Athletics
Cal Maritime teams, nicknamed athletically as the Keelhaulers, are part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the California Pacific Conference (CalPac). Men's sports include basketball, crew, cross country, golf, rugby, sailing, soccer and water polo; while women's sports include basketball, crew, cross country, sailing, and water polo.
Cal Maritime has a long history of athletic activities. Before it joined regular intercollegiate athletics, sports teams from Cal Maritime usually played military teams from local bases. In the 1970s, Cal Maritime began to organize its sports under intercollegiate guidelines, and the student body chose the "Keelhauler" as the Academy's mascot. Until then, the Academy's teams were known as the Seawolves. During the 2004–2005 academic year, the women's basketball team was formed and now also competes in the CalPac.
Cal Maritime's rugby program was started in 1998 and gained varsity status in 2001. Rugby is the school's most successful sport, going undefeated against Division 2 opponents in home matches from 2007-2010. Cal Maritime's rugby team has been nationally ranked in college rugby, won the Pacific Coast League's Western Division Championship in 2009 and 2010, and was the runner up in the 2012 championship of the National Small College Rugby Organization.
The Academy's sailing team captured the Kennedy Cup – the National Collegiate Sailing Championship – in the fall of 2009. That victory earned it the right to serve as the U.S. representative in the annual Student World Yachting Cup championships in October 2010 in La Rochelle, France, where it placed 5th of 14.
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