Athletics
Denison is a member of the NCAA and the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) since the conference’s formation in 1984. As a part of the 10-member conference Denison boasts a league-record 11 Dennis M. Collins Awards which is given to the NCAC school that performs best across the conference’s 23 sponsored sports. Denison won nine consecutive All-Sports Awards between 1997–98 and 2005-06. Denison’s remaining two awards were earned in 1985-86 and 2008-09.
In 2001 the Denison Women’s Swimming and Diving team captured the school’s first NCAA Division III national championship by snapping Kenyon College’s streak of 17-consecutive national championships. Following this, the Denison Men's Swimming and Diving team defeated Kenyon to capture the 2011 NCAA National Title by 1 point ending the Lords' 31-year streak of championships.
In both men’s and women’s swimming and diving, Denison has posted 47 consecutive top-10 finishes at the NCAA Division III championships. During that span, Denison has placed either second or third, nationally, 26-times.
Denison alumnus Woody Hayes ’35 spent three seasons as the head football coach at Denison from 1946-48. In 1947 and 1948 he guided the Big Red to undefeated seasons.
In 1954 Keith Piper took over as the head football coach, a position he would remain in for 39 seasons. Piper won a school record, 200 games and in 1985 he guided the program to their first 10-0 season with his antique single-wing offense. Denison qualified for the NCAA Division III playoffs that season before falling to Mt. Union in the opening round.
Women’s basketball at Denison has emerged as a national contender under head coach Sara Lee. Denison’s 2010-11 squad completed the first 28-0 regular season in women’s basketball in the NCAC and have advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the seventh time in school history and their sixth time out of the last seven seasons.
The Denison men’s and women’s lacrosse programs have had their share of conference and national success. The two programs have combined for 28 NCAA Division III tournament berths. In 1999 and 2001 the Denison men’s lacrosse team advances to the semifinal (Final 4) of the NCAA Division III Tournament and most recently, in 2009, the Big Red advanced to the national quarterfinals of the NCAC Tournament before falling to Gettysburg.
In 2008 the Denison women’s tennis team advanced to the NCAA semifinals, eventually winning the consolation match to place third overall, marking the program’s best national finish. That same year the doubles team of sophomore Marta Drane and freshman Kristen Cobb advanced to the championship match of the Division III Doubles championship before falling to Brittany Berckes and Alicia Menezes of Amherst in the finals.
The Denison women’s soccer team advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals for the second time in school history in 2010. The previous appearance occurred in 2005. Overall the program has qualified for the NCAA Tournament 14-times.
Denison boasts 43 NCAA postgraduate scholars and 58 Academic All-Americans.
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