Pomona–Pitzer Sagehens Explained

Pomona–Pitzer Sagehens
College:Pomona College
Pitzer College
Association:NCAA
Conference:Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Division:Division III
Director:Miriam Merrill
Location:Claremont, California
Teams:21 (11 women's, 10 men's)
Stadium:Merritt Field[1]
Basketballarena:Voelkel Gymnasium
Baseballfield:Alumni Field
Softballstadium:Pomona–Pitzer Softball Field
Soccerstadium:Pomona–Pitzer Soccer Field
Lacrossestadium:South Athletics Complex
Natatorium:Haldeman Aquatics Center
Trackvenue:Strehle Track
Tenniscourt:Pauley Tennis Complex
Mascot:Cecil the Sagehen
Nickname:Sagehens
Pageurl:https://www.sagehens.com
Ncaa Titles:4
Indiv Relay Ncaa Champs:50

The Pomona–Pitzer Sagehens are the joint varsity intercollegiate athletic programs for Pomona College and Pitzer College, two of the Claremont Colleges.[2] It competes with 11 women's and 10 men's teams in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) of the NCAA Division III.

Pomona's teams were formed in 1895, and it was a founding member of the SCIAC in 1914. The college competed with Claremont Men's College (CMC) for a decade beginning in 1946, and joined with Pitzer in 1970.

Pomona-Pitzer's mascot is Cecil the Sagehen, a greater sage-grouse. Its primary rival is the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags and Athenas, the joint team of the three other undergraduate Claremont Colleges.

Sagehens have won 50 individual and four team national championships. Alumni have become Olympic athletes and world record holders in various sports.

Sports

There are 11 women's and 10 men's teams.

Varsity teams[3]
Basketball Baseball
Cross country Basketball
Golf Cross country
Lacrosse Football
Soccer Golf
Softball Soccer
Swimming and diving Swimming and diving
Tennis Tennis
Track and field Track and field
Volleyball Water polo
Water polo

History

Pomona College's first intercollegiate sports teams were formed in 1895. The college was one of the three founding members of the SCIAC in 1914, and its football team played in the inaugural game at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1923, losing to the University of Southern California Trojans. Between 1946 and 1956, Pomona joined with Claremont Men's College (CMC) to compete as Pomona-Claremont. In 1970, Pomona began competing with Pitzer College (then seven years old) on an interim basis, and the arrangement became permanent two years later.

The Sagehens ranked 15th out of 322 competing Division III schools and 2nd among SCIAC schools in the 20232024 Division III NACDA Directors' Cup, which ranks athletics programs and awards points relative to their finish in NCAA championships.[4]
The water polo, track and field, women's soccer, and women's tennis teams are regarded as particularly strong.[5]

National championships

The Sagehens have won 48 individual NCAA Division III championships: 19 in men's track and field, 12 in women's swimming and diving, 8 in women's tennis, 6 in men's swimming and diving, and 4 in women's track and field.[6] Additionally, they have won four team titles: women's tennis in 1992, back-to-back titles in men's cross country in 2019 and 2021, and an additional title in men's cross country in 2023.

Team champshionships
Women's tennis1992Kenyon5–4[7]
Men's cross country (3)2019North Central (IL)164–182[8]
2021MIT80–112[9]
2023Wisconsin–La Crosse158–159[10]

Facilities

Pomona-Pitzer's primary indoor athletics facility is the Center for Athletics, Recreation, and Wellness (CARW), located near the center of Pomona's campus. It was reconstructed and renovated in 2022,[11] replacing the Liliore Green Rains Center for Sport and Recreation, built in 1989.[12] The gym is complemented by various outdoor facilities, mostly located within the naturalistic eastern portion of Pomona's campus known as the Wash.[13]

Nickname and mascot

The official mascot of the teamPomona-Pitzer Sagehens is Cecil the Sagehen, a greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus).[14] The bird is a large ground-dweller native to the western United States (although not Southern California), and is distinguished by its long, pointed tail and complex lek mating system. It is named after the sagebrush on which it feeds.[15]

Pomona-Pitzer is the only team in the world to use the Sagehen as a mascot,[16] and it is often noted for its goofiness.[17] [18] Rather than in the grouse's natural brown and white colors, the mascot is rendered in the team's official colors, blue (for Pomona) and orange (for Pitzer).[19]

The precise origin of the nickname is unknown. Pomona competed under a variety of names in its early years, including "the Blue and White" and "the Huns".[20] The first known appearance of "Sagehens" was in a 1913 issue of The Student Life newspaper, and in 1918 it became the sole nickname.[21] Later Pomona-Claremont began using it, and it is now the nickname for the combined Pomona-Pitzer team. The first known reference to "Cecil" was made in the 1946 Metate (Pomona's yearbook).

Rivalry

The Sagehens' primary rival is the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags and Athenas, the joint team of the three other undergraduate Claremont Colleges.[22] [23] The rivalry is known as the Sixth Street Rivalry,[24] referring to the street that separates the teams' athletics facilities.[25] Historically, Pomona had a rivalry with the Occidental College Tigers.

