CHARLOTTE, N.C. – On Thursday afternoon, the Big South Conference announced that Presbyterian College women’s soccer superstar Kelly Hall was among a group of 12 student-athletes that have been picked to receive the George A. Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence.
The award is distributed to a graduating male and female student-athlete who attains the highest GPA during their undergraduate collegiate careers. Typically, only 4.0’s are acceptable for Christenberry consideration, a number that Hall maintained for all four years at PC.
At least six student-athletes have been honored with this award for 13 consecutive years, created in the mid 1980’s and bestowing 16 different universities affiliated with the Big South.
This year’s batch of 12 recipients ties the record number of honorees that was first achieved in 2020. Big South member institutions nominate one male and one female student-athlete for Christenberry review each year, or multiple student-athletes that tie for the highest GPA on their respective campus.
JOINING THE CHRISTENBERRY CREW
- Backed by a cumulative 4.0 in the field of Business Administration, Hall becomes the 11th individual from Presbyterian College to acquire the Christenberry prize and the third student-athlete to represent the women’s soccer program.
- The Blue Hose have now seen five Christenberry winners since 2023. Hall becomes the sixth person from PC to win the award this decade.
- Below is a list of each Presbyterian student-athlete to win the Christenberry distinction since the school’s admittance to the Big South in the late 2000’s:
· Meghan Skinner (2011, women’s soccer)
· Emily Boggus (2014, women’s soccer)
· Thomas Valente (2016, men’s soccer)
· Janie Miles (2018, women’s basketball)
· Jonathan Turnley (2018, men’s soccer)
· Katie Thompson (2020, women’s tennis)
· Kendall Goldfarb (2023, women’s lacrosse)
· Lili Jaraczewski (2023, women’s cross country)
· William Johnson (2024, men’s cross country)
· Lorenzo Nagy (2024, men’s soccer)
· Kelly Hall (2025, women’s soccer)
BLUE HOSE LEGEND
- PC’s primary goalkeeper since her sophomore days, Hall quickly ascended into one of the best at her position in Blue Hose history. She holds the all-time school record in both shutouts (11) and goals-against average (1.62), captaining Presby’s defense to a memorable postseason run last fall.
- Collecting 108 saves, five blank sheets, an .837 save percentage, and seven victories, Hall aided first-year head coach Matt Smith’s unit to a gritty win in the Big South Championship Quarterfinals at 4th-seeded Longwood via penalty kick shootout.
- Keeping the Lancers scoreless for all 90 minutes of regulation and the 20 extra minutes of overtime, Hall was the one to boot the match-winning PK and grant the Blue Hose their first-ever Big South Tournament triumph.
- The Georgia native was voted to the conference’s All-Tournament team after logging 10 saves in Farmville and nearly anchoring an upset over #1 seed USC Upstate in the Semifinals. Her 108 stoppages are the second-most in a single season of any previous PC goalie.
- Hall ranks second among all prior Presby players in both total saves (274) and save percentage (.769), becoming the first keeper in school history to never be subbed out at any point all season (over 1,600 minutes).
- She posted 63 saves against league competition last season along with a career-best 13 deflections in a visit to Western Carolina.
ELITE ON & OFF THE FIELD
- A staple of both Presbyterian’s on-field resurgence and classroom excellence, Hall’s career 4.0 GPA sent her to the Big South’s All-Academic Team three straight years, a feat that only one other player in team history has accomplished.
- She has been included in the conference’s Presidential Honor Roll from start to finish, and landed a spot on the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District squad as a sophomore, junior, and senior.
