Kennesaw State Owls
Encyclopedia
Kennesaw State University
fields 16 varsity athletics teams called the Owl
s. After spending 10 years in Division II's Peach Belt Conference
, the university fully transitioned to Division I status in the National Collegiate Athletic Association
at the beginning of the 2009–10 season. All teams compete in the Atlantic Sun Conference
. The school mascot is Scrappy the Owl.
in 2002. In their first year of competition the school finished 18-0-1 and earned a trip to the national tournament. The following year Kennesaw State won the Division II national championship. 2004 was the start of the transition to Division I and during the 2006 season, the Owls won the Atlantic Sun Conference regular season title. After winning their second straight A-Sun title in 2007, the Owls made their first appearance in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championships, falling to Florida State, 3-0, in the first round.
On November 5, 2009 the KSU Owls defeated Jacksonville in overtime. This win put the Owls in the finals versus Belmont on November 7, 2009. In the finals, Jade Dempster found the net with a penalty-kick goal in the 87th minute lifting Kennesaw State to its second Atlantic Sun Women’s Soccer Championship in three seasons with a 2-1 victory against Belmont. The Owls earn the conference’s automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA tournament.
The Owls opened a new home in 2010. KSU and the Atlanta Beat of Women's Professional Soccer
entered into a public-private partnership
to build the new Kennesaw State University Soccer Stadium
near the KSU campus. Both the Owls and the Beat play all their home games in the facility, which opened on May 2, 2010. The stadium is host to the 2011 NCAA Women's College Cup.
teams play Division I basketball in the Convocation Center on the campus of KSU. The teams previously played in the Spec Landrum Center, which served as the home floor when the men won the NCAA Division II National Championship in 2004. On April 20, 2011 Kennesaw State University officials named Lewis Preston, widely regarded as one of the top assistant coaches in the country, as the Owls new Head Men’s Basketball Coach. Preston, an assistant to Penn State’s Ed DeChellis for the past three years, also served as an assistant to Florida’s Billy Donovan when the Gators won the National Championship in 2007 and was a member of Mike Brey’s staff at Notre Dame.The current Kennesaw State women's head coach is Colby Tilley.
team is currently coached by Mike Sansing. The Owls play at Stillwell Stadium on the south section of the campus adjacent to the University Place housing community. Owl alumni in Major League Baseball include Jason Jones of the Texas Rangers
and Willie Harris
, who earned a World Series ring with the Chicago White Sox in 2005, of the Washington Nationals. In 2009 Several Major League Baseball teams drafted several KSU players. Chad Jenkins was a first round pick and the 20th selection overall when he was taken by professional team Toronto Blue Jays while right-hander Kyle Heckathorn was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers as the 47th overall pick. Jace Whitmer, Kenny Faulk, Tyler Stubblefield, and Justin Edwards were also selected by MLB teams.
team is currently coached by Stan Sims. In the 2009 season, the Owls finished first in five of their eight meets, including a first place finish in their conference at the A-Sun Cross Country Championship. The men ended the 2009 season finishing eighth at the NCAA South Region Championship. The women's team finished first in four of their seven meets in the 2009 season. The women finished second in their conference at the A-Sun Cross Country Championship. The Cross Country team was also featured in an article of the September, 2010 issue of Running Times magazine.
Coming off of their second straight Atlantic Sun Conference Championship, the men’s cross country team returns the bulk of their squad in the quest of a third straight conference title. Last season they made it, for the second straight year since being eligible for postseason competition, to the NCAA South Regional where they finished ninth. Now this season, the team is hungry to get over the regional hump and make the trip up to Terre Haute, Ind. for Nationals.
team is led by Hall of Fame coach Scott Whitlock. Bailey Park on campus is the home to Kennesaw State Owls softball. The Black and Gold's state-of-the-art complex was built as a brainchild of Dr. Bobbie Bailey. The luxury stadium is the standard for modern softball facilities and features wrap-around stands behind home plate and stadium seating on the second level down the first base line and above the KSU dugout.
It’s a new year and the beginning of a new era as the Kennesaw State women’s golf program is set to compete in the Golf Week Conference Challenge in Wolcott, Colo., Sept. 19-21 to open their fall season.
The Kennesaw State women’s tennis team is set to begin its 2011-12 season on Friday morning as it hosts the Second Annual Kennesaw State Invitational at Fair Oaks Tennis Center in Marietta.
.jpg)
Kennesaw State has considered adding a football
team at various points in its history. Future plans for the school include a football stadium. The school has concluded a feasibility survey which affirmed it would be possible to have Division I football. On November 9, 2007, a survey was administered by Student Government with 77.6 percent of respondents voting in favor of starting a football program. Participation in the survey was supposed to be restricted to enrolled students only; however, due to a design flaw, anyone could take the survey an unlimited number of times.
