Editor's Note: Belmont Abbey Athletics is taking a look back at some of the highlights from the 2024-25 competition season. Stories will be reposted with the headline CRUSADER REWIND. This article was originally posted on May 22, 2025.

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Belmont Abbey College has won the overall and women's Conference Carolinas Messick Sportsmanship Awards, the league announced today. The department was first recognized at the league meeting's annual awards dinner on Tuesday.

Belmont Abbey has now won the overall Messick Award seven times and the Crusaders have won at least two of the final awards four times. This year, Belmont Abbey earned a program-best nine individual sport awards -- men's and women's cross country, women's basketball, men's and women's indoor track & field, men's wrestling, men's golf and men's and women's outdoor track & field.

The Crusader men finished fourth overall in its gender-specific competition with Southern Wesleyan claiming the top spot.

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."