It seems so easy to catch people doing the wrong thing. What about all of those folks who do the right thing, but no one notices?

The NCAA, with the inception of its Sportsmanship Awards last year, is trying to make it easier for those student-athletes who do the right thing to get caught in the act -- and rewarded.

The three winners of the 2000 NCAA Outstanding Sportspersons of the Year Award were honored January 7 at the NCAA Convention in Orlando, Florida. They were recognized for their acts of selflessness, for making split-second decisions to do the right thing.

An anonymous gift

George Audu, a track and field student-athlete from Pennsylvania State University, never intended for anyone to find out about his good deed. But sometimes, good news is far too difficult to keep quiet.

Audu won the title in men's long jump at the 1999 Big Ten Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Purdue University. After receiving his trophy, he gave it to a Purdue assistant coach and asked her to give it to Mike Turner, a Purdue student-athlete who, Audu thought, should have been competing in the long jump and triple jump at the meet. Turner had suffered a freak injury six weeks earlier, and during the time of the conference championships, doctors were fighting to save his leg.

"When I spoke to the coach, I asked her not to tell anyone," Audu said. "I didn't intend to draw attention to myself."

The news did eventually leak out, however, and people were pleased and surprised by Audu's action, which didn't seem like a very big deal to Audu himself.

"What happened to Mike was a freak accident that could have happened to any of us," Audu said. "I put myself in his position, and the trophy I gave him was sort of like a get-well card to someone who is a very sportsmanlike person and a good competitor."

An 'official' mistake

As a hammer thrower and shot-putter, Safiya Ingram, a track and field student-athlete from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, spends a lot of time slinging big heavy things through the air. She knows when she's launched a great throw -- and she knows when she hasn't. She also knows it's not right to take advantage of someone else's mistake.

At the 2000 Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, meet officials measured Ingram's hammer throw mark at 64 meters, which would have been an automatic qualifying mark to the NCAA championships, as well as an Alabama and SEC record.

Ingram knew that wasn't right. She told officials, who remeasured the throw and discovered that the distance was really 54 meters. Pointing that out cost Ingram the title, the record and the qualifying mark. Ingram took second place, but she didn't mind.

"It was just natural," she said of her almost instant instinct to correct the mark. "It was the right thing to do. I wouldn't want to accept a throw that wasn't really mine. No matter what place you get at the meet, you have to go home with yourself."

A racquet to remember

Lindsay Morton, a junior tennis player at Ferrum College, remembers the advice a coach once gave her: "Always, always have a spare racquet in your bag."

She heeded that advice, and ended up getting beaten by her own racquet.

Morton was down, 6-3, in an eight-game pro set of the 2000 Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tennis Championships, when her opponent broke a string on her tennis racquet. Officials gave the competitor from Christopher Newport University five minutes to replace her equipment or forfeit the match.

"She couldn't find her coach, and she didn't have a spare racquet in her bag," Morton said. "When it looked like she was going to have to forfeit," she said. "I went to my bag and gave her my racquet to use."

Like Ingram and Audu, Morton didn't hesitate about her decision, even though it meant almost certain defeat.

"It would have been so unfair to make her forfeit. I had played her before, so I knew she was good. But I didn't want to win by default. I didn't want it to end that way."

The Christopher Newport player prevailed, winning the next two games and advancing in the tournament.

Shining the light on good sports

Audu, Ingram and Morton will be honored at the NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference in May and at the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance annual awards luncheon in July.

The NCAA continues to encourage member institutions to nominate individuals for the award, which is given to student-athletes who have demonstrated, through a single, specific act, one or more of the ideals of sport, including fairness, civility, honesty, unselfishness, respect and responsibility.

To nominate someone for the award, see www.ncaa.org.

"I want to salute the NCAA for calling attention to sportsmanship and ethical behavior," said Andrew Sorensen, president at Alabama.

Ted Michael Kinder, athletics director at Ferrum, agreed, noting that there are few opportunities for sportsmanship to be recognized.

"I think we certainly need to see many more examples of this type of sportsmanship," he said.

And a small act can go a long way toward changing a culture and creating more kindness and civility, said Penn State's Audu.

"I think an award like this brings positive attention to college sports, and it helps people realize that there is so much good out there," Audu said. "I think it's also important for people to understand that you can do the smallest thing and have it mean so much."