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The Trinity Tigers is the nickname for the sports teams of Trinity University in
The Tigers had a successful men's basketball program under
Trinity University started its football team in 1900 and played Baylor University in the first game. The Trinity football won conference championships in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2019, and 2021.
Trinity athletics may be most famous for the "Mississippi Miracle" executed by the Tiger football team in the 2007 Trinity vs. Millsaps football game. On October 27, 2007, in a game played in Jackson, Mississippi, against conference rival Millsaps College, Trinity trailed by two points with two seconds left. With time for only one more play and being too far way for a field goal, the Tigers ran the "hook and lateral play," in which a receiver runs a short hook route, and then laterals the ball to a trailing player. After the first lateral the Millsaps defense was not fooled and seemed about to tackle the ball carrier and end the game.
At this point the Tigers showed their knowledge of rugby by lining up across the field, rather than gathering in front of the ball carrier as is typical in American football. This meant that there was always a Tiger player in position, either even with or behind the ball carrier, to legally receive another lateral. Every time the Millsaps defense closed on the ball carrier the Trinity player was able to complete a legal lateral to a teammate. In what ESPN said may have been the "longest play in football history," in terms of time elapsed (sixty seconds exactly), Trinity completed 15 laterals before breaking through the Millsaps defense for a 61-yard touchdown. The score, known in Jackson, MS as the "Major Disaster," (Millsaps' nickname is "The Majors") gave Trinity the victory and ultimately led to the conference championship.
The Trinity community is especially proud of this play because it demonstrated not only the Tigers' athletic ability, but also their intelligence and poise under pressure. The unlikely play was named the top sports moment of the year by
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
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, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, subdivision_t ...
, Texas. They participate in the NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
's Division III
In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below.
Association football
*Belgian Thir ...
and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), founded in 1962, is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in Colorado, Louisiana, and Texas. Difficulties related to travel distanc ...
(SCAC). The school mascot is LeeRoy, a Bengal tiger
The Bengal tiger is a population of the '' Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna.
The tiger is estimated to have been present in ...
. In the 1950s, LeeRoy was an actual tiger who was brought to sporting events, but today LeeRoy is portrayed by a student wearing a tiger suit. Early in its history, the school participated in Division I/ II athletics, but by 1991 the entire program made the move to Division III, at which time it joined the SCAC.
Trinity fields strong teams, evidenced by its finishes in the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) is a professional organization for college and university athletic directors in the United States. NACDA boasts a membership of more than 6,100 individuals and more than 1,600 ins ...
(NACDA) Learfield Directors' Cup, which recognizes the strength of athletic programs by division. Since the Directors' Cup inception in 1995, Trinity has finished in the top 10 on five occasions out of over 400 Division Ill programs; it finished 20th in 2021-22.
In recent years, Trinity has reached the national Division III playoffs in several sports, including football (national runners-up, 2002), women's basketball (2003 national champions), 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 Sum ...
(second place in 1999; third place in 2019), baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
(national champion in 2016), women's cross country, men's and women's track and field, and men's and women's soccer (men's team won the national title in 2003 and placed second in 2007; women placed second in 2013). In 2011-12, the Trinity sports program reclaimed Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference "President's Trophy," awarded to the school in the conference that has the best overall sports record for the year. as of 2022, Trinity has won the President's Trophy every year since. Prior to that, the Tigers had won the award eleven out of the preceding twelve seasons.
In addition to team success, individual Trinity student-athletes have won a number of championships over the years which are detailed below.
Club sports include men's and women's Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...
, Water Polo
Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...
, and Trap
A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research.
Trap or TRAP may also refer to:
Art and entertainment Films and television
* ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...
and Skeet
Skeet may refer to:
* Skeet shooting, a discipline of competitive clay pigeon shooting
** ISSF Olympic skeet, a variant used at the Olympic Games
People
* Skeet Childress (born 1979), American guitar player in the band Look What I Did
* Skeet Qu ...
