The Denver Pioneers are the sports teams of the University of Denver. The University of Denver ( DU) founded in 1864 is the oldest private University in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. They play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, with most teams participating in the Sun Belt Conference. The National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA, often pronounced "N-C-Double-A" is a voluntary association of about 1200 institutions conferences organizations Division I (or D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States The Sun Belt Conference is a college athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA 's Division I since 1976.
DU's athletic teams are known as the Pioneers and have been fielding intercollegiate teams since 1867. A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there often to colonize the area With over 200 All Americans, 26 NCAA Championships and 53 Olympians in its history, there is a long tradition of excellence in Pioneer sports. Today, DU operates a full NCAA Division I athletic program with a unique and successful mix of sports in and around the $75 million Daniel Ritchie Center for Sports and Wellness, which was completed in 2000. Division I (or D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States
Denver is a member of the Sun Belt Conference for Men's and Women's Basketball, Swimming, Tennis and Golf, as well as Women's Volleyball and Women's Soccer. The Sun Belt Conference is a college athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA 's Division I since 1976. The other Denver teams play in various conferences in the sports that are not sponsored by the Sun Belt. Men's Ice Hockey plays in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, Men's Soccer and Women's Lacrosse play in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, Men's and Women's Skiing competes in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association, while Men's Lacrosse plays in the Great Western Lacrosse League. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is a college athletic conference which operates over a wide area of the Midwestern and Western United States. The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation is a College athletic conference whose member teams are located in the western United States. History The original members were Air Force Butler Denver Notre Dame and Ohio State Women's Gymnastics competes as an Independent.
It is no secret that Denver would prefer to play the majority of its sports in a more appropriate regional conference. The West Coast Conference is often cited as Denver's preferred conference destination, given the WCC schools are also smaller private schools that also do not have big-time football. Current members Former members University of the Pacific (1952-1971 San Jose State University (1952-1969 Other possible conferences that are mentioned for Denver include the Mountain West Conference, the Western Athletic Conference and the Big Sky Conference. The Mountain West Conference (or MWC) the youngest of the College athletic conferences affiliated with the NCAA ’s Division I FBS (I-A officially The Western Athletic Conference (commonly referred to as the WAC, pronounced "wack" was formed on July 27 1962 making it the sixth oldest of the 11 College The Big Sky Conference (or BSC) is an intercollegiate College athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA ’s Division I, with football However, those three conferences are football-driven, and Denver would need to be admitted as a restricted member (if those possibilities were ever to materialize). Until something new happens, Denver will stay as a Sun Belt member.
Contents |
Ice hockey
Ice hockey is DU's flagship spectator sport, regularly selling out the new 6,000 seat Magness Arena on campus, the showpiece of the Ritchie Center for Sports and Wellness. Current head coach George Gwozdecky The only coach in NCAA history to win a hockey national title as a player assistant coach and head coach The University of Denver ( DU) founded in 1864 is the oldest private University in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. Magness Arena is a 7200-seat multi-purpose collegiate sports Arena in Denver Colorado. DU's Men's Hockey Program has been playing NCAA Division I hockey since 1950. Pioneer Hockey is one of the most successful hockey programs in the history of collegiate hockey. The Pioneers ranked (with the University of North Dakota) second in all time NCAA National Hockey Championships with 7. Only the University of Michigan (9) has more Championships). The University of Michigan Ann Arbor ( U of M, U-M, UM or simply Michigan) is a top-ranked Coeducational public research Since the creation of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in 1959, the Pioneers have won 9 WCHA Regular Season Championships (now the recipients of the MacNaughton Cup) and 13 WCHA Playoff Championships (now the recipients of the Broadmoor Trophy). The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is a college athletic conference which operates over a wide area of the Midwestern and Western United States. The MacNaughton Cup is a Trophy awarded annually to the regular season conference champion of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA The Broadmoor Trophy has been awarded to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA playoff champion since 1985. The Pioneer hockey program is the only program in the history of NCAA Division I Hockey to win the regular season, league playoff, and national championship in the same year (2005).
