DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University Athletics' Special Olympics event was voted as the top story in the April NCAA Division III Special Olympics Spotlight Poll. The win nets Averett $500 to use toward a future Special Olympics event.

Averett hosted a Special Olympics regional basketball tournament in March. Averett's story received the highest number of votes — garnering 437 selections on the 620 total ballots cast. As the winner for April, Averett's story will also be recognized in the Division III Monthly Newsletter and on the Division III homepage.

"It is wonderful that our Special Olympics event was recognized by the NCAA," Averett Director of Athletics Meg Stevens said. "The Special Olympics basketball event is just one piece to an even bigger puzzle, and it highlights the community service that our student-athletes and department do throughout the year. Special Olympics and Division III have a great partnership and I'm excited that we earned $500 to use toward another great event next school year."

The NCAA Division III Special Olympics Spotlight Poll is a story-telling initiative located on ncaa.org/D3SpecialOlympics. It features three new stories per month — each highlighting a Division III and Special Olympics joint activity or event.