Illinois State Redbirds

Illinois State Redbirds
University Illinois State University
Conference Missouri Valley Conference
NCAA Division I
Athletic director Larry Lyons
Location Normal, Illinois
Varsity teams 17 (7 men's, 10 women's)
Football stadium Hancock Stadium
Basketball arena Redbird Arena
Baseball stadium Duffy Bass Field
Mascot Reggie Redbird
Nickname Redbirds
Fight song Go, You Redbirds
Colors Red and White[1]
         
Website www.goredbirds.com

The Illinois State Redbirds are the athletic teams that represent Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. Teams play at the NCAA Division I level (FCS in football). The football team competes in the Missouri Valley Football Conference while most other teams compete in the Missouri Valley Conference. The fight song is Go, You Redbirds.[2]

Teams

A member of the Missouri Valley Conference, Illinois State University sponsors eight men's and eleven women's teams in NCAA sanctioned sports:[3]

Men's Intercollegiate Sports Team Article Head Coach Women's Intercollegiate Sports Team Article Head Coach
Baseball Redbird Baseball Bo Durkac Basketball Barb Smith
Basketball Redbird men's basketball Dan Muller Cross Country Jeff Bovee
Cross Country Jeff Bovee Golf Darby Sligh
Football [v 1] Redbird football Brock Spack Gymnastics [v 2] Bob Conkling
Golf Ray Kralis Soccer Eric Golz
Tennis Mark Klysner Softball Melinda Fischer
Track & Field (Indoor & Outdoor) Jeff Bovee Swimming & Diving Scott Cameron
Tennis Mark Klysner
Track & Field (Indoor & Outdoor) Jeff Bovee
Volleyball Melissa Myers
Notes
  1. The football team competes as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
  2. The gymnastics team competes as a member of the Midwest Independent Conference.

History

Illinois State began its athletics program more than 100 years ago. The school, which had already been an NCAA Division I competitor for a decade, left behind its independent status in 1980 and affiliated itself with the Missouri Valley Conference. From 1981 to 1992, Redbird women's teams competed under the Gateway Conference banner before women's sports were absorbed into the Missouri Valley Conference.

From approximately 1910-1970, Illinois State was affiliated with the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Athletics at Illinois State consists of 19 intercollegiate sports, having won 125 league titles in 23 years.

Today, 17 of the 19 Redbird sports compete in the Missouri Valley Conference, with the football team playing in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, formerly known as the Gateway Conference.

Redbird 7

On 7 April 2015, seven men died when a privately owned Cessna 414 carrying Redbirds men's basketball coach Torrey Ward, Deputy Director of Athletics Aaron Leetch, and five community members and athletics supporters crashed.[4] The group was returning from Indianapolis, where they attended the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Final. The plane crashed in a soybean field outside of Central Illinois Regional Airport in McLean County.[5] The University and Athletics Department memorialized the victims in several ways, including a uniform patch worn by all 19 teams throughout the 2015–16 sports seasons. In addition, a permanent memorial called Redbird Remembrance directly in the heart of the Redbird Athletics.

National Championships

Association Division Sport Year Opponent/Runner-Up Score
NCAA Division II Baseball (1)[6] 1969 Southwest Missouri State 12–0

Accomplishments

Men's Basketball

Missouri Valley Conference Titles: 1983, 1990, 1993, 1997, 1998

NCAA Appearances: 1983, 1984, 1985, 1990, 1997, 1998

NIT Appearances: 1977, 1978, 1980, 1987, 1988, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015

Women's Basketball

Missouri Valley Conference Titles: 1983, 1989, 2005, 2008, 2009

NCAA Appearances: 1983, 1985, 1989, 2005, 2008

Women's National Invitation Tournament Appearances: 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

Football

Missouri Valley Football Conference Championships: 1999, 2014, 2015

NCAA Division I Football Championship Playoffs: 1998, 1999, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2015

Bowl Games

Date played Bowl Champion Runner-Up
November 23, 1950 Corn Bowl Missouri-Rolla 7 Illinois State 6
December 4, 1999 Pecan Bowl Illinois State 37 Hofstra 20
December 1, 2006 Pecan Bowl Youngstown State 28 Illinois State 21

Softball

Illinois State's softball team played in the Women's College World Series eight times in 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1978 and 1981.[8] The team finished as runner-up in the first WCWS in 1969, and in 1973, falling to Arizona State, 4-3, in 16 innings in the title game. On the day of the 1973 defeat, Redbirds pitcher Margie Wright heroically hurled 30 innings in three games. Ironically, for pitching too many innings in one day, a three-woman Illinois sports commission suspended her from pitching in any game in her upcoming senior season and also banned the softball team from post-season play in 1974. Wright went on to play professional softball, followed by a 33-year head coaching career. She coached the Redbirds from 1980–85, followed by 27 years at Fresno State, where she became the first NCAA Division I softball coach to reach 1000 wins and the NCAA's all-time winningest softball coach.[8]:23–24

Facilities

Notable former athletes

References

  1. ISU Graphic Standards (PDF). 2009-01-01. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  2. http://goredbirds.cstv.com/trads/ilsu-trads-school-songs.html
  3. "Illinois State Athletics". Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  4. Statement From Illinois State Athletics
  5. Plane returning from NCAA title game crashes, killing 7 including Illinois State coach
  6. "Division II Baseball Championship Results" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
  7. DeLassus, David. "Division I-AA All-Time Wins". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 Plummer, William; Floyd, Larry C. (2013). A Series Of Their Own: History Of The Women's College World Series. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States: Turnkey Communications Inc. ISBN 978-0-9893007-0-4.

External links

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