ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA - Winthrop University women’s soccer defender Lily Meisten is one of 12 Big South Conference recipients of the George A. Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence, the league office announced on May 15.
The award is given to a graduating male and female student-athlete who attain the highest GPA during their undergraduate collegiate careers. This is the 13th consecutive year at least six student-athletes have been honored at Big South institutions, and matches the record number of recipients first achieved in 2019-20.
Lily Meisten
Meisten graduated May 10 with a degree in biology and minors in Spanish and business administration. The Greenville, South Carolina, resident was a three-year starter as a center back, missing 2023 with an injury. Named twice to the Big South All-Academic Team, Meisten started all 44 games that she played during her collegiate career, and led the team in minutes played in 2021, 2022 and 2024.
She was selected to Alpha Lamda Delta, the National Society for Collegiate Scholars and Phi Kappa Phi. Meisten will participate for the next few months in the Disney College Internship Program and then will pursue a job as a medical device sales representative. She has volunteered with numerous groups, including the Special Olympics, and served as a Peer Buddy.
Meistein is the second Winthrop women’s soccer player to receive the Christenberry Award, joining Erica Devine who received it in 2006. She becomes the eighth Winthrop female recipient.
All-time recipients for Winthrop include Atley Livingston (volleyball, 2023), Zak
Butt (men’s golf, 2020), Blake Wallert (softball, 2019), Mattison Pike (baseball,
2019), Patricia Coimbra (women’s tennis, 2009), Pohai Nu’uhiwa (volleyball, 2008),
Devine, Kellen Taylor (baseball, 2007), Jennifer Pritchard (volleyball, 2003) and
Brian Hanczaryk (baseball, 2002).
Big South member institutions nominate one male and one female student-athlete for
the annual Christenberry Award, or multiple student-athletes that tie for the highest
GPA on their respective campus.
The honor is named for George A. Christenberry, the former president of Augusta College (now Augusta University) and one of the founders of the Big South Conference. A member of the Big South Hall of Fame, Christenberry served as the league’s first president from 1983-86.
For more information, contact Brett Redden, assistant athletic director for communications, at reddenb@winthrop.edu.
