FORT MYERS, Fla. – Senior Associate Athletics Director for Administration Mike Estes and Assistant Athletics Director for Health Performance Nicole Neal have been named the first-ever recipients of the Eagles of the Quarter Award. The newly created award is presented to staff members who go above-and-beyond in ensuring the success of FGCU student-athletes and the department overall.

"We are blessed to have such a wonderful collective staff who daily epitomize the philosophy of do the best you can and always try and leave things better than they found were found. Hence, we have established this new recognition as a modest way to simple express our gratitude to various folks throughout the year who have been nominated by their peers for exceptional teamwork and contributions. No doubt Mike and Nicole have personified these thoughts from all those they have been leading and serving throughout these continued surreal pandemic times."

Estes is in his 21^st year with the department, with primary oversight of the units of athletics communications, marketing, ticket operations, facilities & operations, sports medicine and strength & conditioning, as well as serving as the sport coordinator for baseball. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, he has worked with national, state, and local officials along with conference and campus counterparts in logistics and planning for FGCU's return to play protocol, along with daily oversight of athletics testing, contact tracing and data tracking.

Neal is in her seventh year at FGCU and oversees the Eagles' Sports Medicine department, while also serving as the head athletic trainer for men's basketball. She has overseen the daily COVID testing program for FGCU Athletics while assisting in planning and preparation for return to play protocol and management with the athletics programs.
 
For complete coverage of FGCU athletics, follow the Eagles on Twitter (@FGCUEagles), Instagram (@FGCUAthletics) and Facebook (@FGCUAthletics) and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign-up to have news on FGCU athletics and all 15 sport programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.


E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
 
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 83 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 24, 2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate (APR) in their sport and have had the highest percentage of teams so honored from these two groups over each of the past three years. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
--FGCUATHLETICS.COM--