The Hawaii Pacific Sharks are the 13 varsity athletic teams that represent
Hawaii Pacific University, located in
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
, in
NCAA Division II
NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...
intercollegiate sports. The Sharks compete as members of the
Pacific West Conference
The Pacific West Conference (also known as the PacWest) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in California and Hawaii.
Th ...
. Hawaii Pacific University's first venture into intercollegiate athletics came with the formation of the men's basketball team. The university previously competed in the
NAIA before joining the NCAA in the mid-1990s.
On August 1, 2014, HPU athletics announced that they had changed their name from the Sea Warriors to the Sharks as part of a fundraising effort and to "better align ourselves with the rest of the university." As part of the new logo rollout, then-HPU Executive Athletics Director Vince Baldemor promised to secure 1,000 memberships in the HPU "Sharks Club" within the first three months. The program was a major failure with membership failing to exceed 300 after two years. Baldemor was relieved as athletics director.
History
Men's basketball won the
1993 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament with an 88–83 victory over
Oklahoma Baptist University
Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU) is a private Baptist university in Shawnee, Oklahoma. It was established in 1910 under the original name of The Baptist University of Oklahoma. OBU is owned and was founded by the Baptist General Convention of ...
.
The school's most successful athletics program has been its women's
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
team, which has won three national championships, one
NAIA national volleyball championship in 1990 and two
NCAA Women's DII Volleyball Championships in 1998 and 2000.
The Lady Sharks Softball team won the
NCAA Division II Women's College World Series on May 31, 2010 with a come-from-behind 4–3 win over
Valdosta State University.
Although not recognized as an official sport by the athletic department, HPU has an internationally recognized Division II
cheerleading
Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...
and dance team. The HPU Large Coed, Small Coed, All Girl and Dance National Championship Titles have established Hawaii Pacific as a global leader in collegiate competitive cheerleading. Including eight consecutive (Non-NCAA) National Championship from 2003 to 2010.
National championships
Team
Varsity sports
Teams
Men's sports
* Baseball
* Basketball
* Cross Country
* Golf
* Soccer
* Tennis
Women's sports
* Acro and Tumbling
* Basketball
* Cross Country
* Golf
* Soccer
* Softball
* Tennis
* Volleyball
References
External links
*
{{Pacific West Conference navbox