Kennesaw State convened a football committee in late 2009, consisting of students, faculty, staff, alumni, business and community leaders, as well as friends and benefactors of KSU. The group, led by former University of Georgia
football
coach and athletic director Vince Dooley
, provided a final report of its recommendations to KSU President Daniel Papp in September 2010.
The results of the report were released in a September 15, 2010 press conference, featuring Papp and Dooley, at the KSU Convocation Center. It was announced that the school would plan to launch a football program at the FCS level in 2014, with the team playing home games at KSU Soccer Stadium.
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw State University, also referred to as KSU, Kennesaw, or Kennesaw State, is a public, coeducational, comprehensive university that is part of the University System of Georgia. The university's main campus is located in Kennesaw, Georgia, United States, approximately north of Atlanta...
fields 16 varsity athletics teams called the Owl
Owl
Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...
s. After spending 10 years in Division II's Peach Belt Conference
Peach Belt Conference
The Peach Belt Conference is an intercollegiate college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA’s Division II. The PBC was formed in 1990 with seven charter universities as the Peach Belt Athletic Conference, and took its current name in 2000.-Current members:The league currently has 13 full...
, the university fully transitioned to Division I status in the National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
at the beginning of the 2009–10 season. All teams compete in the Atlantic Sun Conference
Atlantic Sun Conference
The Atlantic Sun Conference is a college athletic conference operating in the Southeastern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I; it does not sponsor football. The conference was established in 1978 as the Trans America Athletic Conference...
. The school mascot is Scrappy the Owl.
Athletics Director
In April 2011 President Dr. Daniel S. Papp named University of Connecticut Associate Athletic Director Vaughn Williams as the university’s new athletic director. Williams brings more than 17 years of NCAA Division I senior athletic administrative experience to KSU. Williams served as Associate Athletic Director during UConn's men’s basketball team national NCAA Division I championship season.Soccer
Kennesaw State started women's soccerCollege soccer
College soccer is a term used to describe association football played by teams who are operated by colleges and universities as opposed to a professional league operated for exclusively financial purposes...
in 2002. In their first year of competition the school finished 18-0-1 and earned a trip to the national tournament. The following year Kennesaw State won the Division II national championship. 2004 was the start of the transition to Division I and during the 2006 season, the Owls won the Atlantic Sun Conference regular season title. After winning their second straight A-Sun title in 2007, the Owls made their first appearance in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championships, falling to Florida State, 3-0, in the first round.
On November 5, 2009 the KSU Owls defeated Jacksonville in overtime. This win put the Owls in the finals versus Belmont on November 7, 2009. In the finals, Jade Dempster found the net with a penalty-kick goal in the 87th minute lifting Kennesaw State to its second Atlantic Sun Women’s Soccer Championship in three seasons with a 2-1 victory against Belmont. The Owls earn the conference’s automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA tournament.
The Owls opened a new home in 2010. KSU and the Atlanta Beat of Women's Professional Soccer
Women's Professional Soccer
Women's Professional Soccer is the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded 6 teams for the 2011 season, with continued plans for future expansion...
entered into a public-private partnership
Public-private partnership
Public–private partnership describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies...
to build the new Kennesaw State University Soccer Stadium
Kennesaw State University Soccer Stadium
Kennesaw State University Soccer Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium near Kennesaw, Georgia that opened on May 2, 2010, with the first match played on May 9. It is primarily used for soccer, and is the result of a public-private partnership between the university and the Atlanta Beat of Women's...
near the KSU campus. Both the Owls and the Beat play all their home games in the facility, which opened on May 2, 2010. The stadium is host to the 2011 NCAA Women's College Cup.
Basketball
The Kennesaw State Owls basketballBasketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
teams play Division I basketball in the Convocation Center on the campus of KSU. The teams previously played in the Spec Landrum Center, which served as the home floor when the men won the NCAA Division II National Championship in 2004. On April 20, 2011 Kennesaw State University officials named Lewis Preston, widely regarded as one of the top assistant coaches in the country, as the Owls new Head Men’s Basketball Coach. Preston, an assistant to Penn State’s Ed DeChellis for the past three years, also served as an assistant to Florida’s Billy Donovan when the Gators won the National Championship in 2007 and was a member of Mike Brey’s staff at Notre Dame.The current Kennesaw State women's head coach is Colby Tilley.
Baseball
Kennesaw State's baseballBaseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
team is currently coached by Mike Sansing. The Owls play at Stillwell Stadium on the south section of the campus adjacent to the University Place housing community. Owl alumni in Major League Baseball include Jason Jones of the Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...
and Willie Harris
Willie Harris
William Charles Harris is a Major League Baseball outfielder and infielder. Harris is known for his quick feet and base-stealing abilities, with currently 94 career stolen bases. Harris was formerly a member of the Baltimore Orioles , Chicago White Sox , Boston Red Sox , Atlanta Braves , and...
, who earned a World Series ring with the Chicago White Sox in 2005, of the Washington Nationals. In 2009 Several Major League Baseball teams drafted several KSU players. Chad Jenkins was a first round pick and the 20th selection overall when he was taken by professional team Toronto Blue Jays while right-hander Kyle Heckathorn was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers as the 47th overall pick. Jace Whitmer, Kenny Faulk, Tyler Stubblefield, and Justin Edwards were also selected by MLB teams.
Cross Country
Kennesaw State's men's cross countryCross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
team is currently coached by Stan Sims. In the 2009 season, the Owls finished first in five of their eight meets, including a first place finish in their conference at the A-Sun Cross Country Championship. The men ended the 2009 season finishing eighth at the NCAA South Region Championship. The women's team finished first in four of their seven meets in the 2009 season. The women finished second in their conference at the A-Sun Cross Country Championship. The Cross Country team was also featured in an article of the September, 2010 issue of Running Times magazine.
Coming off of their second straight Atlantic Sun Conference Championship, the men’s cross country team returns the bulk of their squad in the quest of a third straight conference title. Last season they made it, for the second straight year since being eligible for postseason competition, to the NCAA South Regional where they finished ninth. Now this season, the team is hungry to get over the regional hump and make the trip up to Terre Haute, Ind. for Nationals.
Softball
Kennesaw State's softballSoftball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
team is led by Hall of Fame coach Scott Whitlock. Bailey Park on campus is the home to Kennesaw State Owls softball. The Black and Gold's state-of-the-art complex was built as a brainchild of Dr. Bobbie Bailey. The luxury stadium is the standard for modern softball facilities and features wrap-around stands behind home plate and stadium seating on the second level down the first base line and above the KSU dugout.
Indoor/Outdoor Track and Field
The Kennesaw State track men's track team won the Indoor & Outdoor Conference Championships in 2008 and 2010. Formerly an assistant for Kansas State, Andy Eggerth was named the new head coach of Kennesaw State Track and Field in fall of 2010 and was named A-Sun Coach of the Year for 2011.Volleyball
In the 2010 Season, the Owls won nine out of 10 Atlantic Sun Conference matches, finished in second in the A-Sun, and had four student-athletes receive All-Conference Honors. Head Coach Karen Weatherington was named A-Sun Coach of the Year. The Owls flew into the A-Sun Chamionships, where a bye moved the Owls into the semifinals for the first time in program history.Golf
The Kennesaw State men’s golf team opened its fall season Friday September 3rd, 2011 with the first round of the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic with a team round of 301, +13 to finish the afternoon in 12th place.It’s a new year and the beginning of a new era as the Kennesaw State women’s golf program is set to compete in the Golf Week Conference Challenge in Wolcott, Colo., Sept. 19-21 to open their fall season.
Tennis
The Kennesaw State men’s tennis team is ready to begin its highly-anticipated 2011-12 season on Friday afternoon September 23rd as they will travel to Buffalo, N.Y. to compete in the University of Buffalo Invitational.The Kennesaw State women’s tennis team is set to begin its 2011-12 season on Friday morning as it hosts the Second Annual Kennesaw State Invitational at Fair Oaks Tennis Center in Marietta.
Football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team at various points in its history. Future plans for the school include a football stadium. The school has concluded a feasibility survey which affirmed it would be possible to have Division I football. On November 9, 2007, a survey was administered by Student Government with 77.6 percent of respondents voting in favor of starting a football program. Participation in the survey was supposed to be restricted to enrolled students only; however, due to a design flaw, anyone could take the survey an unlimited number of times.
Kennesaw State convened a football committee in late 2009, consisting of students, faculty, staff, alumni, business and community leaders, as well as friends and benefactors of KSU. The group, led by former University of Georgia
Georgia Bulldogs
The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams of the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference...
football
Georgia Bulldogs football
The Georgia Bulldogs football team represents the University of Georgia in football. The Bulldogs are a member of the Southeastern Conference and are frequently a top-25 team. The University of Georgia has had a football team since 1892 and has an all-time record of 738–398–54...
coach and athletic director Vince Dooley
Vince Dooley
Vincent Joseph Dooley was the head football coach and athletic director at the University of Georgia. During his 25 year coaching career at UGA, Dooley compiled a 201–77–10 record. His teams won six Southeastern Conference titles and the 1980 national championship...
, provided a final report of its recommendations to KSU President Daniel Papp in September 2010.
The results of the report were released in a September 15, 2010 press conference, featuring Papp and Dooley, at the KSU Convocation Center. It was announced that the school would plan to launch a football program at the FCS level in 2014, with the team playing home games at KSU Soccer Stadium.