GREENVILLE, S.C. – Belmont Abbey captured four of the six fall sport individual sport Messick Awards, giving the department the overall lead after the 2025 fall sports seasons, the Conference Carolinas office announced today. The Abbey also leads the women's Messick standings.
On the women's side, volleyball, soccer and cross country all took the top honor, while men's cross country was also the lone winner on the men's side. The Abbey is fifth in the standings of the men's competition.
The Conference Carolinas Directors of Athletics implemented the process by which the Conference Carolinas Messick Sportsmanship Awards are determined. A student-athlete and coach from each institution vote separately upon the sportsmanship of all conference competitors. Each institution then submits those votes to the conference office where the averages are then calculated to decide the winner for each conference-sponsored sport.
The Team Messick Sportsmanship Awards are named after John D. Messick, who was the President of former conference member East Carolina from 1947-59. Messick truly championed sportsmanship and even wrote a book entitled, "Personality and Character Development."
2025-26 Conference Carolinas Fall Team Messick Award Winners
Men's Cross Country: Belmont Abbey
Women's Cross Country: Belmont Abbey
Football: Ferrum
Men's Soccer: Erskine
Women's Soccer: Belmont Abbey
Women's Volleyball: Belmont Abbey
Overall Messick Standings (current top five)
- Belmont Abbey
- North Greenville
- Erskine
- Ferrum
- Young Harris
Women's Messick Standings (current top five)
- Belmont Abbey
- North Greenville
- Francis Marion
- Converse
- King
Men's Messick Standings (current top five)
- Erskine
- Ferrum
- Shorter
- Young Harris
- Belmont Abbey
