ASHEVILLE, N.C. - At its spring meeting of the Council of Athletics Administrator's and FARs held in Kingsport, Tenn., the Appalachian Athletic Conference awarded its Duard Walker All-Sports Trophy to Tennessee Wesleyan College with score of 705 points. Milligan College (Tenn.) finished second with 615 points. Union College (Ky.) finished third with 520 points, while Bryan College (Tenn.) was fourth with 490.

The Appalachian Athletic Conference Duard Walker All-Sports Trophy was established as a way of recognizing member institutions with the most successful all-around sports program for the year. Member colleges compete in fifteen sports: baseball, basketball, cross-country, golf, soccer, tennis and track and field for men; and, basketball, cross-country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field and volleyball for women. Points are awarded based on team place finish in the regular season and sport Conference Championship Tournament/Meet.

The Bulldogs had a very successful year with 6 teams winning regular season championships, 3 teams becoming tournament champions, and 6 teams sending athletes to the NAIA National Tournament. Tennessee Wesleyan had 5 athletes who were AAC Player of the Year and 5 coaches who received AAC Coach of the Year honors. 26 Bulldogs were named to the All-Conference 1^st team, 13 to 2^nd team, and 4 to 3^rd team, as well as several to specialty teams such as All-Defensive, All-Freshman, and All-Tournament. The Bulldogs were successful on the field or court as well as in the classroom with 34 athletes receiving AAC All-Academic honors, with 8 of those receiving Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete awards.

The trophy was named the Duard Walker Trophy in 2000 in honor of Coach Duard Walker who retired that year after 50 years of service to Milligan College as teacher, coach, and athletics director. Walker was named the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Athletics Director of the Year for 2001. He was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 2008.

The AAC, an affiliated conference within the NAIA, consists of ten colleges and universities in Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina. Member institutions include: Bluefield College (Va.), Bryan College, Columbia College (S.C.), Milligan College, Montreat College (N.C.), Point University (Ga.), Reinhardt University (Ga.), Tennessee Wesleyan College, Union College and Virginia Intermont College.