Duquesne Dukes

Duquesne Dukes
University Duquesne University
Conference Atlantic 10 Conference, Football- Northeast Conference
NCAA Division I / FCS
Athletic director Greg Amodio
Location Pittsburgh, PA
Varsity teams 16
Football stadium Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field
Basketball arena A. J. Palumbo Center
Mascot Duke
Nickname Dukes
Fight song "The Victory Song (Red and Blue)"
Colors
     Red       Blue
Website www.goduquesne.com

The Duquesne Dukes are the athletic teams of Duquesne University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[1] The Dukes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference.[2] Football competes in the Northeast Conference, however.

Teams

Duquesne University sponsors teams in six men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports:[3]

Men's Intercollegiate Sports

Women's Intercollegiate Sports

Basketball

The Dukes men's basketball team has had great success over the years, playing twice in national championship games in the 1950s and winning the National Invitation Tournament championship in 1955. (At the time, the NIT was far more prestigious than it is now.) The men's basketball Dukes annually play their cross-town rival, the University of Pittsburgh Panthers, in Pittsburgh's much anticipated and highly attended City Game. The current head coach is Jim Ferry, who was hired in the spring of 2012.

The Dukes women's basketball team also plays the University of Pittsburgh every year in the women's version of the City Game.

Fictional portrayals

A Duquesne Dukes men's basketball player's heart ailment serves as the major plot device for the pilot episode of Pittsburgh-based CBS medical drama Three Rivers.

Football

Duquesne has played football as a club team from 1891–1894, 1896–1903, 1913–1914, and 1920–1928, in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) from 1929–1942 and 1947–1950, again as a club team from 1969–1978, in NCAA Division III from 1979–1992, and in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) from 1993–present. The Dukes have won or shared 13 conference championships in the past 20 years.

Other varsity sports

Duquesne's wrestling squad was a relatively successful NCAA Division I team that competed as an Independent. The Dukes wrestlers won two NCAA Division I East Regional Championships (2000 and 2005) and sent at least one wrestler to the NCAA Championships every year during John Hartupee's 11 seasons as head coach. The wrestling program eventually disbanded for a variety of reasons.

Duquesne fielded an NCAA varsity rifle team for many years (a coed sport). This team competed in the Middle Atlantic Rifle Conference, claiming a share of the conference title in the 2001-02 season. The team officially disbanded after the 2003-04 season.

Recently, Duquesne's Olympic/"non-revenue" sports were led by distance runner Tom Slosky, a member of the university's cross country and indoor and outdoor track & field teams. Slosky was a five-time Atlantic 10 champion--winning a team and individual cross country title in 2005 and 2007, respectively, and the conference's 3,000-meter steeplechase as a member of Duquesne's outdoor track & field program in 2005, 2006 and 2008. He was also a three-time IC4A champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (2006, 2007 and 2008) and a 3,000-meter steeplechase competitor in the NCAA Division I outdoor track & field championships in 2006, 2007 and 2008, advancing to the very final heat in 2007. He was also a competitor in the 2007 NCAA Division I cross country championships.

Slosky's 2007 NCAA appearances mark the only times that a Duquesne athlete has competed in the final round of an NCAA championship.

In the fall 2012 semester, Duquesne's women's rowing team, for the first time, took first place in the varsity eight event at the Head of the Ohio, held in Pittsburgh.

Atlantic 10 Championships

Duquesne's first postseason/"full" Atlantic 10 team championship came in 1977 with a men's title in the Eastern Collegiate Basketball League (the forerunner to the Eastern Athletic Association—now known as the Atlantic 10 Conference). The Dukes have also won Atlantic 10 team championships in men's cross country (2005), women's cross country (2013) and women's volleyball (2013). In addition, Duquesne has won numerous regular-season Atlantic 10 team championships. Men's basketball was co-champion of the league's regular seasons in both 1980 and 1981 when it was known as the Eastern Athletic Association. Men's soccer was co-champion of the league's regular season in 2003, sole champion in 2004 and again co-champion in 2005. Women's lacrosse was co-champion of the league's regular seasons in both 2004 and 2005, and women's volleyball won an Atlantic 10 regular-season title in 2013.

