GREENVILLE, South Carolina. --- The University of Mount Olive captured the 2021-2022 Conference Carolinas Joby Hawn Cup, it was announced by the conference office. The Hawn Cup goes to the conference school with the year's best overall athletics performance. Mount Olive also won the individual women's Hawn Cup, winning the overall cup for a fourth straight year, sixth overall. UMO has also finished first or second in the Hawn Cup standings in each of the last 11 years.
Mount Olive finished in the top two in 14 different sports in the Hawn Cup rankings. The Trojans won Conference Carolinas Championships in Men's Outdoor Track & Field, Women's Outdoor Track & Field, Men's Indoor Track & Field, Women's Indoor Track & Field, Women's Lacrosse,Women's Tennis, and Women's Soccer. Mount Olive also had runner-up finishes in Baseball, Men's Tennis, Women's Golf, Men's Lacrosse, Women's Soccer, and Men's Volleyball. UMO finished the year with six Conference Carolinas Regular-Season Championships in Women's Soccer, Women's Lacrosse, and Women's Tennis.
"We are extremely excited to win the Hawn Cup. This is an example of the outstanding product we have here at the University of Mount Olive. On behalf of Trojan nation, from our coaches, our administration, and especially our student-athletes, we are humbled and honored to win the Hawn Cup for the fourth consecutive year. It's a great day to be a Trojan," said Director of Athletics Joey Higginbotham.
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 Joby 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 (CIAC) and now Conference Carolinas. Following his retirement from the league in 1976, Conference Carolinas began awarding the Hawn Cup annually in his honor.
Mount Olive owned a Conference Carolinas-best 95.6 rating percentage (218-228 points) in collecting the Hawn Cup for the fourth straight year and the sixth time since 2011-12. Mount Olive picked up six Conference Carolinas tournament titles and four regular-season championships in the 2021-22 academic year.
In men's sports, Mount Olive collected 98 out of a possible 107 points for an 91.6 rating taking second in the men's cup. In women's sports, the Trojans earned 120 out of a possible 121 points for a rating of 99.2 repeating as women's champions and the sixth time overall.
Full Conference Carolinas Release
Final Hawn Cup Standings
The Hawn Cup dates back to 1975-76. In 2010-11, the Hawn Cup was expanded to include overall, men's sports and women's sports champions.
Mount Olive captured its first-ever Hawn Cup in 2011-12, sweeping all three awards. UMO repeated in capturing all three Hawn Cup awards in 2018-19.
