NORFOLK, Va. – The Hampton University department of athletics won its 11th straight Mary McLeod-Bethune Women's All-Sports Award, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) announced on Wednesday.

The school was presented a $20,000 check during a reception in Orlando, Fla. on Tuesday.

The Lady Pirates collected conference titles in cross country, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field and women's basketball, continuing a pattern of dominance in the MEAC in those sports. The Lady Pirates have won back-to-back cross country titles, nine indoor track titles in 10 years, six outdoor track titles in seven years and three straight women's basketball tournament titles.

The Lady Pirates also earned the MEAC's automatic NCAA Tournament bid in women's basketball for the third straight year, on top of back-to-back MEAC regular-season titles.

In all, Hampton tallied 99.5 points in the women's standings. Florida A&M came in second with 88.5 points, while Maryland Eastern Shore was third with 86 points.

Hampton has won 14 overall All-Sports trophies since joining the MEAC in 1996 (three men's awards including back-to-back victories in 2003 and 2004, and 11 straight women's awards, dating back to 2002).

Norfolk State won the Talmadge Layman Hill Men's All-Sports Award, its eighth straight.

“I would like to congratulate Norfolk State University including President Tony Atwater, Director of Athletics Marty Miller, and the administrators, coaches, student-athletes and support staff for winning the 2012 Talmadge Layman Hill Award,” MEAC Commissioner Dennis E. Thomas said. “I also extend congratulations to Hampton University and President William R. Harvey, Interim Director of Athletics Malcolm Avery and all of the outstanding individuals including staff, coaches and student-athletes who were involved in winning the Mary McLeod Bethune Award.

For the third straight year, UMES won the MEAC's Highest Graduation Success Rate Award.

For more information on Hampton University athletics, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.