.
Baseball
The Trinity University Baseball program has a motto - "the tradition continues" - that the players look to in the heat of battle and celebrate in victory. “The Tradition Continues” is a staple of the baseball program's team-first approach and commitment to the good of the whole, the belief that each player contributes to the proud tradition of Trinity Baseball every time they step on the field. The Trinity Baseball Stadium was refurbished in 2022 with a turf field, new netting, updated batting cages and new dugouts. In May 2015, Trinity Baseball qualified for the Division III College World Series for the first time, falling one game short of the championship round and placing third overall. In 2016, Trinity won the NCAA Division III College World Series and became national champions. In a best-of-three format, Trinity defeatedKeystone College
Keystone College is a private college in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Although the college's official mailing address is La Plume, Pennsylvania in Lackawanna County, much of the campus is in Factoryville in Wyoming County. It was founded in 1868. ...
14-6 in game 1 and 10-7 in game 2. Trinity defeated the 2015 champion, SUNY Cortland
The State University of New York College at Cortland (SUNY Cortland or Cortland State College) is a public college in Cortland, New York. It was founded in 1868 and is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system.
History
The State Un ...
, twice in the bracket rounds of the tournament en route to the national championship.
Jeremy Wolf
Jeremy Daniel Wolf (born November 2, 1993) is an American-Israeli baseball player on the Israel National Baseball Team.
High school and college
Wolf attended Chaparral High School, where he played on the Firebirds alongside among others future ...
was playing in the outfield when the Trinity Baseball Team won the 2016 NCAA Division III
NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their st ...
Baseball Championship. In 2016, Wolf hit .408/.508/.741 with 60 runs, 28 doubles (leading the NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
, and establishing new Trinity and SCAC single-season records), 149 total bases (third in the nation), 11 home runs, and 70 RBIs (4th in the nation). He was named All-American First Team of both the American Baseball Coaches Association
The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) is the world's largest Amateur baseball in the United States, amateur baseball Manager (baseball), coaching organization. It was founded in 1945 as the American Association of College Baseball Coach ...
(ABCA) and D3baseball.com, was named the West Region Player of the Year by the ABCA and D3baseball.com, and was named Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), founded in 1962, is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in Colorado, Louisiana, and Texas. Difficulties related to travel distanc ...
Player of the Year. In his college career Wolf hit 72 doubles, a Trinity record, over 189 games.
The 2021 Trinity Baseball Team was ranked #1 in the country during the regular season and was selected for the NCAA Regional Tournament in St. Paul, Minnesota. Trinity won SCAC conference championships in 1995, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2019. In addition to 2015 and 2016, the Trinity Tigers made it to the NCAA College World Series in 2022
A number of former Trinity baseball players have made names for themselves in the ranks of professional baseball teams around the country.
Tim Scannell is in his 25th season as the Trinity University head baseball coach. After serving as an assistant coach for two seasons, Coach Scannell took the Tigers’ reins prior to the 1999 campaign. Since that time, the Tigers have amassed an impressive 775 victories (.728) over 24 seasons with Coach Scannell at the helm. Coach Scannell is ranked in the top 10 among active NCAA Division III
NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their st ...
coaches by winning percentage. The other Trinity baseball coaches are both former Trinity baseball players — David Smith is the Pitching Coach and Andrew Waters (a member of the 2016 National Championship Team) is the Assistant Baseball Coach.
Basketball
The Tigers had a successful men's basketball program under Bob Polk
James Robert Polk (February 28, 1915 – March 18, 1986) was an American basketball coach. Polk coached the Vanderbilt Commodores, the Trinity Tigers, the Saint Louis Billikens and Rice University. He began his college coaching career as an ass ...
from 1965 to 1968; Polk, an Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
native, had compiled a record of 197-106 at Vanderbilt, but poor health led to his resignation on the advice of his doctors. However, he was out of basketball for only 18 months as his health rapidly improved. As both the head basketball coach and athletics director, Polk became Southland Conference Coach-of-the-Year in 1967. He was also the NCAA National Coach of the Year for the NCAA College Division The NCAA College Division was a historic subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) consisting of member schools competing at a lower level of college sports. The NCAA initially divided schools into a College Division and a ...
