The UC Riverside Highlanders represent the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

(UCR) in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...

in 15 men's and women's intercollegiate athletics. The Highlanders compete in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

; they are members of the

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's NCAA Division I, Division I. The conference was origina ...

. In 2020, the future of UCR's sports program was placed into doubt, as the university's leadership were considering cutting the entire athletics department in response to financial strain caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. However, in May 2021, the university announced that they had decided against eliminating athletics and would instead continue sponsoring all sports at the Division I level.

Sports sponsored

Baseball

The UC Riverside Highlanders baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball team of the University of California, Riverside. The team is a member of the Big West Conference, which is part of the NCAA Division I. UC Riverside's first baseball team was fielded in 1958. The team plays its home games at the 2,500-seat

Riverside Sports Complex The Riverside Sports Complex, in Riverside, California, is the home field of the University of California, Riverside baseball team. The stadium seats 2,500 and features a home team locker room built personally by Troy Percival, a UC Riverside a ...

Basketball

Men's basketball

The UC Riverside Highlanders men's basketball team represents the University of California, Riverside. The school's team currently competes in the Big West Conference, which is part of the NCAA Division I. UC Riverside's first men's basketball team was fielded during the 1958–59 season. The team plays its home games at the 3,168-seat Student Recreation Center Arena.

Women's basketball

The UC Riverside Highlanders women's basketball team represents the University of California, Riverside. The school's team currently competes in the Big West Conference, which is part of the NCAA Division I. UC Riverside's first women's basketball team was fielded during the 1977–78 season. The team plays its home games at the 3,168-seat Student Recreation Center Arena.

Soccer

Men's soccer

The UC Riverside Highlanders men's soccer team have an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 0–2 through two appearances.

Women's soccer

The UC Riverside Highlanders women's soccer team have an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 0–1 through one appearance.

Former varsity sports

Football

The

UC Riverside Highlanders football The UC Riverside Highlanders football program represented the University of California, Riverside from the 1955 college football season, 1955 through the 1975 NCAA Division II football season, 1975 college football seasons. The Highlanders origin ...

team played from 1955 until the program was disbanded in 1975. The team played at Highlander Stadium.

Championships

Appearances

The UC Riverside Highlanders competed in the NCAA Tournament across 6 active sports (2 men's and 4 women's) 10 times at the Division I level. * Baseball (2): 2003, 2007 * Women's basketball (3): 2006, 2007, 2010 * Men's soccer (1): 2018 * Women's soccer (1): 2005 * Women's indoor track and field (2): 2009, 2016 * Women's outdoor track and field (1): 2009

Team

UC Riverside has never won a national championship at the NCAA Division I level. UC Riverside won 4 national championships at the NCAA Division II level. * Baseball (2): 1977, 1982 * Women's volleyball (2):

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

Below is one national championship that was not bestowed by the NCAA: * Women's volleyball – Division II (1): 1977 (

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

)

Individual

UC Riverside had 1 Highlander win an NCAA individual championship at the Division I level. At the NCAA Division II level, UC Riverside garnered 11 individual championships.

Traditions

Mascot

"Scotty Highlander" is the mascot for UC Riverside. The original mascot was an aggressive little bear wearing a

kilt A kilt ( ) is a garment resembling a wrap-around knee-length skirt, made of twill-woven worsted wool with heavy pleats at the sides and back and traditionally a tartan pattern. Originating in the Scottish Highland dress for men, it is first r ...

for the school's logo. In 1998, a referendum to move to NCAA Division I was passed and the students approached the administration requesting a new mascot and the old mascot was replaced. In 2011, the mascot was updated again with students voting online and a new "Scotty Highlander" mascot, featuring a roaring bear wearing a plaid Tam o' Shanter was chosen.

School colors

All schools in the University of California System have a combination of blue and gold as their school colors. UC Riverside follows this tradition.

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle={{CollegePrimaryStyle, UC Riverside Highlanders, color=white , list = {{Big West Conference navbox {{Mountain Pacific Sports Federation navbox {{Inland Empire Sports