Denver's ice hockey alumni include over 50 NHL hockey players, including several who are current (2007-2008) NHLers: 2007 Calder Trophy nominee Paul Stastny of the Colorado Avalanche, Wade Dubielewicz of the New York Islanders, Matt Pettinger of the Vancouver Canucks, and 2006 Hobey Baker Memorial Award Winner Matt Carle of the San Jose Sharks. The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League Paul Stastny (born December 27 1985 is a Canadian-American professional Ice hockey center of Slovak descent who plays for the Colorado The Colorado Avalanche are a professional Ice hockey team based in Denver Colorado, United States Wade Dubielewicz (born January 30, 1979) is a Canadian Ice hockey Goaltender who plays for Ak Bars Kazan in the The New York Islanders are a professional Ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. Matt Pettinger (born October 22, 1980 in Edmonton Alberta) is a Professional Ice hockey left winger who currently plays for The Vancouver Canucks are a Professional Ice hockey team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Hobart Amory Hare Baker ( January 15, 1892 &ndash December 21, 1918) known as Hobey Baker, was a noted American amateur athlete of Matthew Carle (born September 25, 1984 in Anchorage, Alaska) is a professional Ice hockey player who currently plays defense for the The San Jose Sharks are a professional Ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States. Previous DU players who starred in the NHL include Keith Magnuson, Craig Patrick, Cliff Koroll, Peter McNab, Glenn Anderson, and Kevin Dineen. Keith Magnuson ( April 27 1947 - December 15 2003) was a professional Ice hockey defenceman from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Craig Patrick (born May 20 1946 in Detroit Michigan) is an American hockey player coach and general manager the son of Lynn Patrick and the grandson Cliff Koroll (born October 1, 1946 in Canora, Saskatchewan) is a retired Professional Ice hockey right winger. Peter McNab (born on May 8 1952 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a retired professional Ice hockey player who appeared in 954 NHL Glenn Christopher Anderson (born October 2, 1960 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a retired Canadian professional Ice hockey Kevin William Dineen (born October 28, 1963 in Quebec City, Quebec) is a retired professional Ice hockey player and is currently the head coach Ledendary hockey coaches at Denver include three former NHL players - Murray Armstrong, Marshall Johnston and Ralph Backstrom. Murray Alexander Armstrong (born January 1, 1916) is a retired Canadian professional Ice hockey centre and NCAA hockey coach Marshall Johnston (Born June 6, 1941 in Birch Hills, Saskatchewan) was a Canadian professional Ice hockey right winger Ralph Gerald Backstrom (born September 18, 1937 in Kirkland Lake, Ontario) is a retired Canadian Professional Ice hockey The current hockey coach is George Gwozdecky. George Gwozdecky is currently the Head Coach for the University of Denver Pioneers hockey team
Other sports
Skiing is another strong sport at Denver, with 19 NCAA titles (more than any other school) including the most recent in 2008 and as well as three consecutive NCAA titles from 2001 to 2003. Snow skiing is a group of sports utilizing Skis as primary equipment The Women's Gymnastics team finished 12th at the 2008 NCAA Championships and 10th in 2007. Gymnastics is a Sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength agility and coordination The Denver Women's Soccer teams have appeared in the 2007 and 2006 NCAA Tournaments, while the Men's Lacrosse team appeared in the 2008 and 2006 NCAA Tournaments, and the Women's Basketball team appeared in the 2001 NCAA Tournament. The Men's and Women's Golf teams, Men's Soccer, and Men's Lacrosse teams have all also been ranked in the national top 20 in recent years, while the Men's Basketball team won the Sun Belt West Division in 2005 and appeared in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) for the first time since the 1950s. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered Lacrosse is a full contact Team sport played using a solid rubber ball and long handled racket called a crosse or Lacrosse stick.
Football was once the most popular sport at Denver. American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive Team sport known for mixing strategy with Football highlights include appearances in the 1946 Sun Bowl, the 1947 Alamo Bowl and the 1951 Pineapple Bowl. The Sun Bowl is an annual College football Bowl game that is played usually at the end of December in El Paso Texas. The Alamo Bowl is a major American College football Bowl game played annually since 1993 in the 65000-seat Alamodome in San Antonio The Pineapple Bowl is a now-defunct College football Bowl game played in Honolulu Hawaii at Honolulu Stadium. The football team played in a 30,000 seat stadium that stood on campus from 1927 to 1974. However, the program was discontinued in 1961 for financial reasons, and Denver's baseball team was dropped in 1999 when DU returned to full NCAA D-I status.
Other notable Denver sports alumni include former Major League Baseball player Dan Schatzeder, NBA basketball players Vince Boryla and Byron Beck, CFL Hall of Famer and former NFL football player Sam Etcheverry, 1952 US Olympic Long Jump Gold Medalist Jerome Biffle, former US Olympic Committee Executive Director Lyman Bingham, and former Colorado Rapids/US National soccer player Nat Borchers. Daniel Ernest Schatzeder (born December 1, 1954 in Elmhurst Illinois) is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1977-1991 Vincent Joseph Boryla (born March 11, 1927 in East Chicago Indiana) is a retired American Basketball player coach and executive A Byron Beck (born January 25, 1945 in Ellensburg Washington) is an American former professional Basketball player The Canadian Football League (CFL ( Ligue canadienne de football (LCF in Sam "The Rifle" Etcheverry (born May 20, 1930 in Carlsbad New Mexico) is a former professional American and Canadian football Jerome Cousins Biffle ( March 20, 1928, Denver - September 4, 2002, Denver was an American athlete who competed mainly Nat Borchers (born April 13, 1981 in Tucson, Arizona) is an American Soccer player who currently plays central defense San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich received a masters degree from DU but did not play any varsity sports there. Gregg Popovich (born January 28 1949 in East Chicago, Indiana) is the head coach of the National Basketball Association 's San Antonio Spurs. Five time world champion and US Olympic figure Skating star Michelle Kwan is currently enrolled at DU as a full-time sophomore, having transferred from UCLA. Michelle Wingshan Kwan (born July 7, 1980) is an American figure skater. The University of California Los Angeles (generally known as UCLA) is a public research university located in Westwood Los Angeles, California, United
References
Western Collegiate Hockey Association[1];
US College Hockey Online[2]
Denver Pioneers Athletics[3]
Link
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic