Eastern Kentucky Colonels and Lady Colonels

Eastern Kentucky Colonels
University Eastern Kentucky University
Conference Ohio Valley Conference
NCAA Division I (FCS)
Athletic director Mark Sandy
Location Richmond, KY
Varsity teams 17
Football stadium Roy Kidd Stadium
Basketball arena Alumni Coliseum
Baseball stadium Turkey Hughes Field
Mascot The Colonel
Nickname Colonels and Lady Colonels
Fight song Rally Maroon and White & Hail, Hail Eastern Maroons
Colors
     Maroon       White
Website www.ekusports.com

EKU fields teams in 15 varsity sports (7 men's and 8 women's). The school is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference in Division I of the NCAA (FCS in football), having been a part of the conference since its inception in 1948.[1] The EKU Athletics Department is headed by Mark Sandy, who joined Eastern in 2005 from the University of Richmond.[2]

EKU's intercollegiate athletics teams are nicknamed the Colonels and Lady Colonels (for Women's Basketball only). Since the school's inception as Eastern Kentucky State Normal School, maroon has been the official color of Eastern athletics. Prior to 1963, when then-president Robert Martin had the school's nickname changed to the "Colonels", the school's official nickname was the "Maroons".[3]

Athletic teams

Roy Kidd Stadium, home to EKU Football

Eastern Kentucky University sponsors eight men's and nine women's teams in NCAA sanctioned sports:[4]

Men's Intercollegiate Sports

Women's Intercollegiate Sports

Football

Eastern has traditionally been quite successful on the football field, having won 20 OVC conference titles and two Division I-AA National Championships in 1979 and 1982. Much of the success came during the long tenure of head coach Roy Kidd from 1964 to 2002. In 1990, Eastern honored Kidd by naming the school's football stadium Roy Kidd Stadium.[5] With their win over Southeast Missouri State University in 2008, Eastern's football team secured their 31st consecutive winning season. The team is currently coached by Dean Hood, a former defensive coordinator for Wake Forest.

In September 2013, the Lexington Herald-Leader, the daily newspaper of nearby Lexington, reported that EKU was considering moving its program to the top-level Football Bowl Subdivision. However, under NCAA rules, such a move would require that EKU receive an all-sports invitation from an existing FBS conference.[6]

Conference championships

Year Conference Overall Record Conference Record Coach
1954 Ohio Valley 8–1–1 5–0 Glenn Presnell
1962 Ohio Valley 6–3 4–2 Glenn Presnell
1967 Ohio Valley 8–1–2 5–0–2 Roy Kidd
1968 Ohio Valley 8–2 7–0 Roy Kidd
1974 Ohio Valley 8–2 6–1 Roy Kidd
1976 Ohio Valley 8–3 6–1 Roy Kidd
1981 Ohio Valley 12–2 8–0 Roy Kidd
1982 Ohio Valley 13–0 7–0 Roy Kidd
1983 Ohio Valley 7–3–1 6–1 Roy Kidd
1984 Ohio Valley 8–4 6–1 Roy Kidd
1986 Ohio Valley 10–3–1 6–1 Roy Kidd
1987 Ohio Valley 9–3 5–1 Roy Kidd
1988 Ohio Valley 11–3 6–0 Roy Kidd
1990 Ohio Valley 10–2 5–1 Roy Kidd
1991 Ohio Valley 12–2 7–0 Roy Kidd
1993 Ohio Valley 8–4 8–0 Roy Kidd
1994 Ohio Valley 10–3 8–0 Roy Kidd
1997 Ohio Valley 8–4 7–0 Roy Kidd
2007 Ohio Valley 9–3 8–0 Danny Hope
2008 Ohio Valley 8–4 7–1 Dean Hood
Total 20

Men's basketball

The current head coach of the Colonels is Jeff Neubauer. Before coming to EKU, Neubauer was the assistant head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers basketball team. The Colonels have appeared in the NCAA Tournament seven times. The Colonels play their home basketball games at Alumni Coliseum, located on EKU's campus.

Men's golf

The men's golf team has won 11 Ohio Valley Conference championships: 1975, 1980, 1982–86, 1992, 1997, 2006, 2008.[7]

Rivalries

Historically, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers served as the primary rival to EKU, especially in Football. Their matchups; known as the "Battle of the Bluegrass" date back to 1914, with Western leading the overall series 34-47-3.[8] With WKU's recent move up to the Football Bowl Subdivision, any future games between the two teams are uncertain.

Outside of Western, EKU has maintained rivalries with its two other in-state OVC foes: Murray State and Morehead State.

Facilities

Facility Sport(s) Capacity
Roy Kidd Stadium Football 20,000
Alumni Coliseum Basketball 6,500
Gertrude Hood Field Softball n/a
Turkey Hughes Field Baseball n/a
Arlington Golf n/a
Greg Adams Indoor Tennis Center Tennis n/a
Tom Samuels Track Outdoor Track and Field n/a

Fight songs

Eastern Kentucky University is unusual as it recognizes two songs as their official fight songs. They are named Rally Maroon and White (a.k.a. Yea, Eastern) and Hail, Hail Eastern Maroons.

Rally Maroon and White

Lyrics
Yea Eastern let's win this fight,
Rally Maroon and White;
We've got the spirit; you've got the speed,
These two with grit are all that we need;
So carry and pass that ball;
Show them our boys beat all;
Show them we're right with main and might;
The way to win is fight, fight, fight.

Hail, Hail Eastern Maroons

Lyrics
Hail, Hail Eastern Maroons,
You're the pride of dear old Alma Mater.
Hail, Hail, Eastern Maroons,
For thee we'll give three rousting cheers.
Rah, rah, rah! Hail, Hail, Eastern Maroons,
Loyal to thee we stand,
Ever fight for the right,
We'll make our school the best in the land.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "OVCSports.com - OVC Member Institutions". ovcsports.com.
  2. ↑ "EKU Colonels - Staff Directory". ekusports.com.
  3. ↑ http://www.centennial.eku.edu/history/
  4. ↑ "Official Website of the Eastern Kentucky University Colonels". ekusports.com.
  5. ↑ "EKU Colonels - Facilities". ekusports.com.
  6. ↑ Story, Mark (September 14, 2013). "Mark Story: EKU is 'discussing' moving its football program up to the FBS". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  7. ↑ "EKU 2013–13 Men's Golf Guide" (PDF). Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  8. ↑ http://www.ekusports.com/documents/2008/7/28/08fbguide_history.pdf?id=351

External links