The Dukes have also crowned postseason/"full" Atlantic 10 individual champions in men's cross country (1), women's rowing (8), men's and women's swimming & diving [23 (men), 13 (women)], women's indoor track & field (21) and men's and women's outdoor track & field [15 (men), 19 (women)].

Postseason/"Full" (105)

Team (5)

Men's Basketball (1)

Men's Cross Country (1)

Women's Cross Country (2)

Women's Volleyball (1)

Individual (100)

Men's Cross Country (1)

Women's Rowing (8)

Men's Swimming (23)

Women's Swimming (15)

Women's Indoor Track & Field (21)

Men's Outdoor Track & Field (15)

Women's Outdoor Track & Field (19)

Regular Season (8)

Team (8)

Men's Basketball (2)

Men's Soccer (3)

Women's Lacrosse (2)

Women's Volleyball (1)

Club sports

McCloskey Field, remodeled in 2012, is bordered by a four-lane track. This, however, is an outdated photo.

Duquesne fields many club, or non-varsity, teams that compete regularly against other schools. Club sports offered at Duquesne are tennis, men's indoor track & field, men's rowing, men's ice hockey, and men's roller hockey.

The Duquesne Club Tennis team started in the fall of 2008. It is a part of the USTA's Tennis on Campus program.

The men's indoor track & field program practices and competes alongside Duquesne's varsity women's indoor track & field program during the winter months and is affiliated with the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America. The men's team is recognized as varsity during the spring months when it becomes an outdoor track & field program and competes in the Atlantic 10. Though, it maintains its affiliation with the IC4A.

The men's rowing program generally practices and competes alongside Duquesne's varsity women's rowing team.

The men's ice hockey team is affiliated with the Division I level of the American Collegiate Hockey Association, competing in the College Hockey Mid-America conference. The team was CHMA champions during the 2006–07 and 2008-09 seasons. They also participated in the National Tournament in 2004-05, 2005-06 & 2008-09, finishing 8th in the country in 05-06 season.

The men's roller hockey team competed as a Division II team in the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association (NCRHA)'s Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association (ECRHA), specifically in the Central Conference.

Mascot

The "Dukes" nickname dates back to 1911, when what is now Duquesne University changed its name to honor the Marquis Du Quesne, the French governor of Canada, who first brought Catholic observances to the Pittsburgh area.

Since a Marquis and a Duke are not visually distinct (and the name "Duquesne" implies a "Duke"), the unofficial symbol of the school's athletic teams became a man dressed in a top hat, tails and a regal sash across his chest. "Dukes" being more readily recognized than "Marquis," the name Duke was popularly assigned to the symbol and stuck ever since the fall of 1911.

The Duquesne Dukes' "Duke" mascot, unveiled in 2003.

The Duquesne Department of Athletics unveiled its most notable "Duke" mascot prior to the January 18, 2003 game against the University of Richmond. The Duke is 7-feet tall with an oversized head and sports a dapper navy blue suit with red piping, a red shirt with a red bow tie, and red gloves, with a black top hat. The new Duke replaces "Duke the Bear" who was a fixture at DU athletic events since 1996.

At the December 13, 2008 game versus West Virginia, Duquesne introduced its new human-figure mascot to replace the 7-foot-tall (2.1 m) character mascot. The mascot traditionally sports its black jacket with coat-tails and overbearing top-hat.

Before the 2010 City Game vs the Pittsburgh Panthers, Duquesne introduced the new character mascot at an annual alumni event.

Duquesne's school colors of red and blue, the colors of the Holy Ghost Fathers, have been in place since the school's inception.[4]

University fight song

The Victory Song (Red and Blue) was written in 1926. Words and music were composed by Father Thomas J. Quigley (class of 1927).[5]

We'll sing hooray for the Red and Blue,

A big hooray for the Red and Blue;
For the flag we love on to victory,
And when the foe is down,
We will raise a mighty shout
And sing hooray for the Red and Blue;
We're all your sons and daughters true.
Now with all your might, give them
Fight! Fight! Fight!
For the grand old Red and Blue.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.duq.edu/
  2. ↑ http://www.atlantic10.com/
  3. ↑ http://www.goduquesne.com/
  4. ↑ "Why Dukes?". Official Athletic Site. Duquesne University. Retrieved 2007-10-15.
  5. ↑ "The Duquesne University Fight Song". Official Athletic Site. Duquesne University. Retrieved 2007-10-15.

External links