The UIS Prairie Stars (also Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars and formerly Sangamon State Prairie Stars) are the athletic teams that represent the

University of Illinois Springfield The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) is a public university in Springfield, Illinois, United States. The university was established by the Illinois General Assembly in 1969 as Sangamon State University with a focus on post-graduate edu ...

, located in

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...

, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division II level of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA), primarily competing in the

Great Lakes Valley Conference The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Its fifteen member institutions are located in the U.S. states of Illinois, ...

(GLVC) since the 2009–10 academic year, which they became a full-fledged Division II member on Aug. 1, 2010. The Prairie Stars previously competed in the

American Midwest Conference The American Midwest Conference (AMC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) with 12 member institutions located in Arkansas and Missouri in the United States. History The ...

(AMC) of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA) from 2003–04 to 2008–09.

Varsity teams

The first four sports at Sangamon State University were men's soccer, women's volleyball and men's and women's tennis. UIS competes in 17 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis and track & field (indoor and outdoor); while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball.

National championships

Team

Individual programs

Baseball

Baseball has made five NCAA Tournament appearances since 2018, compiling a post-season record of 12-11. The Prairie Stars advanced to the Super Regional for the first time in 2019. In 2022, UIS won the GLVC Tournament, its first in program history, and then captured the NCAA Regional and Super Regional to advance to the NCAA College World Series. The program returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2023, playing in five straight postseason tourneys.

Men's basketball

The Prairie Star men’s basketball program started in 2002 under the direction of head coach

Kevin Gamble Kevin Douglas Gamble (born November 13, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association and currently a scout with the Toronto Raptors. At , he played as both a shooting guard and small forward. ...

, a 10-year NBA veteran who played six seasons for the Celtics. Gamble coached for eight seasons and twice was selected as the American Midwest Conference (AMC) Coach of the Year. Gamble coached seven seasons as an NAIA Division I member and the first year of NCAA Division II participation. The program earned back-to-back postseason berths by winning the AMC tournament titles in 2006 and 2007, defeating McKendree in the championship game in both seasons. In 2006, the Prairie Stars lost the opening round game to #8 Oklahoma Baptist, who advanced to the national semifinals. In 2007, UIS was seeded 15th in the NAIA tournament with a 22-8 record that included an 11-1 AMC record, winning the regular-season title, the tournament and recording the program’s first NAIA tournament win, knocking off Lambuth, 105-89, before falling to eventual national champion Oklahoma City, 90-78, in the second round.

Women's basketball

Women's basketball was started as the fifth sport in 1995, shortly after the university was acquired by University of Illinois. The program competed as an NAIA independent initially and won the Great Lakes Regional Tournament to advance to the NAIA Division II National Championship at the end of the 1997-98 season. The Prairie Stars lost an opening round game to Benedictine (Kan.) The university joined the American Midwest Conference in 2003.

Softball

Softball has made four NCAA Tournament appearances including three under current head coach Shannon Guthrie, advancing in 2018, 2019 and 2023. In 2018, the Prairie Stars won the Regional and advanced to the Super Regional. The program was the first UIS sport to earn an NCAA bid when it advanced in 2012 after winning a GLVC division championship and finishing second in the GLVC Tournament.

Men's soccer

Men's soccer advanced to the NCAA Tournament in the last three seasons, advancing to the third round in 2021 and 2022. The Prairie Stars won the 2023 GLVC regular-season title with a 10-0-3 conference mark. While a member of the NAIA, the Prairie Stars won the

NAIA national men's soccer championship The NAIA Men's Soccer Championship is the annual tournament to determine the national champions of National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, NAIA men's College soccer in the United States, college soccer in the United States and Canada. ...

in 1986, 1988, and 1993 and were runner-up in 1998. The Prairie Stars were dominant from 1979 to 2002, earning 20 NAIA postseason bids in the 24-year stretch and compiling a 27-18-8 tournament mark. The program made nine appearances in the national semifinals, including four appearances in the championship match. The 1979, 1980 and 1981 NAIA national championships were played on campus at Kiwanis Stadium.

Men's and Women's Tennis

The tennis program was fortunate to have two legendary coaches, both UIS Hall of Famers. Manny Velasco coached the men's program for 30 seasons, from 1985 to 2014. He oversaw both the men's and women's programs in his final eight seasons. He led the team to the NAIA national championship competition in 2000, the first year for the team championship in the sport. Dominic Giacomini coached the women's squad from 1991 to 2006. The NAIA started team play for tennis in 2000 and the Prairie Star women's program advanced to the national tournament in 2000 and 2004. Men's tennis earned its first berth in 2021, but did not participate due to a COVID-19.

Men's and Women's Golf

The women's golf program earned its first NCAA regional bid in 2016 after a third-place finish in the GLVC. In the last three seasons, the program has earned three consecutive NCAA regional berths (2023, 2024, 2025). In 2023, the Prairie Stars rallied as the #3 seed in match play to win the GLVC Championship and earn an automatic berth in the regional. The team finished eighth and top player Heather McLean advanced to the NCAA Championship as an individual, where she finished 82nd. UIS earned an at-large berth in 2024, finishing 14th in the field with sophomore Elaine Grant advancing to the national championship, where she finished 63rd. The team finished 17th in the regional in 2025. Two UIS women were selected as individuals for regionals: Jennifer Queller (2019) and Madison DeRousse (2022). On the men's side, first Star to earn a regional bid was two-time GLVC runner-up Talon Supak, who was selected as an individual in 2017. He finished fourth at the regional but did not advance.

Women's Volleyball

Women's volleyball earned its first NCAA berth in 2018.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Illinois-Springfield Prairie Stars University of Illinois at Springfield