HIGH POINT, N.C. – The 2016-17 Limestone College Saints put another all-sports cup into their trophy case, taking their third consecutive Conference Carolinas Joby Hawn Cup after the completion of the Conference's spring championships. The Hawn Cup is awarded to the league member that shows the highest rating of excellence in Conference-sponsored sports. The Hawn Cup is tallied after the fall, winter and spring seasons 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.
Conference Carolinas names an overall Hawn Cup winner, as well as individual winners for men and women's sports, respectively. 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 bonus points) and runner-up finisher (1 bonus point), based on the number of participating teams in each sport.
The Saints won their third straight overall Hawn Cup and fourth in five years after a wire-to-wire victory, leading the field throughout from this past fall. Limestone earned 196 points out of a possible 211 for a .929 rating. Limestone's .929 rating was just below last year’s.932 rating which also fell just short of breaking its record .937 rating from the 2014-15 season. The Saints won championship titles and bonus points in women’s soccer, women’s lacrosse, men’s basketball, men’s golf, men’s lacrosse and with runner-up finishes in women’s cross-country, women’s basketball, women’s golf, men’s soccer, men’s indoor track & field, and men’s outdoor track & field.
The University of Mount Olive finished second overall in the standings for the third straight year with an .848 mark. The Trojans took ten tournament titles and two runner-up finishes for the year. Tournament championships for Mount Olive were in men’s & women’s cross-country, men’s & women’s indoor track & field, men’s & women’s outdoor track & field, women’s tennis, and baseball, with runner-up finishes in women’s lacrosse and men’s volleyball.
Barton College finished third overall with a .687 rating while making a big improvement from last year’s eighth place effort. The Bulldogs won the women’s volleyball, men’s tennis, and men’s volleyball championships while finishing runner-up in women’s tennis and men’s golf. Barton finished third in both the men’s and women’s individual standings, where they also improved upon last year’s finish with the women moving from eighth to third while the men jumped from fifth to third.
King University posted a .641 rating and were led by their women’s basketball and women’s golf team tournament titles and men’s basketball runner-up finish. It is interesting to note that the Tornando just narrowly missed their sixth consecutive third place finish while being in the league for their sixth year.
Rounding out the schools in order are: Belmont Abbey College (.581); North Greenville University (.502); Pfeiffer University (.462); Erskine College (.427); Lees-McRae College (.417); Southern Wesleyan University (.412); and Converse College (.314).
For the individual women's Hawn Cup, Limestone posted a .929 rating to take the title in women’s conference-sponsored sports. Limestone finished first or second to earn bonus points in five of the ten conference-sponsored sports.
In the men's Hawn Cup, Limestone also won the individual title in the men’s conference-sponsored sports for the fourth straight year by collecting 90.5 of a possible 98 total points for .923 mark. The Saints earned bonus points in six of the ten league sponsored sports.
Link to the FULL 2016-17 Current Joby Hawn Cup Standings:
www.conferencecarolinas.com/awards/hawn_cup/Past_Hawn_Cup_Tallies_and_Releases/index
Conference Carolinas Overall Joby Hawn Cup Winners
2016-17: Limestone College
2015-16: Limestone College
2014-15: Limestone College
2013-14: University of Mount Olive
2012-13: Limestone College
2011-12: Mount Olive College
2010-11: Queens University of Charlotte
2009-10: Anderson University
2008-09: Anderson University
2007-08: Anderson University
Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference 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
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: High Point, Elon
1978-79: High Point
1977-78: High Point
1976-77: High Point
1975-76: High Point
Conference Carolinas Individual Men’s & Women’s Joby Hawn Cup Winners (started in 2010-11)
2016-17: Women: Limestone Men: Limestone
2015-16: Women: Limestone Men: Mount Olive
2014-15: Women: Limestone Men: Mount Olive
2013-14: Women: Mount Olive & Limestone (tie) Men: Mount Olive
2012-13: Women: Queens Men: Limestone
2011-12: Women: Mount Olive Men: Mount Olive
2010-11: Women: Queens Men: Queens
Conference Carolinas is a NCAA Division II athletics conference made up of 12 teams from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. These institutions consist of: Barton College, Belmont Abbey College, Converse College, Emmanuel College, Erskine College, King University, Lees-McRae College, Limestone College, University of Mount Olive, North Greenville University, Pfeiffer University, and Southern Wesleyan University. Emmanuel College is currently completing the NCAA Membership Process and will be fully competing in league championships in the near future.