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Pomona Pitzer Athletic Facilities . live . en . https://web.archive.org/web/20200102210852/https://www.sagehens.com/information/VarsityFacilities . January 2, 2020 . July 27, 2020 . SageHens.com.
  2. News: Wharton . David . 28 February 2019 . As the likes of USC and UCLA have struggled, tiny Pomona-Pitzer has big basketball dreams . en . . live . 7 April 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201107234919/https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-pomona-pitzer-ncaa-basketball-20190227-story.html . 7 November 2020.
  3. Web site: Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170128235047/http://www.sagehens.com/landing/index . January 28, 2017 . 3 September 2018 . Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens . en.
  4. Web site: 10 June 2023 . 2023-24 Learfield IMG College Directors' Cup Division III Final Standings . 9 July 2024 . . en . June 27, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240627062556/https://nacda.com/documents/2024/6/9/23.24DIII_FinalConferenceStandings.pdf . live .
  5. Book: Fiske, Edward B. . . 15 June 2019 . 9781492664949 . 36th . Naperville, Illinois . . 147 . en.
  6. Web site: Pomona-Pitzer Athletics NCAA National Champions . 9 April 2024 . Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens . en .
  7. Web site: DIII Women's Tennis Championship History . 19 May 2023 . . en . May 14, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230514112934/https://www.ncaa.com/history/tennis-women/d3 . live .
  8. News: Bhalla . Aditya . 6 December 2019 . Running into the history books: How Pomona-Pitzer men's cross-country won its first ever national title . en . . 19 May 2023 . May 19, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230519025920/https://tsl.news/cross-country-ncaa-championship/ . live .
  9. News: Davidoff . Jasper . 20 November 2021 . Pomona-Pitzer men's cross country wins second straight national title . en . . May 19, 2023 . May 19, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230519025922/https://tsl.news/pomona-pitzer-mens-cross-country-wins-second-straight-national-title/ . live .
  10. News: Washburn . Ansley . Under new leadership, Sagehens men's cross country secures third NCAA championship title . 4 January 2024 . . 1 December 2023 . January 4, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240104095858/https://tsl.news/under-new-leadership-sagehens-mens-cross-country-secures-third-ncaa-championship-title/ . live .
  11. News: Sullivan . Averi . 4 September 2022 . Pomona's new gym set to open Oct. 14 . en . . 15 November 2022 . November 15, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221115045234/https://tsl.news/pomona-new-gym-opens-in-october/ . live .
  12. Web site: . 1989 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20201107074710/https://www.pomona.edu/timeline/1980s/1989 . 7 November 2020 . 2 December 2020 . Pomona College Timeline . Pomona College . en.
  13. Web site: Campus Facilities . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210420011804/https://pomona.catalog.acalog.com/content.php?catoid=33&navoid=6714 . 20 April 2021 . 2 August 2020 . Pomona College Catalog . Pomona College . en.
  14. News: Hotaling . Debra . February 7, 1999 . Mascots Unmasked . en . Los Angeles Times . live . 3 September 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180906025429/http://articles.latimes.com/1999/feb/07/magazine/tm-5578 . 6 September 2018.
  15. Web site: The Bird . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210304163029/https://www.sagegrouseinitiative.com/sagebrush-community/the-bird/ . 4 March 2021 . 12 March 2021 . Sage Grouse Initiative . en.
  16. News: Bell . Alison . 19 September 2010 . Theirs is a 'big game' of a different stripe . en . . live . 24 August 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201108090152/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-sep-19-la-me-0919-then-20100919-story.html . 8 November 2020.
  17. News: Riley . Kayla . 18 June 2012 . The Strangest College Mascots: Part III . en . . October 20, 2023 . September 2, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230902004448/https://www.hercampus.com/life/strangest-college-mascots-part-iii/ . live .
  18. News: Kendall . Mark . 6 April 2020 . Save the Sagehen . en . Pomona College Magazine . Pomona College . 24 August 2020 . October 20, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231020180430/https://www.pomona.edu/news/2005/01/01-save-sagehen . live .
  19. Web site: . Cecil Image and Athletics Color Usage Guidelines . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20180927204255/https://www.pomona.edu/administration/communications/logos-guidelines/cecil-image-and-athletics-color-usage-guidelines . 2018-09-27 . 2018-09-27 . Pomona-Pitzer Athletics . en.
  20. Athletic History . dead . en . https://web.archive.org/web/20180818052219/http://www.sagehens.com/information/history . August 18, 2018 . 17 August 2018 . Sagehen Athletics.
  21. The History of Cecil the Sagehen . live . en . https://web.archive.org/web/20161220095647/http://www.sagehens.com/landing/cecil . 2016-12-20 . 2016-12-08 . Pomona-Pitzer Athletics.
  22. Web site: . Sports and the Outdoors . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20180904084538/https://www.pomona.edu/life-at-pomona/sports . 4 September 2018 . 3 September 2018 . Pomona College . en.
  23. Book: Zmirak, John . Choosing the Right College 2014–15 . 11 March 2014 . . 9781480492998 . 186 . en.
  24. News: Shapiro . Noah . 26 April 2019 . Business as usual: Sagehen women's water polo beats CMS for 13th straight time . en . . live . 6 August 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200930000559/https://tsl.news/business-as-usual-sagehen-womens-water-polo-beats-cms-for-13th-straight-time/ . 30 September 2020.
  25. News: Reynolds . Kirk . 1 April 1999 . The Rivalry . en . Pomona College Magazine . Pomona College . live . 22 September 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201001220028/https://www.pomona.edu/news/1999/04/01-rivalry . 1 October 2020.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pomona–Pitzer Sagehens".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.