The Saint Leo Lions are the athletic teams that represent

Saint Leo University Saint Leo University is a private Roman Catholic liberal arts university in St. Leo, Florida. It was established in 1889. The university is associated with the Holy Name Monastery, a Benedictine convent, and Saint Leo Abbey, a Benedictine mon ...

, located in St. Leo, Florida, in intercollegiate sports at the Division II level of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA). The Lions have primarily competed in the

Sunshine State Conference The Sunshine State Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. All of its member institutions are located in the state of Florida, which is popularly ...

since its founding in the 1975–76 academic year.

History

The Saint Leo Lions have won 27 Sunshine State Conference Championships and have had 106 NCAA Championship Appearances as of April 2020. Saint Leo has finished inside the top-80 out of 307 NCAA Division II institutions in the Learfield Directors' Cup in six straight years with two top-five finishes including second overall in 2015-16. The Lions have been the top SSC institutions in three years, 2014–15, 2015–16, and 2017–18. The Learfield Directors' Cup reflects the overall depth and strength of a university's athletics program based on NCAA Championship participation and advancement.

National Champions

1 Team: Men's Golf (2016) https://www.ncaa.com/history/golf-men/d2
3 Individuals: Hugo Bernard (2016, Men's Golf), Marie Coors (2017, Women's Golf), Henrik Dahrendorff (2019, Men's Swimming) Hugo Bernard became the first-ever national champion in the history of the university, team or individual, on May 19, 2016 when he won at the Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

.
The Saint Leo Men's Golf team became the first-ever team national champions when they claimed the team title on May 21, 2016 in

.
Marie Coors became the first-ever female to win a national title in school history on May 20, 2017 at the Findlay Country Club in

Findlay, Ohio Findlay ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Ohio, United States. The second-largest city in Northwest Ohio, Findlay lies about 40 miles (64 km) south of Toledo. The population was 40,313 at the 2020 census. It is home ...

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Henrik Dahrendorff became the first national champion in swimming program history on March 16, 2019 in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mar ...

Varsity teams

Facilities

Marion Bowman Activities Center

The Bowman Center arena has two full basketball and volleyball courts and can seat as many as 1,500 spectators for an event in cushioned, seat-back chairs. During the summer of 2012 the floor was completely replaced, resurfaced, and repainted. A new energy efficient lighting system was installed before the 2009-10 school year. The Activities Center houses four classrooms, eight locker rooms and the athletic department offices. In addition, the fitness center was refurbished over the summer of 2012 featuring the latest in work out equipment for both weight training and aerobics. This impressive and spacious training/weight facility is located in the former bowling alley in the lower level of the Activities Center.

Thomas B. Southard Stadium

Replacing Dade City Park in the 1970s as the Home of the Lions and named after the college's fifth president, the oldest outdoor facility on the Saint Leo campus is complemented by a major-league caliber lighting system installed in 1987, automatic sprinklers, drainage system, press box, and a wireless scoreboard with LED videoboard. The stadium was fitted with OAI-produced windscreens in 2009, and is widely accepted as one of the premier baseball complexes in the Sunshine State Conference.

References

External links

* {{Florida College Sports