GREENVILLE, S.C. – Belmont Abbey has claimed the Women's Joby Hawn Cup for the 2025-26 season, the Conference Carolinas office announced today. The award is the first since gender-specific competitions were established for the 2010-11.
The Crusader women earned a percentage rating of 75.9 based on the final standings of each sport, including Northwest Division regular-season titles in women's basketball, women's soccer and women's tennis. Francis Marion (74.3 percent) and North Greenville (72.4 percent) rounded out the top three. Combined with a fifth-place effort among men's programs, The Abbey placed second in the overall Hawn Cup standings, its highest placement since winning back-to-back Cups in 1998-99 and 1999-2000.
The Joby Hawn Cup is the annual all-sports award for Conference Carolinas. Hawn Cup points are awarded in each sport based on the order of regular season finish and the number of participating teams in each sport. The institution that finishes in first place is awarded points equal to the number of institutions that sponsor the sport. The institution that finishes in second place is awarded one less point than first place, the institution that finishes in third place is awarded one less point than second place and the process continues until the institution that finished in last place is awarded one point.
In addition, bonus points are awarded to the tournament champion (two bonus points) and runner-up finisher (one bonus point). The total points earned from all sports for each institution is divided by the total possible points (excluding bonus points) for each institution based on sports sponsorship for each participating sport. Institutions are ranked by the resulting ratio of points earned to possible points.
The Hawn Cup is named after H.C. "Joby" Hawn, who in 1962 became the first full-time Commissioner of what was then known as the Carolinas Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and now Conference Carolinas. Following his retirement from the conference in 1976, Conference Carolinas began awarding the Hawn Cup annually in his honor.
Overall Standings (Final Top Five)
Rating % in Parentheses
1 – UNC Pembroke (77.1)
2 – Belmont Abbey (74.2)
3 – Mount Olive (70.8)
4 – Converse (70.5)
5 – North Greenville (69.2)
Women's Joby Hawn Cup Standings (Top Five)
Rating % in Parentheses
1 – Belmont Abbey (75.9)
2 – Francis Marion (74.3)
3 – North Greenville (72.4)
4 – UNC Pembroke (67.6)
5 – Converse (66.1)
Men's Joby Hawn Cup Standings (Top Five)
Rating % in Parentheses
1 – UNC Pembroke (89.7)
2 – Converse (78.2)
3 – Young Harris (77.2)
4 – Mount Olive (77.0)
5 – Belmont Abbey (72.3)
