Occidental Tigers

Last updated
Occidental Tigers
Occidental college athletics logo.svg
University Occidental College
Conference Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
NCAA Division III
Athletic directorShanda Ness
Location Los Angeles, California
Varsity teams21
Basketball arenaRush Gymnasium
Baseball stadiumAnderson Field
Lacrosse stadiumJack Kemp Stadium/Patterson Field
MascotOswald the Tiger
NicknameTigers
Fight song"Tiger Roar"
ColorsOrange and black [1]
   
Website oxyathletics.com

Located in Los Angeles, Occidental College competes in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) at the NCAA's Division III level. Approximately 25 percent of all students play a varsity sport, and nearly half of all students participate in all athletics activities combined (including a host of club sports and intramural leagues).

Contents

History

In 1889–90 Professor James Parkhill (Occidental College’s fourth president, from 1896–97) organized intramural games for interested College men and Academy boys. His enthusiastic leadership laid the groundwork for establishing the nickname (Tigers) and school colors (orange and black) after his undergraduate alma mater, Princeton. The school dropped football in 2020. [2]

Rivalries

Every year Occidental played two football games for rivalry trophies. One game was against Pomona-Pitzer and the winner awarded "The Drum." The Drum rivalry is the oldest rivalry game in Southern California, having been contested since 1895. [3] Oxy leads Pomona-Pitzer all time in the series 65–54–3. [4] The other game was against Whittier College and the winner awarded "The Shoes," which are a pair of bronzed cleats from a 1940 graduate from Whittier named Myron Claxton. [5]

Varsity sports

The Tigers have 10 varsity men's teams and 11 varsity women's teams.

Men's sportsWomen's sports
BaseballBasketball
BasketballCross country
Cross countryGolf
GolfLacrosse
SoccerSoccer
SwimmingSoftball
TennisSwimming
Track and fieldTennis
Water PoloTrack and field
Volleyball
Water polo

Men's basketball

For the last decade, under alumnus and winningest coach in school history Brian Newhall, the Tigers have found great success on the court. In that time span the program has compiled a 146–59 (.712) record and have won a pair of SCIAC conference championships (2006–07, 2007–08). Furthermore under Newhall, the Tigers have earned regional and national rankings, produced the only perfect 14–0 record in SCIAC history and triumphed in two NCAA playoff games to reach the NCAA III Elite 8 in 2003. [6] Some Oxy players have pursued professional careers overseas, including four players from Oxy's 25–3 Elite 8 team, have gone overseas. One example is Oxy alumnus Blair Slattery, the all-time career scoring and rebounding leader who signed on with the Munster Basketball Club in Germany in 1993. [7]

The program plays its games in Frank Neill Rush Gymnasium with a seating capacity of 1,800.

Club sports

The college also have six club sport teams:

Facilities

VenueSport(s)Ref.
Patterson FieldSoccer [8]
Lacrosse
Track and field [n 1]
Anderson FieldBaseball [9]
Bell FieldSoftball [10]
McKinnon Family CenterTennis [11]
De Mandel Aquatics CenterSwimming [12]
Upper and Lower FieldsSoccer (training) [13]
Alumni Gymnasium(recreational) [14]

National championships

SportTitlesAssoc.DivisionYearRival/runner-upScore
Cross country (m)
1
 NCAA Division III 1977 Humboldt State 149–152
Track and field (m)
3
 NAIA Single [15] 1956 Abilene Christian 89½–56 (+33½)
1957Abilene Christian148½–34 (+114½)
1958 Winston-Salem State 93–62 (+31)
Notes
  1. ↑ At the "Bill Henry Track".

Conference championships

All the titles won in the SCIAC

SportTitlesWinning years
Football
4
2004, 2005, 2006, 2008
Cross country (m)
1
2006
Basketball (m)
2
2006–07, 2007–08
Basketball (w)
1
2007–08
Baseball
1
2016
Track and Field
34
1938, 1943, 1948, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990 [16]
SCIAC All Sports Champions
3
1978, 1983, 1984
Soccer (m)
1
2023 [17]

References

  1. ↑ Occidental University Style Guide (PDF). May 12, 2017. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  2. ↑ "D-III program has decided to drop football".
  3. ↑ Bell, Alison (19 September 2010). "Theirs is a 'big game' of a different stripe". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  4. ↑ "Inside Athletics: The Drum" . Retrieved 2012-05-07.
  5. ↑ Oxy Traditions Explanations of Oxy athletic traditions
  6. ↑ Men's Basketball coaches Bio of Oxy Men's Basketball coaches
  7. ↑ Occidental Alumni in the Pros Occidental Alumni in the Pros
  8. ↑ Patterson Field
  9. ↑ Anderson Field
  10. ↑ Bell Field
  11. ↑ McKinnon Family Tennis Center
  12. ↑ De Mandel Aquatics Center
  13. ↑ Upper and Lower Fields
  14. ↑ Alumni Gymnasium
  15. ↑ "NAIA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship Results" (PDF). NAIA Sports Information Directors Manual. NAIA. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  16. ↑ "SCAIC Track and Field Records, Results" . Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  17. ↑ "From The Occidental: Men's Soccer Wins First SCIAC Championship". Occidental College. Occidental College. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
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