GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Belmont Abbey took home all three Conference Carolinas Make-a-Wish Awards over the weekend as the league held its annual "Leading the Way: Champions in Body, Mind, and Soul" Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Retreat on Friday and Saturday in Greenville, South Carolina. The school claimed the MVP Award as the institution that collected the most funds during the academic year and the Top Play Award for bringing in the most money for a single-campus event. It was also named Comeback Award winner.
 
Award winners were based off the previous academic year when Conference Carolinas raised over $11,000 during the 2024-25 academic year, another increase from the previous year.

"The Make-A-Wish honors are always some of our favorite awards to present to our student-athletes," Commissioner Chris Colvin said. "All of our member institutions in Conference Carolinas truly embody who we are and our efforts to be champions in body, mind and soul. These Make-A-Wish honors continue to show this, while also helping us to further tell our amazing story in Conference Carolinas."
 
The impactful weekend started with Conference Carolinas' annual visit to the Boys & Girls Club on Friday. The Conference Carolinas student-athletes in attendance played games with the children of the Boys & Girls Club, mixing in a lot of fun along with sportsmanship lessons. On Saturday morning, the awards ceremony was held followed by leadership training from North Carolina Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Student-Athlete Development Cricket Lane and Duke Associate Director of Athletics/Director of Student-Athlete Development Leslie Barnes.

Ellie Ripchik (Softball), Zeke Jarzyniecki (Men's Volleyball), Ethan Bell (Men's Bowling) and Payton Lanier (Acrobatics & Tumbling) represented Belmont Abbey SAAC.