The Mars Hill Lions are the athletic teams that represent
Mars Hill University
Mars Hill University is a private Christian university in Mars Hill, North Carolina. The university offers 35 undergraduate majors and includes a school of nursing and graduate schools in education, criminal justice, and management. From 1859 to ...
, located in
Mars Hill, North Carolina
Mars Hill is a town in Madison County, North Carolina, Madison County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,869 at the 2010 U.S. Census, and was estimated at 2,032 in 2018 by the U.S. Census. It is the home of Mars Hill University, t ...
, 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 Lions are full members of the
South Atlantic Conference
The South Atlantic Conference (SAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the southeastern United States. The SAC was founded in 1975 as a ...
, home to 18 of its 21 athletics programs. The men's and women's swimming programs are members of the single-sport
Appalachian Swimming Conference, and the acrobatics and tumbling team is an associate member of
Conference Carolinas
Conference Carolinas, formerly known as the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) or the Carolinas Conference, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) primarily at the Divisio ...
.
Mars Hill have been members of the SAC since its founding in 1975.
Varsity teams
List of teams
Men's sports (10)
* Baseball
* Basketball
* Cross Country
* Esports
* Football
* Golf
* Lacrosse
* Soccer
* Swimming
* Tennis
* Track and field
Women's sports (11)
* Acrobatics and tumbling
* Basketball
* Cross country
* Esports
* Golf
* Lacrosse
* Soccer
* Softball
* Swimming
* Tennis
* Track and field
* Volleyball
Individual teams
Cross country
The men's
cross country team have also been highly successful over the last two decades; from 1997 to 2014 they won 18 straight conference championships; in 2016 they won their 19th conference championship. In 2014 the men's cross country team won the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional championship and advanced to the Division II national championship meet, and in 2015 they finished in second place in the Division II Southeast Regional championship and advanced to the Division II national meet. In June 2017, Nathan Jones, a member of the Mars Hill cross country team, won the South Atlantic Conference Man of the Year Award, and in 2018 Mars Hill baseball player Zac Brown won the SAC Man of the Year Award.
Football
In December 2011, Mars Hill running back
Jonas Randolph won the prestigious
Harlon Hill Trophy
The Harlon Hill Trophy is an award in American college football given to the individual selected as the most valuable player in NCAA Division II. The award is named for former University of North Alabama and National Football League player Harlo ...
, which is given each year to the best player in NCAA Division II football.
Club sports
Cycling
In May 2011 the
cycling
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...
team won the USA Cycling Collegiate Division II national championship.
In 2012 they finished in second place nationally, and in May 2015 the Mars Hill cycling team finished the season ranked in first place nationally among Division II teams.
References
External links
*
{{North Carolina Sports