The St. Francis Xavier X-Men and X-Women are the men's and women's athletic teams that represent

St. Francis Xavier University St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada. History St. Franc ...

Antigonish, Nova Scotia , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = File:St Ninian's Cathedral Antigonish Spring.jpg , image_caption = St. Ninian's Cathedral , image_flag = Flag of Antigonish.pn ...

, Canada. Their primary home turf is Oland Stadium located at the University's campus.

History

In 1966, the X-Men Football team won the College Bowl (now the

Vanier Cup The Vanier Cup (french: Coupe Vanier) is the championship of Canadian university football. It is organized by U Sports football and is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl. It is named after Georges Vanier, ...

) as top university football team in Canada. The X-Men Basketball program has won 3 CIS Championships (1993, 2000, and 2001) and in 2004, the X-Men Hockey team won their first

CIS Cis or cis- may refer to: Places * Cis, Trentino, in Italy * In Poland: ** Cis, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central ** Cis, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, north Math, science and biology * cis (mathematics) (cis(''θ'')), a trigonome ...

Championship. In 2011, the X-Women Hockey team placed 2nd at the CIS Championships in Ottawa and in 2016, the X-Men hockey team were runners-up in the CIS Championships in Halifax. In 2006, the X-Women Rugby team became the first female StFX varsity team to win a CIS Championship, as 10-time defending AUS Rugby Champions. In 2008, the team placed 2nd at the CIS Championships in

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 Alberta municipal censuses, 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

after capturing their 12th consecutive AUS Championship. The team has a total of five National Championships, having won a fifth title in 2016 in Victoria, BC. and 17 consecutive conference championships from 1997-2014. Between 2006 and 2016 the X-Men Cross Country team won 9 AUS Championships, including 6 consecutively and 2 CIS medals. In 2017 it was announced that alumnus, CIS Champion, and Olympian

Eric Gillis Eric Gillis (born March 8, 1980) is a Canadian athlete. He was born and raised in the community of Antigonish, Nova Scotia. He resides in Antigonish, Nova Scotia as the head coach of the St. Francis Xavier University cross country and track teams. ...

would become head coach.

Varsity teams

The X-Men & X-Women compete in: *

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

(m/w) *

Cross Country Running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

(m/w) *

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

(m) *

Ice Hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

(m/w) *

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

(w) *

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

(m/w) *

Track & Field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

(m/w)

X-Men football

The X-Men football program has been in operation since 1954. They were the first Atlantic conference team to win a

national championship in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

and have also finished as runner-ups in the 1996 game. The team has won 13

Jewett Trophy The Jewett Trophy is a Canadian sports trophy, in honour of Dr. B. L. Jewett, presented annually to the winner of the Atlantic University Sport Football Conference of U Sports. Unlike the other three conference championship games, the game in whi ...

conference championships.

X-Women ice hockey

The X-Women ice hockey team has participated in the Atlantic University Sport conference since the sport was established in the CIAU in 1997. The program has won 11 AUS conference championships with the most recent coming in 2020. Nationally, the program's best finish was in 2011 when they finished as national runners-up.

References

External links

* {{U Sports soccer St. Francis Xavier University U Sports teams Antigonish, Nova Scotia St. Francis Xavier X-Men