(the predecessor of today's 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 ...
and NCAA Division III
NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their st ...
) in 1968. In his three years at Trinity, Polk compiled a 69-28 record and led the Tigers to the 1968 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament, where they finished third overall.
Football
Trinity University started its football team in 1900 and played Baylor University in the first game. The Trinity football won conference championships in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2019, and 2021.
Trinity athletics may be most famous for the "Mississippi Miracle" executed by the Tiger football team in the 2007 Trinity vs. Millsaps football game. On October 27, 2007, in a game played in Jackson, Mississippi, against conference rival Millsaps College, Trinity trailed by two points with two seconds left. With time for only one more play and being too far way for a field goal, the Tigers ran the "hook and lateral play," in which a receiver runs a short hook route, and then laterals the ball to a trailing player. After the first lateral the Millsaps defense was not fooled and seemed about to tackle the ball carrier and end the game.
At this point the Tigers showed their knowledge of rugby by lining up across the field, rather than gathering in front of the ball carrier as is typical in American football. This meant that there was always a Tiger player in position, either even with or behind the ball carrier, to legally receive another lateral. Every time the Millsaps defense closed on the ball carrier the Trinity player was able to complete a legal lateral to a teammate. In what ESPN said may have been the "longest play in football history," in terms of time elapsed (sixty seconds exactly), Trinity completed 15 laterals before breaking through the Millsaps defense for a 61-yard touchdown. The score, known in Jackson, MS as the "Major Disaster," (Millsaps' nickname is "The Majors") gave Trinity the victory and ultimately led to the conference championship.
The Trinity community is especially proud of this play because it demonstrated not only the Tigers' athletic ability, but also their intelligence and poise under pressure. The unlikely play was named the top sports moment of the year by Time Magazine
''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...
as well as the "Game Changing Performance of the Year" by Pontiac Pontiac may refer to:
*Pontiac (automobile), a car brand
*Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief
Places and jurisdictions Canada
*Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality
** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...
.
In November 2015, Trinity and Austin College
Austin College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Sherman, Texas.Southern Athletic Association
The Southern Athletic Association (SAA) is a college athletic conference in NCAA Division III that began play in the 2012–13 school year. It was formed in 2011 by seven former members of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference and indepe ...
for football in 2017. The 2019 Trinity football team was Co-Champion of the Southern Athletic Conference.
Jerheme Urban is in his sixth year as Head Coach of the Trinity football team. Coach Urban played football and ran track at Trinity University and was a football All-American. After graduation from Trinity in 2003, Coach Urban had a nine-year career in the National Football League. In 2019, Coach Urban was inducted into the Trinity University Athletics Hall of Fame.
Tennis
Trinity has historically had a strong tennis program, once a Division I tennis power, under tennis coach Clarency Mabry, winning the men's NCAA championship in 1972, as well as being runners up in 1970, 1971, 1977 and 1979. The women's team captured the first USLTA women's collegiate championship in 1968 and won several more titles. In the early 1960s the program was home to arguably some of the best tennis players in the world, and bypassed theNCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
tournament to enter Wimbledon. In 1963, Chuck McKinley of Trinity won the Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship. He was also the runner up in 1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 (K ...
. In 1970, as a freshman at Trinity, Brian Gottfried
Brian Edward Gottfried (born January 27, 1952) is a retired American tennis player who won 25 singles titles and 54 doubles titles during his professional career. He was the runner-up in singles at the 1977 French Open, won the 1975 and 1977 Fren ...
won the USTA
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...
boys 18s singles championship, as well as the doubles championship with Alexander Mayer.
