CHAPEL HILL – Two new major awards were presented for the first time on Thursday at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Annual Meeting at the Smith Center on the University of North Carolina campus.

J.H. Rose High School of Greenville was named the inaugural winner of the Exemplary School Award while North Duplin earned the 2007 Sportsmanship Award.

The awards are given as a cooperative venture among the NCHSAA, the North Carolina Coaches Association and the North Carolina Athletic Directors Association. In addition to a trophy and a banner for display at the respective schools, each school received a $1000 cash award.

The Exemplary School Award recognizes the top overall school in the state in terms of the “total program,” including but not limited to athletic success, scope of athletic opportunities offered, facilities, community interest and involvement, academics and the like.

Rose offers 34 different men’s and women’s sports teams, including varsity, junior varsity and ninth grade squads. The Rampants have earned recent NCHSAA state championships in football, baseball and golf and an additional one in gymnastics while finishing as runner-up in several others. Individual Rose athletes have won state titles in track and swimming.

The school, which has won the Wachovia Conference Cup in its league for the last 15 years, has raised over one million dollars to improve athletic facilities, including a new field house, a tennis facility with eight lighted courts and a resurfaced track.

The sportsmanship honor is designed to recognize a school that has been ejection free, has a plan to promote and implement good sportsmanship, is welcoming to visiting fans, makes appropriate accommodations for officials and their own fans demonstrate good sportsmanship.

North Duplin’s application for the award as a finalist indicated the philosophy that it promotes around its athletic program and the fact that the school, including coaches, athletes and supporters, all take pride in trying to present a great environment for sportsmanship.

The process of selection for both the awards is a multi-tiered one, including nominations and feedback from schools to select finalists, and then the finalists submitted applications with specific information relative to their potential award.