The MidAmerica Nazarene Pioneers are the athletic teams that represent

MidAmerica Nazarene University MidAmerica Nazarene University (MNU) is a private Nazarene (evangelical Christian) university in Olathe, Kansas, United States. It was established in 1966. History Mid-America Nazarene College (MANC) was founded in 1966. In 1996 Mid-America Na ...

, located in

Olathe, Kansas Olathe ( ) is the county seat of Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is the List of cities in Kansas#Highest population listing, fourth-most populous city in both the Kansas City metropolitan area and the state of Kansas, with a 2020 Uni ...

, in intercollegiate sports 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 higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA), primarily competing in the

Heart of America Athletic Conference The Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC or The Heart) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska in ...

(HAAC) since the 1980–81 academic year.

Varsity teams

MidAmerica Nazarene (MNU) competes in 18 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer and track & field (indoor and outdoor); while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball; and co-ed sports include cheerleading, and weightlifting.

National championships

Team

Individual programs

Football

:''See 2012 Heart of America Athletic Conference football season'' The current head football coach is Paul Hansen, who started with the Pioneers in the 2021 season. College football began at MidAmerica Nazarene in 1979 under head coach

Gordon DeGraffenreid Gordon Dean DeGraffenreid (June 21, 1943 – August 8, 2020) was an American athletics coach. He was the first head football coach at MidAmerica Nazarene College—now known as MidAmerica Nazarene University—from 1979 to 1990 and compiled an ov ...

. The program has managed 17 post-season appearances in various

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

s and national championship playoff games.

Men's basketball

The Pioneers are coached by Adam Hepker ('08), who took over the team after Rocky Lamar. Under the leadership of head coach Rocky Lamar, the MNU Pioneers have become one of the NAIA's most competitive programs. Highlighted by the Pioneers 2007 NAIA Division II Championship, Coach Lamar's teams consistently finish at or near the top of the

year in and year out.

References

External links

* {{Kansas Sports MidAmerica Nazarene University Heart of America Athletic Conference schools