Other famous tennis players to attend Trinity included Butch Newman, Bob McKinley, Frank Froehling, Dick Stockton, Bill Scanlon and Gretchen Magers. The school's men's and women's programs both claimed national championships in 2000.
Tennis Team championships (Division I era)
*1968 USTA National Women's Collegiate Championship *1969 USTA National Women's Collegiate Championship *1972 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship *1973 USTA National Women's Collegiate Championship *1975 USTA National Women's Collegiate Championship *1975 National Collegiate Team Champions – Trap and Skeet *1976 USTA National Women's Collegiate Championship *1976 National Collegiate Team Champions – Trap and Skeet *1977 National Collegiate Team Champions – Trap and Skeet *1980 National Collegiate Team Champions – Trap and SkeetNCAA Team championships (Division III era)
*2000 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championship *2000 NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championship *2003 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship *2003 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship *2015 ITA Men's Tennis Indoor National Championship *2016 NCAA Division III Men's Baseball ChampionshipTennis Individual championships (Division I/II era)
*1966 NCAA Division II Men's Outdoor 100yd Dash (Clyde Glosson) *1968 USTA National Women's Singles Championship (Emilie Burrer) *1968 USTA National Women's Doubles Championship (Emilie Burrer & Becky Vest) *1968 NCAA Division II Men's Outdoor 200yd Dash (Clyde Glosson) *1969 USTA National Women's Singles Championship (Emilie Burrer) *1969 USTA National Women's Doubles Championship (Emilie Burrer & Becky Vest) *1972 NCAA Division I Men's Singles Championship ( Dick Stockton) *1975 USTA National Women's Singles Championship (Stephanie Tolleson) *1975 USTA National Women's Doubles Championship (JoAnne Russell & Donna Stockton) *1976 NCAA Division I Men's Singles Championship ( Bill Scanlon) *1979 NCAA Division I Men's Doubles Championship (Erick Iskersky & Ben McCown) *1983 NCAA Division I Women's Doubles Championship (Louise Allen & Gretchen Rush)NCAA/ITA Individual championships (Division III era)
*1997 ITA Men's National Singles Championship (Jamie Broach) *1997 ITA Men's National Doubles Championship (Jamie Broach & Michael Slutzky) *1998 ITA Women's National Singles Championship (Lola Taylor) *1998 ITA Women's National Doubles Championship (Lola Taylor & Lizzie Yasser) *1999 ITA Women's National Singles Championship (Lizzie Yasser) *1999 ITA Women's National Doubles Championship (Lizzie Yasser & Amanda Browne) *2003 ITA Men's National Doubles Championship (Sean Fifield & Stefan Parker) *2003 ITA Women's National Doubles Championship (Heather McGowan & Hayley Dittus) *2004 NCAA Division III Women's Outdoor High Jump (Christyn Schumann) *2004 NCAA Division III Women's Indoor High Jump (Christyn Schumann) *2005 NCAA Division III Women's Outdoor High Jump (Christyn Schumann) *2006 NCAA Division III Women's Outdoor High Jump (Christyn Schumann) *2009 NCAA Division III Men's Indoor Pentathlon (Todd Wildman) *2010 NCAA Division III Women's 1-Meter Diving (Lindsay Martin) *2010 NCAA Division III Women's 3-Meter Diving (Hayley Emerick) *2010 NCAA Division III Men's Indoor Pentathlon (Todd Wildman) *2010 ITA Men's National Doubles Championship (Bobby Cocanougher & Cory Kowal) *2012 NCAA Division III Women's 3-Meter Diving (Ruth Hahn) *2012 ITA Men's National Singles Championship (Aaron Skinner) *2014 NCAA Division III Men's 100 Yard Freestyle (Stephen Culberson) *2014 ITA Men's National Doubles Championship (Jordan Mayer & Aaron Skinner)References
External links
* {{Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference navbox