The Friends Falcons are the athletic teams that represent
Friends University
Friends University is a private nondenominational Christian university in Wichita, Kansas. It was founded in 1898. The main building was originally built in 1886 for Garfield University but was donated in 1898 to the Religious Society of Friends ...
, located in
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...
, in intercollegiate athletics as a member of the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...
(NAIA), primarily competing in the
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference
The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The KCAC is the oldest conference in the NAIA and the second oldest in the United Stat ...
(KCAC) since the 1953–54 academic year; which they were a member on a previous stint from 1902–03 to December 1928 (of the 1928–29 school year).
Varsity teams
Friends competes in 23 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, powerlifting, soccer, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and wrestling; women's sports include basketball, cross country, cheerleading, golf, powerlifting, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor), volleyball and wrestling.
Football
Friends University begins 2012 with long-time coach
Monty Lewis
Monty Lewis (born January 2, 1963) is an American football coach. Is the head football coach at Winfield High School in Winfield, KS. Lewis served as the head football coach at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas from 1993 to 2001 and F ...
, who has held the position since the 2003 season.
Bowl games
In 1972, Friends was defeated by the
Ottawa Braves
The Ottawa Braves are the athletic teams that represent Ottawa University, located in Ottawa, Kansas, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Kansas Collegi ...
in the
Mineral Water Bowl
The Mineral Water Bowl is an annual American NCAA Division II college football bowl game between teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and an at large opponent hosted in Excelsior Springs, Missouri at Tiger Stadium.
History
...
by a score of 27–20.
Mascot
The school's first athletic teams were known as the "Fighting Quakers" which symbolized the schools affiliation with the
Society of Friends
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
. In the 1930s, governance of the institution was turned over to an independent board not affiliated with the religious organization that founded the school. Still, the University athletic teams remained known as the Fighting Quakers and used a duck as their mascot symbol up to 1960.
After 1960, student body began to desire a different mascot to represent Friends University. "Freddy Falcon" was created as a response to this initiative and adopted by the school.
Friends University Athletics
Traditions
References
External links
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{{Kansas Sports