Wingate Captures 18th Straight Echols Athletic Excellence Award

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The Wingate Bulldogs captured their 18th consecutive South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award by winning the 2025-26 award, the Conference office announced on Thursday (May 7). Wingate finished the year with 1,860.5 points to claim the top spot in the final standings.

In second place in the standings was Catawba with 1,534 points, while Lenoir-Rhyne finished third with 1,512 points. Anderson came in fourth place with 1,402.5 points.

Carson-Newman finished fifth in the standings with 1,186.83 points, followed closely by Lincoln Memorial in sixth with 1,173.33 points.

Newberry landed at No. 7 in the standings with 902.83 points, while Tusculum finished eighth with 884.5 points. Coker came in ninth with 708 points and UVA Wise placed tenth with 687.5 points.

Rounding out the standings were Mars Hill in 11th place with 652 points and Emory & Henry in 12th place with 547 points.

The Echols Athletic Excellence Award is presented annually to the member athletic department that earns the highest point total based on cumulative final standings in each of the Conference's 23 sports. Regular season finish is used in the sports of men's and women's soccer, volleyball, football, field hockey, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's lacrosse, baseball and softball, while SAC Championship results are used for men's and women's cross country, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's golf, and men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field.

In the Echols Athletic Excellence Award formula, the champion will always receive 100 points and last place will receive 10 points if 10 or more schools sponsor that championship sport. In sports with less than 10 participants, the total number of points varies based on the number of sponsoring schools. The points earned for all other place finishes will vary based on the number of schools that sponsor that particular sport.

2025-26 SAC Echols Athletic Excellence Award Final Standings