Kent State Golden Flashes

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Kent State Golden Flashes

University	Kent State University
Conference	Mid-American Conference
NCAA	Division I (Division I-A in Football)
Athletics director	Laing Kennedy
Location	Kent, OH
Varsity Teams	7 men and 9 women varsity teams
Stadium	Dix Stadium
Arena	Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center
Mascot	Flash
Nickname	Golden Flashes
Fight Song
Colors	Navy Blue and Gold
Homepage	www.kentstatesports.com

Kent State University's intercollegiate athletic teams are known as the Golden Flashes or simply as the Flashes. The university fields sixteen varsity athletic teams, all of whom play in the Mid-American Conference and in the NCAA's Division I (Division I-A Football Bowl Subdivision for football). In addition, Kent State has a men's ice hockey club team, which plays in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division I as part of the Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL) and has its home games at the KSU Ice Arena.

Several Kent State athletic teams have enjoyed considerable success in the Mid-American Conference over the years, in particular in the fourteen years since the arrival of current athletic director Laing Kennedy. Since 1993 through the 2005-2006 season, Kent State has won 194 individual MAC titles, 47 team titles, 15 tournament titles, and 69 All-America titles. In addition, Kent State has won three men's all-sport trophies (known as the Reese Trophy), the most recent being in 2005-2006, while the Golden Flashes women's program has finished first or second for the past 11 consecutive years in the women's all-sport trophy (known as the Jacoby trophy). In 1997 and again in 2004, Kent State received full-certification status from the NCAA.[1] Kent State is the only MAC school to have both its men's and women's basketball teams accomplish the following in the same season: appear in their respective MAC Tournament Championship game (1999, 2001, 2002, 2006); win their respective East division title (2001, 2002); win their respective MAC Tournament title (2002); and win their respective overall conference title and appear in the NCAA tournament (2002).

1 Early History
2 Notable Varsity Athletic Teams
3 Facilities
4 Rivalries

[edit] Early History

Athletics at Kent State began shortly after the school was first organized in 1910 and the first classes held in 1912. The school's first sporting event was a men's basketball game in 1913 against Kent High School [2] and the following spring (1914) the baseball team was organized. The football team followed in 1920 and held their first game on October 30, a 6-0 loss to Ashland College.[3] Around this same time, the teams became known as the "Silver Foxes" because then-president John McGilvrey raised silver foxes on his farm. After McGilvrey's controversial firing in 1926, the new administration held a contest to choose a different team name and "Golden Flashes" was chosen. [4] The school colors of Navy Blue and Gold were originally Orange and Purple as outlined in the original 1910 charter. When the basketball team's uniforms were taken to a local cleaner, the hot water caused the colors to fade to blue and gold. The team and student body liked the new colors and voted to change them. [5] Kent State joined the Mid-American Conference in 1951.

[edit] Notable Varsity Athletic Teams

[edit] Baseball

The baseball team is Kent State's second oldest collegiate sport. Formed in 1914, they were known originally as the "Normal Nine" (Kent State was originally known as Kent State Normal School). The team has enjoyed significant success both in the Mid-American Conference and on the national level and has sent several players to the major leagues over the years. The baseball team currently plays at Olga Mural Field at Schoonover Stadium, formerly known as Gene Michael Field. Their current coach is Scott Stricklin, a 1995 Kent State grad who began coaching at KSU in 2005. In his first two seasons, the Flashes have a 71-39 record and won the 2006 overall conference title.

[edit] Men's Basketball

See also: Kent State Golden Flashes basketball

The men's basketball team, which began play in 1913, plays in the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center and is Kent State's oldest collegiate sport. Their current head coach is Jim Christian.[6] After decades of near anonymity, the Golden Flashes men's basketball team has become the standard of excellence in the Mid-American Conference with a league record nine straight 20-win seasons dating back to the 1998-1999 season (the previous record was five straight). Kent State also holds the MAC record for consecutive seasons with double-digit conference wins, also for nine consecutive seasons (the previous record was eight straight), [7] and in 2002, finished 17-1 in conference play, setting a MAC record for conference wins in a season.

MAC East Division Titles: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006
MAC Overall Titles: 2002, 2006
MAC Tournament Titles/NCAA Tournament Appearances: 1999, 2001, 2002, 2006
NIT Appearances: 1985, 1989, 1990, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005

[edit] Women's Basketball

The women's basketball team, which began play during the 1975-1976 season, also plays home games at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center. Currently, they are coached by Bob Lindsay, who has been with Kent State for 18 seasons. They have seven MAC East titles (most recent in 2006), six MAC overall titles (most recent in 2002), and three MAC tournament titles (1998, 2000, 2002). In addition, they have five NCAA tournament appearances (last in 2002) and one WNIT appearance (2004). Kent State has appeared in eleven MAC Tournament championship games (tied for most appearances with Toldeo), including seven in a row from 1996-2002. In fact, the 1996-2001 MAC title games all featured Kent State vs. Toledo. In 1998, Kent State became one of only two MAC schools (Bowling Green being the other) to complete the regular season and tournament with a perfect record, going 21-0. Prior to the start of the 2006-2007 season, Kent State had an overall record of 511-353 and a MAC record of 264-163. [8]

[edit] Field Hockey

The Field Hockey team plays its home matches at Murphy Mellis Field, which opened in 2005 and is located adjacent to Dix Stadium. The Flashes Field Hockey team has won eight MAC titles and has seven MAC tournament titles and NCAA appearances. In 2001, Kent State hosted the NCAA Division I national championship at Dix Stadium, where they played their home games from 1997-2004.

