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ATLANTA | The University of North Georgia softball program received two new awards at the Georgia Dugout Club (GADC) 2016 Awards Ceremony on Saturday at the Atlanta Marriott. It was the inaugural year for the GADC to award both a College Program and College Player of the Year honor for the state of Georgia.

UNG head coach Mike Davenport along with 2015 NCAA DII Championship All-Tournament Team members Tiffanie Burns and Courtney Poole were on hand to receive the College Program of the Year award on behalf of the entire team.

Poole was also named the GADC College Player of the Year for the state, which includes all divisions of NCAA and NAIA, adding to Poole’s long list of accolades from a record-breaking season.

“We are very honored to be the very first recipient of these two special awards from the Georgia Dugout Club,” Davenport said on behalf of the program. “The GADC is such a highly respected organization that drives high school softball in the state of Georgia. For our program to be the first recipient of the College Program of the Year with the 2015 roster comprised entirely of young ladies that played high school softball in the state of Georgia is an awesome parallel. It is a tribute to the level of the talent of the high school student-athlete and also a direct reflection on the quality of high school coaching in the state of Georgia.”

The Nighthawks started back to practice for the 2016 season last week and will kick off this year’s slate at the Peach Belt/Gulf South Softball Showdown in Columbus, Georgia on Jan. 30-31.