High Point, N.C. – Limestone College has been crowned the Conference Carolinas Joby Hawn Cup winner with the completion of the recent league spring championships. The Saints took the overall and women’s individual sports awards with the University of Mount Olive winning the men’s title. The Hawn Cup is awarded to the league members that show the highest rating of excellence in all men’s conference-sponsored sports, all women’s conference-sponsored sports, and both the men’s and women’s conference-sponsored sports combined. The Hawn Cup is tallied after each sport season (fall, winter, & spring) and then awarded each year in honor of former Commissioner H.C. "Joby" Hawn for his many years of service to the former Carolinas Conference.
This is the fifth consecutive year that the Hawn Cup is comprised of three different awards which include: the women’s sports award, the men’s sports award, and the overall cup winner (combining both the men & women’s results). Hawn Cup points are awarded in each sport based on the order of regular season finish with bonus points going to the tournament champion (2 pts.) and runner-up finishers (1pt.). Men's & women’s golf, men's and women's cross country, and men’s and women’s indoor & outdoor track & field are the only conference sponsored sports in which points are determined solely by conference tournament finish.
Limestone College went wire-to-wire, leading the Hawn Cup standings from the Fall through the Spring, to bring back the cup to Gaffney, SC. The Saints won the cup in 2012-13 and finished second last year to continue to stoke the rivalry with the University of Mount Olive. The Saints and Trojans have gone back and forth the past four years with each school winning twice each.
To take back the Hawn Cup, Limestone set a new overall standings mark and won championship titles and bonus points in women’s basketball, softball, men’s lacrosse, and men’s & women’s golf with runner-up finishes in men’s tennis, men’s & women’s indoor track & field, and men’s & women’s outdoor track & field. The Saints earned 185.5 points out of a total possible of 198 to set the new 0.937 record-rating, which was enough to give them the 16.5 point difference and more importantly the Hawn Cup title.
Last year’s Hawn Cup winner, the University of Mount Olive, finished second in the overall standings with an .854 mark by jumping over King University in the spring season. The Trojans took six tournament titles and five runner-up finishes for the year. Tournament championships for Mount Olive were in men’s cross-country, men’s & women’s indoor track & field, men’s & women’s outdoor track & field, women’s lacrosse, and men’s tennis while runner-up finishes were in women’s cross-country, women’s basketball, and men’s lacrosse.
In their fourth year of conference membership King University finished third overall for the fourth straight year with a .725 rating. The Tornado won the women’s cross country championship while finishing runner-up in men’s cross country, women’s volleyball, women’s golf, and men’s golf. King was consentient through and through as they also finished third in both the men’s and women’s individual standings.
Pfeiffer placed their highest finish in recent history with a fourth place overall finish and rating of .583. Erskine, Barton, and North Greenville were close behind with ratings of .573, .525, and .497 correspondingly. Rounding out the schools in order were Converse .468, Belmont Abbey.449, and Lees-McRae .386 respectively.
Limestone set a new women’s league record to take the individual title in the women’s conference-sponsored sports. The Saints set a mark that may be impossible to break, as they earned bonus points in six of the ten sports to gather 107.5 out of 105 points for a 1.024 rating. Their victory in the women’s standings was the key to the overall Cup title as they dominated for a 26.5 point difference. Titles in basketball, softball, and golf combined with runner-up finishes in lacrosse, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field. Rounding out the top three, Mount Olive finished with a .771 rating followed by King at .734.
Mount Olive wins the individual title in the men’s conference-sponsored sports by collecting bonus points in six out of the ten sponsored sports. The Trojans earned 88 of a possible 93 total points for .946 mark. Their mark is the second highest in men’s league history, placing just behind last year’s record that UMO set at .987. Mount Olive won championships in men’s cross-country, men’s indoor track & field, men’s tennis, and men’s outdoor track & field with runner-up places in men’s basketball and men’s lacrosse. The men’s top three teams following Mount Olive were Limestone (.839), King (.715), and Pfeiffer (.677).
FULL 2014-15 Current Joby Hawn Cup Standings:
http://www.conferencecarolinas.com/awards/hawn_cup/Index
Conference Carolinas Joby Hawn Cup Winners
Overall Winner Men’s Winner Women’s Winner
2014-15 Limestone College (.937)* University of Mount Olive (.946) Limestone College (1.024)*
2013-14 University of Mount Olive (.903) University of Mount Olive (.987)* Limestone & Mount Olive -Tie (.830)
2012-13 Limestone College (.786) Limestone College (.856) Queens University of Charlotte (.807)
2011-12 Mount Olive College (.844) Mount Olive College (.827) Mount Olive College (.860)
2010-11 Queens Univ. of Charlotte (.839) Queens Univ. of Charlotte (.893) Queens Univ. of Charlotte (.800)
2009-10 Anderson University
2008-09 Anderson University
2007-08 Anderson University
(Notes: 2010-11 is the first year for three separate awards and new champion formula; *indicates current record)
Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference (CVAC) Joby Hawn Cup Winners
2006-07 Anderson University
2005-06 Pfeiffer University
2004-05 Barton College
2003-04 Barton College
2002-03 Barton College
2001-02 Lees-McRae College
2000-01 Queens College
1999-00 Belmont Abbey College
1998-99 Belmont Abbey College
1997-98 Queens College
1996-97 High Point University
1995-96 High Point University
Pre-CVAC Joby Hawn Cup Winners
1994-95 Pfeiffer
1993-94 High Point
1992-93 St. Andrews
1991-92 Pembroke
1990-91 Pfeiffer
1989-90 High Point
1988-89 Pembroke
1987-88 Elon
1986-87 Elon
1985-86 High Point
1984-85 High Point
1983-84 Pembroke
1982-83 Guilford
1981-82 Elon
1980-81 Elon
1979-80 Elon & High Point (tie)
1978-79 High Point
1977-78 High Point
1976-77 High Point
1975-76 High Point