LetsGoDU friend CD Dunks reminds us that there is no need to use the term ‘mid-major’. And the same goes for ‘secondary sport’ – i.e. any sport that is not called football or Power-Five conference basketball. The big question is: Has Peg Bradley-Doppes simply built one of the finest athletic department in the land? Continue reading Crimson & Gold touch propels Denver to national powerhouse status
At this very moment on Feb. 20, 2017, for the first time in history, our two flagship sports, ice hockey and men’s lacrosse, are both ranked #1 in the country in all the major polls of those two sports.
For our small private school in the Rockies with 5,500 undergrads and a budget 1/10th the size of some of the large D-I football powers, with our opponents spread out all over the country and requiring jet planes to get to 85% of DU away games, this is an astonishing, epic achievement.
Additionally, our men’s soccer team finished #3 in the country this fall. And our women’s gymnastics team is currently ranked #8 in the country, the highest the program has ever been ranked. And DU women’s lacrosse is undefeated this year and ranked #14/15 in the country. And our nationally ranked swim teams (#20 men’s and #26 women’s) just swept the podium in EVERY EVENT at the Summit League Championships last week.
I say all this because we need to take a moment to realize just how frickin’ good our athletics program is right now. No program in the country gets better performance for the buck than DU does. And now is the time to tell your friends from bigger schools that the Pioneers are on top of the country in two sports. Let’s hope both can end their seasons with a National Championship.
For those of us oldsters who remember the days when DU played hockey in a decrepit old WWII surplus naval drill hall and DU lacrosse played mostly clubs and small colleges on muddy fields in front of 50 people, we can only say how proud we are to see just how far DU has come as a national sports power.
Go Pios!
When Denver centerback Kortne Ford (above/Photo by David Grooms) carved open the Clemson backline to convert Alex Underwood’s cross to score the game-winning goal in Dec.2’s NCAA Soccer Quarterfinal with a minute left in the game to book a first-ever DU berth in the College Cup, it set off a big celebration for every Pioneer fan.
I would argue that it may have been one of DU’s greatest collegiate sporting achievements of all time. Here’s why: Continue reading Puck Swami: Is the men’s soccer team making the 2016 College Cup DU’s greatest sporting achievement?
Three DU 2016 Olympians: Left: Jessica Lopez ’09 Gymnastics, Venezuela, Top Right Espen Kofstad ’11 Golf, Norway; Lower Right: Simona Castro ’13 Gymnastics, Chile. Photos Courtesy University of Denver
Three University of Denver athlete graduates will represent their respective countries at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil — one men’s golfer and two women’s gymnasts, representing the countries of Norway, Venezuela, and Chile, respectively. Continue reading Three Pioneer Alums Headed to 2016 Rio Olympics
Denver’s toughest athlete is set to compete against the nation’s best.
DU gymnast Nina McGee will be heading to Fort Worth later this week to compete in the women’s NCAA Gymnastics championships as an individual qualifier. Unlike many other competitions, McGee will be traveling to the event without any of her teammates. She will be a contender for the national all-around championship after finishing 11th overall last year. The championships will be held at the Fort Worth Convention Center Arena, April 15-16. Continue reading Gymnast Nina McGee Goes for Texas-Sized Achievement
