| St. Louis Billikens | |
| University | Saint Louis University |
|---|---|
| Conference(s) | A-10 |
| NCAA | Division I |
| Athletics director | Chris May |
| Location | St. Louis, MO |
| Varsity teams | 16 |
| Basketball arena | Chaifetz Arena |
| Baseball stadium | Billiken Sports Center |
| Soccer stadium | Robert R. Hermann Stadium |
| Mascot | The Billiken |
| Nickname | Billikens |
| Fight song | |
| Colors | Blue and White
|
| Homepage | SLU Billikens |
The Saint Louis Billikens are the collegiate athletic teams from Saint Louis University. This NCAA Division I program has teams in soccer, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, swimming and diving, cross country, tennis, track and field, and field hockey. They compete in the Atlantic Ten Conference (where they are the westernmost member, and both the first member located west of the Mississippi and in the Central Time Zone). The school has nationally recognized soccer programs for men and women. The school has heavily invested in its on-campus athletic facilities in the past twenty years with the creation of Hermann Stadium and Chaifetz Arena. Chris May is the current director of athletics.
An early SLU football coach, John R. Bender,[1] is said to have been the inspiration for the nickname "Billikens," which is still used by the school's athletic teams. During the 1911 season, according to one version of the story, local sportswriters commented that Bender bore an uncanny resemblance to a charm doll called a Billiken, which was a national fad at the time. His squad became known as "Bender's Billikens" and the name stuck.
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Saint Louis University Fight Song
Root, Root, Root, for S-L-U
We are out to win the game
We always fight for the white and blue
Now let's cheer ‘er valiant name
Saint Louis U! Saint Louis U! (chant)
Go Bills! Go Bills! Go Bills Go! (chant)
SLU has had six conference affiliations since 1937. SLU has been affiliated with the Missouri Valley Conference (1937–1974); the defunct Metro Conference (1975–1982); the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, now known as the Horizon League (1982–1991); the defunct Great Midwest Conference (1991–1995) and Conference USA (which was created by a merger between the Metro and Great Midwest Conferences). SLU joined the Atlantic Ten Conference in 2005.
The men's soccer team has won 10 national titles (1959–60, 1962–63, 1965, 1967, 1969–70, 1972–73), the most in NCAA Men's Soccer Championship history. SLU also holds the record for most NCAA Tournament appearances with 44. Several Billikens have gone on to play professionally, including Shane Battelle, Brad Davis, Vedad Ibišević, Brian McBride, Matt McKeon, Al Trost, Dipsy Selolwane, Mike Sorber, Joe Clarke, Bob Madison, Martin Hutton, Jack Jewsbury, Tim Ward, Brett Branan, and Will John. The soccer team plays at Hermann Stadium on campus. Since February 2001, Dan Donigan has been the head coach. Legion 1818 is the official supporters group for the team.
Simply known to some as "The Program," the Billikens were ranked first in the first AP basketball poll during the 1948–1949 season. Ed Macauley of the Basketball Hall of Fame and SLU won the NIT championship in 1948 and have played in the NIT 18 times, most recently in 2004. Larry Hughes of the Chicago Bulls played one season at SLU in the 1997–1998 season, where he was selected as the consensus national Freshman of the Year. They have made the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in 1952, 1957, 1994, 1995, 1998, and 2000. The Billikens are currently coached by Rick Majerus. The Program officially relocated from the Bauman-Eberhardt Center, the third oldest facility in NCAA Division I sports, to Chaifetz Arena on the eastern edge of campus for spring workouts in early April 2008.
In 2006, the Billiken baseball team earned the program's first NCAA Tournament berth since 1966 by winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament. SLU's most successful baseball team of all time was the 1965 squad, which qualified for the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the College World Series. Darin Hendrickson has been the current head coach since July 2007, and guided the Billikens to their fourth NCAA appearance in 2010.
The Saint Louis softball team enjoyed the best season in program history in 2010. The Billikens established a school record in wins with a 30-26-1 slate and established team records in hits, runs, doubles and home runs. As the Number 4 seed in the Atlantic 10 Championships, under the previous Coach, John Conway. Currently, the Billikens are coached by Christy Connoyer.
Under head coach Anne Kordes, the women's volleyball team made its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2006, the program's first post-season bid since earning a spot in the 1995 National Invitation Tournament. The Billikens returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and finished the season ranked No. 8 in the RPI and No. 21 in the final Bison/AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll. Kordes led the Billikens back to the NCAA Tournament in 2009, receiving an at-large bid. The team plays its home games in the Chaifetz Pavilion on the eastern edge of campus.
SLU fields an American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division II men's ice hockey team in the Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association (MACHA). The team plays home games at the Webster Ice Arena Webster Groves, MO, but the university has plans to build the Saint Louis University Ice Pavilion to bring the team on campus and possibly explore NCAA Hockey again. In 2011, the Billikens captured their first MACHA Gold Championship and advanced to the Central Region Qualifier before falling two games short of a National Championship birth. Also in 2011, the club was selected as the host to the 2013 ACHA Men's Division II National Championships held at the Hardee's Iceplex. SLU once fielded a NCAA Division I hockey program that played in the CCHA from the 1970–1971 season until the program ended in 1979. The team was a strong team in the CCHA and over the nine seasons of play SLU made the championship six times.[2] The current team began play for the 1996–1997 season as a member of ACHA Division I.
Saint Louis University Men's Lacrosse team competes in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association(MCLA) Division II and the Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference (GRLC). SLU has previously placed players on the All-American, 1st Team, 2nd Team, 3rd Team All-Conference, and the Honorable Mention Lists. The team is compiled mostly from students, who have played in elite Jesuit & Catholic high school programs across the country. Each individual brings their own unique skills, talents, and tricks. SLU Lax is known to play games commonly on the Vandy Field (on-campus), at AB Soccer Park, and other fields in the St. Louis Area. Every year SLU competes against big Missouri schools such as Lindenwood University, Washington University, and University of Missouri just to name a few.
The university fielded an intercollegiate squad from 1899 to 1949, going undefeated in 1901, 1904 and 1906.[3] St. Louis competed at the club-level during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Although the school no longer has a football team, they made made a lasting mark on the sport as the 1906 team, coached by Eddie Cochems, threw the first legal forward pass in college football history, Bradbury Robinson to Jack Schneider on September 5, 1906 vs. Carroll College at Waukesha, Wisconsin.
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