Limestone Saints

Limestone Saints
University Limestone College
Conference Conference Carolinas
NCAA Division II
Location Gaffney, SC
Varsity teams 23
Football stadium The Reservation at Gaffney High School
Basketball arena Timken Center
Baseball stadium Founders FCU Stadium
Softball stadium Jimmy Martin Field
Soccer stadium Saints Field
Lacrosse stadium Saints Field
Natatorium Timken Aquatic Center
Nickname Saints
Colors Blue and Gold
         
Website www.golimestonesaints.com

The Limestone Saints are the athletic teams that represent Limestone College, located in Gaffney, South Carolina, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sporting competitions. The Saints compete as members of Conference Carolinas for most sports, which Limestone has been a member of since 1998. The swim team competes with the Bluegrass Mountain Conference, the wrestling team is an independent, and the field hockey team is a member of ECAC–Division II.

History

Until 1997, Limestone competed for championships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Limestone gained membership in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Division II in 1991 and began competing for NCAA championships when it joined the Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference in 1998. Today, 17 of Limestone’s athletic teams compete in the Conference Carolinas, while both swimming teams are affiliated with the Bluegrass Mountain Conference and wrestling competes as an independent. In 2014, the field hockey team joined the inaugural ECAC Division II conference in that sport.

Limestone helped pave the way for collegiate lacrosse, swimming, and field hockey in the South. The Saints fielded South Carolina’s first collegiate lacrosse team in 1990. The swimming teams are the only NCAA Division II swimming programs in South Carolina and among the few in the two Carolinas.

Over the years, the Saints baseball, men’s and women's basketball, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s lacrosse, softball, men’s soccer, wrestling, and men’s and women’s tennis teams have all been ranked on the national level. Twelve student-athletes have gone on to play professionally in their sport, with seven of those signing professional baseball contracts. The Saints baseball program was started by two-time Cy Young Award winner Gaylord Perry, a member of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Additionally, Saints athletes have earned All-American honors on over 100 occasions and over a dozen have been named Academic All-Americans.

Varsity teams

List of teams

Men's sports (12)

  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Cross country
  • Football
  • Golf
  • Lacrosse
  • Soccer
  • Swimming and diving
  • Tennis
  • Track and field
  • Volleyball
  • Wrestling

Women's sports (11)

  • Basketball
  • Cross country
  • Field hockey
  • Golf
  • Lacrosse
  • Soccer
  • Softball
  • Swimming and diving
  • Tennis
  • Track and field
  • Volleyball

National championships

Team

Association Division Sport Year Opponent Score
NAIA Men's Golf[1] 1984 Saginaw Valley State 1176–1183
NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse[2] 2000 C.W. Post 10–9
2002 NYIT 11–9
2014 LIU Post 12–6
2015 Le Moyne 9–6

Individual

Association Division Sport Year Individual(s) Event
NAIA Men's Golf[3] 1984 Chip Johnson Men's Championship
NCAA Division II Wrestling 2008 Dan Scanlan 184 pounds
Men's Swimming and Diving 2008 Craig Jordens
Chris Harrigan
Anders Melin
Goran Majlat
200-yard freestyle relay
2009 Craig Jordens
Matt Parsonage
Anders Melin
Goran Majlat
200-yard freestyle relay
2009 Goran Majlat 50-yard freestyle

Conference championships

Regular-season conference championships

(since 1998)

Conference tournament titles

Individual sports

Men's lacrosse

Limestone is an established powerhouse in men's lacrosse and has won four national championship titles (2000, 2002, 2014, and 2015). The Saints have also compiled fifteen Conference Championship titles in (1994, 1999–2007, and 2009–2014). With its 2000 national title, Limestone College became the smallest coeducational institution to ever win an NCAA national championship.

Women's lacrosse

The Limestone College women's lacrosse program has made appearances in nine NCAA Division II National Tournaments (2004, 2006 and 2008–2014), reaching the NCAA DII National Championship in both 2011 and 2013. They have been regular-season conference champions for ten consecutive seasons (2004–2014) and accumulated eight conference tournament championships (2006 and 2008–2014). They are the southern-most collegiate women's lacrosse program to make an appearance in a national tournament. The current Head Coach of the program is Scott Tucker.

Football

On October 26, 2012, Limestone announced they will add football and begin play in 2014.[6]

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, April 29, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.