ROCK HILL, S.C. — The Lincoln Memorial athletics department has finished sixth in the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletics Excellence Award standings for the 2018-19 seasons, it was announced by the league office on Thursday.

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 SAC’s 20 championship sports. Regular-season finish is used for men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, football, 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 to determine point totals for men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf and men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field.

Lincoln Memorial ended the year with 1,049.2 points to fall behind No. 5 Tusculum (1,107.2) and ahead of No. 7 Anderson (1,001). Wingate captured its 13th straight Echols Award with 1,531 points, while Lenoir-Rhyne was second with 1,521 and Queens was third with 1,443.5. Carson-Newman earned the final spot in the top five at No. 4 with 1,162 points.

Lincoln Memorial’s Echols Award point total was bolstered by several strong performances in the spring as the softball team won its first-ever SAC regular-season title, while the baseball team finished as the SAC regular-season runners-up. The women’s lacrosse program also notched the highest finish in program history by tying for third place, while the men’s golf squad provided a fourth-place performance at the SAC Championship.

Looking back to the fall seasons, the women’s soccer team finished tied for second in the regular-season standings before going on to win the SAC tournament and make an appearance in the Southeast Region championship game. The Lady Railsplitter volleyball team notched a third-place regular-season finish as well before also earning a bid to the NCAA tournament. The men’s basketball team also provided a substantial boost by tying for second place in the regular-season standings.

The complete SAC Echols Athletic Excellence Award standings for the 2018-19 seasons can be seen below.

1. Wingate — 1,531

2. Lenoir-Rhyne — 1,521

3. Queens — 1,443.5

4. Carson-Newman — 1,162

5. Tusculum — 1,107.2

6. Lincoln Memorial — 1,049.2

7. Anderson — 1,001

8. Catawba — 985.5

9. Newberry — 770.66

10. Coker — 629.5

11. Mars Hill — 453.5