JAMES F. MELLICHAMP
President

Last Friday morning, my dogs, Lola and Mamie, and I got a very early start to our day.  I had an opportunity be at the Johnny Mize Athletic Center on campus bright and early to wish our Lady Lions soccer team well as they left for Kentucky. They have had an extraordinary season with a 20-1-1 record.  

We know our Lady Lions will represent Piedmont College in a brilliant way at the playoffs.  It was so exciting to be with them and their coaches as they boarded the bus for Crestview Hills, Ky., to take on Thomas More College.  Other schools in the regional tournament include Sewanee: University of the South and the University of Chicago.

Also, on Friday, our cross country team left for the Southeast regional tournament in Kernstown, Va.  This represents the first conference title for cross country since 2009, and we are very proud of their accomplishment.  They will represent Piedmont spectacularly well in the tournament.

Looking back at the month of October, I note that Piedmont had 13 Athletes of the Week in our USA South conference.  That is a great accomplishment.  And, last month at our fall meeting of the board of trustees, I was able to boast that the cumulative grade point average for all 259 of our student-athletes during spring semester was 3.32.  Wow!

All of us can learn a valuable lesson from these outstanding achievements.  It’s not just about winning the game – although that is important, too.  It is really more about dedication and application to the task at hand, whether that is in the classroom or on the field.  Getting the ball across the goal line is an admirable feat, but completing a college education can be a long and arduous process as well.  So, is life.  Think more about making progress incrementally – in other words, celebrate success by knowing you are advancing the ball down the field.  And when the victories do come, they will be all the sweeter.