| Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks | |
| University: | University of Louisiana at Monroe |
| Conference: | Sun Belt |
| Association: | NCAA |
| Division: | Division I (FBS) |
| Director: | John Hartwell |
| Location: | Monroe, Louisiana |
| Teams: | 15 (6 men, 9 women) |
| Stadium: | JPS Field at Malone Stadium |
| Basketballarena: | Fant–Ewing Coliseum |
| Baseballfield: | Warhawk Field |
| Softballstadium: | Geo-Surfaces Field at the ULM Softball Complex |
| Soccerstadium: | Brown Stadium |
| Arena2: | Bayou Desiard Country Club Raymond Heard Stadium Selman Field Cross Country Course ULM Sand Volleyball Complex |
| Nickname: | Warhawks |
| Fightsong: | Cheer for ULM Warhawks |
| Mascot: | Ace the Warhawk |
| Pageurl: | http://www.ulmwarhawks.com/ |
The Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks (ULM Warhawks) are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM). ULM currently fields 15 varsity teams (six men's and nine women's) in 11 sports and competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision in football) level as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.
The nickname for the Louisiana–Monroe sports teams are the Warhawks.[1]
On January 30, 2006, university president James Cofer announced officially that ULM would be retiring the 75-year-old "Indians" mascot in light of new NCAA restrictions against Indigenous-themed mascots, which the NCAA considers "hostile and abusive" to Native Americans, despite issuing an appeal to the NCAA to keep the name after the NCAA's ruling allowing Florida State to keep their Seminoles nickname.[2] [3] This came a few days after a mascot committee voted unanimously in favor of the change. The university accepted suggestions for the new mascot through February 28, 2006. The mascot committee then selected 12 semifinalists.[4]
An online poll, available to students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors and the public, yielded three semifinalists: "Warhawks," "Bayou Gators" and "Bayou Hawks."[5] The school's mascot committee passed a single recommendation to the university president, who made the final decision. Warhawks was announced as ULM's new mascot on April 5, 2006 and implemented on June 26, 2006.[1] The new nickname honors Maj. Gen. Claire Lee Chennault, an LSU alumnus, and his Air Force unit from World War II, which utilized the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk in battle, although the logos primarily use bird imagery.
| Basketball | ||
| Beach volleyball | ||
| Cross country | Cross country | |
| Golf | ||
| Golf | Soccer | |
| Track and field† | Softball | |
| Tennis | ||
| Track and field† | ||
| Volleyball | ||
See main article: Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks baseball.
The baseball team is coached by Mike Federico, and won the 2008 Sun Belt Conference Championship. The team's home field is Warhawk Field. In 2012, the Warhawks won the Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament and earned the conference's automatic bid to play in the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. The ULM Warhawks have won 14 baseball regular season or tournament conference championships.[6]
The Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks women's beach volleyball team competes in NCAA Division I beach volleyball in the Sun Belt Conference since 2023.[7] The Warhawks previously were affiliate members of Conference USA (C-USA) from 2021–2022.[8] The program, founded in 2013,[8] competed as an independent until joining the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association for the 2020 season (2019–20 school year).[9]
See main article: Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football.
The Warhawks college football team dates back to 1931, and currently competes in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision.[10] Playing as a member of the Sun Belt Conference (Sun Belt), the Warhawks play their home games at Malone Stadium, located on the campus. Since December 2015, Matt Viator has served as the Warhawks' head coach.[11] As the Indians, Monroe captured or shared four Southland Conference championships and won the 1987 I-AA National Championship.[12] [13]
The program has sent several players into the professional ranks, including Stan Humphries, Bubby Brister, Chris Harris, Doug Pederson, Marty Booker, Teddy Garcia, Roosevelt Potts, Joe Profit, Cardia Jackson and Smokey Stover into the National Football League, Steven Jyles into the Canadian Football League and Raymond Philyaw into the Arena League.
2012 was the first season since moving to the Football Bowl Subdivision that Louisiana–Monroe had a winning season.
See main article: Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks men's basketball.
Men's and women's basketball teams play home games at Fant-Ewing Coliseum, a 7,000-seat on-campus arena that opened in 1971. The largest crowd to watch a men's basketball game at Fant-Ewing Coliseum was 8,044, who watched the Northeast Louisiana Indians play the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs on January 25, 1979.[14]
The ULM Warhawks have won 19 men's basketball regular season, tournament or divisional conference championships.
The largest crowd to watch a women's basketball game at Fant-Ewing Coliseum was 8,155, who watched the Northeast Louisiana Lady Indians play the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters on February 11, 1985. The ULM Warhawks have won five women's basketball regular season or tournament conference championships.
The ULM Warhawks have won five men's cross country conference championships.
The ULM Warhawks have won two women's cross country conference championships.
The ULM Warhawks have won two men's golf conference championships.
The ULM Warhawks have won two softball regular season or tournament conference championships.
The ULM Warhawks have won nine women's tennis regular season or tournament conference championships.
The ULM Warhawks have won nine men's outdoor track & field conference championships.
The ULM Warhawks have won four women's outdoor track & field conference championships.
The University of Louisiana at Monroe Water Ski Team has been the dominant ski team since the inception of collegiate water ski competition in 1979, capturing 29 National Championship titles over the past 38 years.
As of April 4, 2016, Louisiana Monroe has 1 NCAA team national championship.[15]
The ULM Warhawks have won 75 men's and 24 women's regular-season, tournament or divisional conference championships.
T indicates a conference tournament championship. D indicates a divisional conference championship.
Athletic venues and facilities include:
The Warhawks have Sun Belt rivalries with every West Division school (Little Rock, Arkansas State, Louisiana, UT Arlington, and Texas State). Their fiercest Sun Belt rivals are Arkansas State Red Wolves and Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns.
Football rivalries involving Warhawk sports teams include:
| Teams | Rivalry Name | Trophy | Meetings | Record | Series Leader | Current Streak | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ULM | – | 42 | 14–28 | Arkansas State | Arkansas State won 11 | |||
| ULM | Battle on the Bayou | Wooden Boot | 56 | 25–31 | Louisiana | Louisiana won 3 | ||
| ULM | Louisiana Tech–Louisiana–Monroe football rivalry | – | 43 | 13–30 | Louisiana Tech | Louisiana Tech won 8 | ||
| ULM | Louisiana–Monroe–Northwestern State football rivalry | – | 48 | 19–28–1 | Northwestern State | Northwestern State won 2 | ||
ULM launched the Warhawk Sports Radio Network in 2007. The Network is a series of radio stations that provide access to sporting events throughout Northeast Louisiana. Three Monroe radio stations, KLIP, KMLB and KRJO, provide play by play radio commentary. The full list of participating stations are: