The UCSD Tritons

Triton (mythology)

Triton is a mythological Greek god, the messenger of the big sea. He is the son of Poseidon, god of the sea, and Amphitrite, goddess of the sea, whose herald he is...

are the athletic sports team for the University of California, San Diego

University of California, San Diego

The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...

 (UC San Diego or UCSD). UC San Diego has 23 varsity sports teams and offers student participation in a wide range of sports including swimming

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

, water polo

Water polo

Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...

, soccer, volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

, crew

Rowing (sport)

Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...

, track and field

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

, fencing

Fencing

Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...

, basketball

Basketball

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...

, golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

, cross country

Cross 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...

, softball

Softball

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...

, baseball

Baseball

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...

, and tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

. UC San Diego participates at the NCAA's Division II (DII) level in the California Collegiate Athletic Association

California Collegiate Athletic Association

The California Collegiate Athletic Association or CCAA is an intercollegiate athletic conference in the Division II of the NCAA. All of its current members are public universities, and all except for UC San Diego are members of the California State University system.It was founded in December 1938...

 (CCAA), although water polo, fencing, and men's volleyball compete at the Division I level. Since their move to Division II starting in the 2000-01 season, UCSD has placed in the top 5 in the Division II NACDA Directors' Cup standings five times, including two 2nd place finishes.

Boosters

UC San Diego recognizes two external organizations of athletic boosters: the Triton Athletic Associates is a booster group of parents, alumni and friends who have each donated between US$50 and $2,500; and the UCSD Athletic Board is made up of donors who have given US$10,000 or more to athletic programs. On campus, booster groups comprise the UCSD Pep Band, the Triton Tide (a student booster club), the UCSD Cheerleaders, the Triton Twirl Flag Squad and the UCSD Dance Team. King Triton occasionally appears as a costumed character mascot

Mascot

The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...

. Further opportunities for athletic involvement are available to students interested in team staffing and management.

Football

UC San Diego has not fielded a football team except in Fall 1968 when a newly-formed pigskin organization turned in a winless season and then folded for lack of interest. Since then, the subject of bringing NCAA football back to UC San Diego has been a recurring topic. Tom Ham, a local restaurateur and a supporter of UCSD football since the 1960s, has said that UCSD would have no future in San Diego without "big-time" football. Proponents of a major football team have projected benefits that include greater school spirit and a more well-rounded school experience for students as well as enhancing the school's national profile. Opposition to "big-time" football comes from a wide range of school faculty and administrators such Daniel Wulbert, a provost at Revelle College, who says that any boost to school spirit wouldn't be worth the sacrifice, and that he wants UC San Diego to "have a life for reasons other than watching hired athletes come and play." It's acknowledged by both sides that adding an 80- to 100-man football team would not only cost some US$1–1.5M annually, but that the initial outlay in equipment and facilities would be in the tens of millions. Furthermore, in order to comply with Title IX

Title IX

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a United States law, enacted on June 23, 1972, that amended Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 2002 it was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, in honor of its principal author Congresswoman Mink, but is most...

's requirement for equal sports opportunities for both sexes, some three women's teams (80-100 athletes) would have to be added, or three existing men's teams disbanded. Without the expense of football, UC San Diego has been characterized as having "the best all-around program, with the most success by the most student-athletes" in San Diego.

Potential move to Division I

In 2011, UCSD considered elevating its athletics to Division I for all sports. They were looking to join the Big West Conference

Big West Conference

The Big West Conference is an NCAA-affiliated Division I mid-major college athletic conference. When the conference began in 1969, its name was the Pacific Coast Athletic Association . After nineteen years, in 1988, its name was changed to the Big West Conference. The conference stopped...

. However, there were several problems. After the Big West added the University of Hawaii

University of Hawaii

The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...

 in 2010, they would have 10 teams, meaning any extra member would require more conference games in basketball, upsetting the current schedule balance. In addition, in order to meet the minimum Division I scholarship requirements, the student body would need to vote for a fee increase sometime during the 2011-2012 academic year. After the Big West elected not to invite UCSD to the Big West in May 2011, plans have been put on hold and UCSD remains a Division II team.

Championships

Division III

Women's Volleyball (7): 1981, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1997

Women's Soccer (5): 1989, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999

Women's Tennis (4): 1985, 1987, 1989, 1994

Men's Soccer (3): 1988, 1991, 1993

Men's Volleyball (1): 2000

Men's Golf (1): 1993

Baseball

2001: 14-34

2002: 30-23-1

2003: 25-28

2004: 35-24

2005: 37-20 (CCAA Champions)

2006: 35-24

2007: 37-25 (NCAA West Regionals)

2008: 43-18 (NCAA West Regionals)

2009: 41-15 (College World Series 4th Place) (CCAA Champions) (CCAA Tournament Champions)

2010: 53-8 (College World Series Runner-Up) (CCAA Champions) (CCAA Tournament Champions)

2011: 42-15 (NCAA West Regionals) (CCAA Champions) (CCAA Tournament Champions)

Softball

2001: 34-17 (NCAA West Regionals)

2002: 35-25 (NCAA West Regionals)

2003: 24-32

2004: 29-27

2005: 19-31

2006: 24-28

2007: 35-27 (NCAA West Regionals)

2008: 32-24 (NCAA West Regionals)

2009: 30-25 (NCAA West Regionals)

2010: 30-20

2011: 45-13 (NCAA National Champions) (CCAA Champions)

Men's Basketball

2000-01: 4-23

2001-02: 8-21

2002-03: 7-20

2003-04: 9-18

2004-05: 11-16

2005-06: 15-14

2006-07: 12-15

2007-08: 18-12 (NCAA West Regional 1st Round) (CCAA Tournament Champions)

2008-09: 17-11

2009-10: 8-17

2010-11: 11-17

Women's Basketball

2000-01: 15-12

2001-02: 13-14

2002-03: 10-17

2003-04: 15-13 (NCAA West Regional 1st Round)

2004-05: 17-10

2005-06: 23-5 (NCAA West Regional 1st Round)

2006-07: 27-5 (NCAA Final Four) (CCAA Champions)

2007-08: 25-10 (NCAA West Regional 2nd Round)

2008-09: 27-5 (NCAA West Regional 2nd Round) (CCAA Champions)

2009-10: 25-5 (NCAA West Regional 1st Round) (CCAA Champions)

2010-11: 20-11

Men's Soccer

2000: 11-5-2

2001: 6-9-1

2002: 11-6-0

2003: 11-7-1 (NCAA West Regional 1st Round)

2004: 9-4-4

2005: 11-5-2

2006: 7-10-2

2007: 5-9-3

2008: 10-6-2

2009: 7-9-3

2010: 8-6-4

Women's Soccer

2000: 21-2-0 (NCAA National Champions) (CCAA Champions)

2001: 21-2-0 (NCAA National Champions) (CCAA Champions)

2002: 15-5-2 (NCAA West Regional 1st Round) (CCAA Champions)

2003: 18-3-1 (NCAA Final Four) (CCAA Champions)

2004: 14-4-1

2005: 18-4-0 (NCAA West Regional 2nd Round) (CCAA Champions)

2006: 20-2-2 (NCAA West Regionals) (CCAA Champions)

2007: 12-4-2 (NCAA West Regional 1st Round)

2008: 15-4-4 (NCAA West Regional 2nd Round) (CCAA Champions)

2009: 15-5-2 (NCAA West Regional 2nd Round)

2010: 19-3-4 (NCAA Runner-Up)

Triton Robotix

Though not technically a sports team, the UCSD Triton Robotix organization designed and built a 120 lb BattleBot. The robot competed at the BattleBots event in Vallejo, California late April 2009. The competition was recorded was to be aired on CBS College Sports in August 2009. However, there were licensing and advertisement issues that ultimately lead CBS to cancel the show before it aired. Now, footage of the 2009 Championship is due to air on FOX.

In Fall 2009, Triton Robotix merged to become a part of ASME UC San Diego. They worked on building a brand new 120 lb combat robot dubbed Kraken to compete in Robogames

RoboGames

RoboGames is an annual robot contest held in San Mateo, California. The most recent RoboGames was held April 15–17, 2011.RoboGames is the world's largest open robot competition...

. They ultimately placed 5th out of 21 entries.

Triton Fight Song

Fight on, with mighty Triton spirit

Hail to the Triton name

Men and women march victorious

On to fame

Stand proud, the Triton host prevails

March on in unity

Bold and strong we fight to Triton

Victory

UCSD fight! Fight! Fight!

External links