MAC Titles: 1988, 1991, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005
MAC Tournament Titles/NCAA Tournament Appearances: 1988, 1991, 1992, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002

[edit] Football

The Golden Flashes football team plays in the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. Home games are played at Dix Stadium on the far eastern edge of the Kent State University campus. Their current head coach is Doug Martin. Behind Dix Stadium are practice fields, as well as the Kent State Field House, which contains a full indoor football field. Kent State has two post-season bowl appearances: a 1954 trip to the now-defunct Regrigerator Bowl in Evansville, Indiana, where they lost to the Delaware Blue Hens 19-7 and a 1972 bid to the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, Florida, where they lost to the University of Tampa 21-18.[9] Although the team has not enjoyed many winning seasons, Kent State has sent a fair amount of players to the ranks of the National Football League as well as in other areas of college football. Don James coached the team from 1971-1974 during the era which also saw future NFL great Jack Lambert and current Alabama head coach Nick Saban playing for the Golden Flashes and Kent State's only Mid-American Conference championship in 1972 and their most recent bowl appearance. Current NFL players who played football at Kent State include Joshua Cribbs of the Cleveland Browns and James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers. In addition, Antonio Gates, who played for the men's basketball team, plays for the NFL's San Diego Chargers. Other notable football alumni and former coaches include current ESPN analyst and former University of Notre Dame and University of South Carolina head coach Lou Holtz, former Houston Texans head coach and current Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Dom Capers (graduate assistant at Kent State), and former Toronto Argonauts standout Jim Corrigall (who also served as head coach at KSU).

MAC Overall Titles: 1972
Bowl Appearances: 1954, 1972

[edit] Men's Golf

The Men's Golf team has enjoyed considerable success both in the Mid-American Conference and at the national level, winning 13 MAC Titles and making 19 trips to the NCAA tournament. [10] Most recently they won the 2005 and 2006 MAC Championships and qualified for the NCAA tournament. They play their home matches at Windmill Lakes Country Club in nearby Ravenna and practice at the Kent State Golf Course, located just east of campus in Franklin Township. The program has produced several pro-golfers and in 2003, former Golden Flashes stantout Ben Curtis won the British Open in what ABC commentator Mike Tirico called "one of the most amazing stories in the history of the Open Championship" and the "all-time Cinderella story."[11] In 2006, construction began on the new Golf Training and Learning facility located at the southern edge of the Kent State Golf Course. This facility will allow golf team members of both the men's and women's teams to practice and train year round. It is expected to be completed in late 2007.

[edit] Women's Golf

The Women's Golf team, founded in the fall of 1998 has enjoyed success from it's beginning. Every year of the program's existence it has won the Mid-American Conference title and is so far the only school to win the MAC's women's golf championship, which began in the spring of 1999. Like the men's team, they play their home matches at Windmill Lakes Country Club in Ravenna.

MAC Titles/NCAA Tournament Appearances: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006

[edit] Women's Gymnastics

[edit] Other Varsity Sports

Men's Cross Country
Women's Cross Country
Men's Indoor Track and Field
Women's Indoor Track and Field
Men's Outdoor Track and Field
Women's Outdoor Track and Field
Women's Soccer
Wrestling

Additionally, Kent State used to sponsor the following sports, which were eliminated due to either budget constraints and/or Title IX compliance:

Ice Hockey (now a club sport)
Men's Gymnastics
Men's Swimming and Diving
Women's Swimming and Diving

[edit] Facilities

Dix Stadium (Football)
Golf Teaching and Learning Facility (Golf)
Kent State Field House (Indoor Track and Field)
Kent State Ice Arena (Ice Hockey club team)
Kent State Outdoor Track (Outdoor Track and Field)
Kent State Soccer Field (Women's Soccer)
Kent State Softball Field (Softball)
Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (Basketball,Wrestling, Women's Gymnastics, Women's Volleyball)
Murphy Mellis Field (Field Hockey)
Schoonover Stadium (Baseball)

[edit] Rivalries

Kent State's most prominent rivalry is with the nearby University of Akron Zips, also a member of the Mid-American Conference, located just ten miles southeast of Kent. The rivalry is the most competitive in football and men's basketball, although the rivalry is played out in other sports as well. The two schools' football teams have played for the Wagon Wheel trophy since 1946 and each year since 1972. The Zips hold a 27-20-1 edge in football, while Kent State holds a narrow 62-60 edge in men's basketball. The rivalry, however, has only been a conference game since 1992 when Akron joined the Mid-American Conference. In the most recent installments of the rivalry, Kent State defeated Akron 37-15 in football at Dix Stadium on September 30, 2006, while Akron took all three meetings in men's basketball: a 78-68 win on January 17, 2007 in Akron, a 66-64 overtime victory on March 4, 2007 in Kent, and a 61-54 win in the semi-finals of the MAC Tournament in Cleveland.

Kent State also has rivalries with fellow MAC-member and sister school Bowling Green State University as well as non-league schools Youngstown State University and Cleveland State University, both of which are located in close proximity to Kent.

v • d • e Mid-American Conference
East division	Akron • Bowling Green • Buffalo • Kent State • Miami • Ohio
West division	Ball State • Central Michigan • Eastern Michigan • Northern Illinois • Toledo • Western Michigan
Affiliates	Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne (men's soccer, tennis) • Missouri State (field hockey) • Temple (football)