North Georgia Nighthawks
| North Georgia Nighthawks | |
|---|---|
| Logo | |
| University | University of North Georgia |
| Conference | Peach Belt Conference |
| NCAA | Division II |
| Athletic director | Lindsay Reeves |
| Location | Dahlonega, GA |
| Varsity teams | 12 |
| Basketball arena | Memorial Hall |
| Baseball stadium | Bob Stein Stadium |
| Softball stadium | Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium |
| Soccer stadium | UNG Soccer Complex |
| Other arenas | Colonel Raymond C. Hamilton Rifle Range |
| Mascot | Nigel the Nighthawk |
| Nickname | Nighthawks |
| Colors |
Blue Gold
|
| Website | ungathletics |
The North Georgia Nighthawks (UNG Nighthawks) are the athletic teams that represent the University of North Georgia (formed after the merger of North Georgia College & State University and Gainesville State College in 2013), located in Dahlonega, Georgia, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Nighthawks compete as members of the Peach Belt Conference for all 12 varsity sports. North Georgia has been a member of the GSC since 1983.
Following the establishment of The University of North Georgia in 2013, the school's athletic teams were nicknamed the "Nighthawks." UNG's athletics teams compete in the Peach Belt Conference as part of the NCAA Division II classification.[1] But prior to joining NCAA Division II, North Georgia (formerly known as NGC&SU) formerly competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) from 1999 to 2005.
Contents
Overview
List of teams
|
Men's sports (5)
|
Women's sports (6)
|
Co-ed sports (1)
|
Individual Sports
Baseball
UNG's baseball facility was constructed in 2008 for the former North Georgia College and State University. In 2010, it was dedicated to former NGC alumnus and baseball player Bob Stein, who donated much of the funds used in the construction of the field.[111] The UNG baseball team is a member of the Western Division of the Peach Belt Conference.[112]
Men's basketball
In 1971, the men’s basketball team was established.[2] Bill Ensley was the first person to coach this team. The current Head Coach, Chris Faulkner, has been leading the team for twelve seasons. Josh Travis and Richard Simmons work as assistant coaches to Faulkner. Since 2006, the team has competed in the Peach Belt Conference as an NCAA Division II member. Prior to being an NCAA Division II member, the team competed as an NAIA member in the Southern States Athletic Conference. Georgia, Alabama, and the Carolinas competed in this conference. The 2015-2016 season starts November 13, 2015 and ends February 24, 2016.
Women's cross country
The University of North Georgia’s women’s cross country team has been competing for the college since 1996. Tom Williams, Amanda Harris, Jason Gibson, Chris Busby, and Gary Stiner founded and lead the team throughout this season, and the program has been active up until 2009. In 2010 and 2011, the women’s cross country team did not compete, but it was reinstated for intercollegiate competition in 2012. Until the year 2006, North Georgia was an NAIA member of the Southern States Athletic Conference, otherwise known as the Georgia Alabama Carolina Conference. During the seasons of 2005-2007, the women’s cross country team transitioned to the NCAA Division II. Since then, they have competed at the Peach Belt Conference, and they nationally appeared in the NCAA Division II in 2014.
Co-ed rifle
The UNG co-ed rifle team is coached by head coach Tori Kostecki. The rifle team has been a member of the Southeast Air Rifle Conference, but will become an associate member of the Division I Southern Conference in 2016–17. The team participated in the April 2014 USA Shooting Junior Olympic National Championship. The school's rifle facility is the Col. Raymond C. Hamilton Rifle Range on the North Georgia Dahlonega campus.
Softball
The University of North Georgia Softball team was founded in 1997, led by Coach Ricky Sanders. He coached the softball team for 4 seasons until 2000, which was also the year Sanders and the team won the title of Champions of the NAIA Regional Tournament.[3] The softball team has competed as a member of the Peach Belt Conference since 2006 in NCAA Division II. The Nighthawks softball team played in the 2013 NCAA Division II Southeast Super Regional. Their other accomplishments include five additional NCAA National Tournament Appearances, eight conference titles, and six-hundred wins in the program's history. The team's head coach, for the past 14 seasons, has been Mike Davenport. Davenport, also the assistant coach of USSSA Pride, has won eight conference regular season titles, seven conference tournament crowns and has recorded an overall record of 597 – 184 since the start of his coaching career in 2001. The Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium, or "The Hill," was constructed during the fall of 2008 on the North Georgia Dahlonega campus.[4] In 2014, "The Hill" has started renovation for all new turf and features that include a first class facility for the nighthawks. The Hill housed the 2009, 2010 and 2014 NCAA Southeast Regional and Super Regional.
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://ungathletics.com/sports/2014/12/6/mbkb_history.aspx?path=mbball
- ↑ http://www.nmnathletics.com/HomePage.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27900&KEY=&DB_OEM_ID=27900&DB_LANG=&IN_SUBSCRIBER_CONTENT=
- ↑ http://ungathletics.com/sports/2014/7/9/the_hill.aspx
