaze me daily!
I also want to remind you that the deadline to renew season football tickets and parking is March 31. We rolled out a "We Need You" campaign last month highlighting the modernization of our ticketing process and I encourage you to visit the site at GSEagles.com/WeNeedYou as you make your decisions now that the football schedule has been released by the conference.
In closing, for Georgia Southern to reach its desired goals, I will continue to strategically highlight three (3) action steps that individuals and companies can take to help us:
- Financially support the Athletic Foundation and the Erk Russell Fund
- Buy season tickets and create a home-field advantage
- Get others to do the same!
Our Athletic Ticket Office is ready to assist you in purchasing tickets and can be reached at 1-800-GSU-WINS or via email at tickets@georgiasouthern.edu. For those wishing to donate, please go to: www.Give.GSEagles.com.
Our best days are ahead – thank you for your continued support!
Hail Southern! GATA!
Georgia Southern Director of Athletics
Players Mentioned
Men's NCAA Golf Selection Watch Party (5.6.26)
Thursday, May 07
Georgia Southern Men's Golf Media Availability (5/6/26)
Wednesday, May 06
Georgia Southern Men's Golf Reaction (5/6/26)
Wednesday, May 06
Heather Macy One-on-One (4/30/26)
Thursday, April 30
