Hilton Head Island High wins 7th straight state award for outstanding athletic programs

For the seventh consecutive year, Hilton Head Island High School has received top statewide honors for its athletic programs.

The Carlisle Cup, an annual recognition bestowed by the South Carolina Athletic Administrators Association, honors the state’s top athletic programs in each high school classification. Hilton Head Island High has now won top honors every year from 2011 through 2017. The school’s six wins in Class AAA from 2011-16 was the longest winning streak in division history, and in 2017 the school continued to win after being upgraded to AAAA.

Twenty of Hilton Head Island High’s 22 varsity teams qualified for postseason play this school year. Teams won South Carolina state championships in boys’ cross country, boys’ track and girls’ track. girls’ tennis finished second statewide, and girls’ cross country and girls’ swimming finished third. Boys’ lacrosse, boys’ tennis, baseball and girls’ soccer were lower state finalists.

Other Beaufort County School District high schools also performed well in the statewide Carlisle Cup competition. Bluffton High finished second among 44 high schools in AAA, May River finished seventh and Battery Creek 24th. Beaufort High finished 17th among 42 schools in AAAA, and Whale Branch Early College High finished 20th among 44 high schools in AA.

Hilton Head Island High will receive a trophy and a banner to join its previous honors.

“Winning the Carlisle Cup requires a schoolwide effort — a team effort,” said athletic director Joe Monmonier. “It requires buy-in from our student athletes and coaches, but also from our parents, administrators, support staff and business community.”

Superintendent Jeff Moss wasn’t surprised by Hilton Head’s seventh straight win.

“What we’re seeing, year in and year out, is evidence of an ongoing commitment to excellence,” Moss said. “Seahawk Nation sets the bar high, and they continue to live up to their lofty expectations for athletic and academic excellence.”

Moss added that Hilton Head’s athletic success is especially noteworthy given that Beaufort County is one of only two South Carolina districts with a minimum 2.0 GPA requirement to participate in athletics and also one of only seven districts with random drug testing of student athletes.

This story was originally published June 6, 2017 at 4:21 PM with the headline "Hilton Head Island High wins 7th straight state award for outstanding athletic programs."