Victor once again outpaced his mascot competition, earning designation as the Atlantic Sun's Most Valuable Mascot.
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Not a single game has been played and already Northern Kentucky University is making its presence felt in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
When the A-Sun announced last month it would host a Most Valuable Mascot challenge via social media, NKU's Victor E. Viking had his work cut out for him. After all, NKU only reclassified to Division I earlier this year and is the proverbial new kid on the block in the conference. But apparently someone forgot to tell Victor, as he took to Facebook and Twitter to rally support and win the entire competition.
"We're excited to see so much support and energy around this competition and around the start of our Division I play," said NKU Athletic Director Scott Eaton. "The level of enthusiasm we saw from students and alumni has been unprecedented and is a good sign of things to come."
Victor started the competition strong, receiving 1,448 votes in the week-long first round - more than any other A-Sun mascot. Four league members - Victor, Ozzie the Osprey from the University of North Florida, the Lipscomb University's Lu the Bison and Bucky the Pirate from East Tennessee State University - advanced to a semifinal round that was conducted via Twitter over the course of one week. Two mascots emerged to compete head-to-head in the finals: Victor and Ozzie. Victor again led the voting.
The final round was a 24-hour sprint to the finish. Victor claimed an early lead but UNF's Ozzie rallied to claim an advantage early Friday. This morning Victor built an insurmountable lead held on to win the championship round by garnering 2,384 votes compared to Ozzie's 1,471.
"This was a fun competition and it was a good way to introduce the institutions in the Atlantic Sun Conference to our fan base," Dr. Eaton said. "Many of our students may not have been familiar with an osprey before this challenge, but I assure you that after three hard-fought rounds against Ozzie, they are now. I'm sure it also introduced Victor and our athletics program to the other members of the A-Sun."
Dr. Eaton said that while Victor's win may have surprised some people, he was not one of them. "We spent a lot of time making sure that before we made the move to Division I we would be able to do so competitively," he said. "And this is just the first step in that process. We know one thing for sure - when our teams take the court this season, they'll have the most valuable mascot in the Atlantic Sun Conference there to cheer them on."
Upon learning of his victory, Victor was speechless.
