The Mars Hill Lions are the athletic teams that represent
Mars Hill University
Mars Hill University is a private Christian liberal arts university in Mars Hill, North Carolina, United States. The university offers 35 undergraduate majors and includes a school of nursing and graduate schools in education, criminal justice ...
, located in
Mars Hill, North Carolina
Mars Hill is a town in Madison County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,007 at the 2020 census, up from 1,869 in 2010. It is the home of Mars Hill University. The town is in western North Carolina, north of Asheville, and is ...
, in
NCAA Division II
NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...
intercollegiate sports.
The Lions are full members of the
South Atlantic Conference
The South Atlantic Conference (SAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the southeastern United States. The SAC was founded in 1975 as ...
, home to 18 of its 21 athletics programs. The men's and women's swimming programs are members of the single-sport
Appalachian Swimming Conference
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is divided into three divisions based on athletic scholarship, scholarship allocation. Each division is made up of several athletic conference, conferences for regional league competition. Unless ...
, and the acrobatics and tumbling team is an associate member of
Conference Carolinas
Conference Carolinas, formerly known as the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) or the Carolinas Conference, is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ...
.
Mars Hill have been members of the SAC since its founding in 1975.
Varsity teams
List of teams
Men's sports (10)
* Baseball
* Basketball
* Cross Country
* Esports
* Football
* Golf
* Lacrosse
* Soccer
* Swimming
* Tennis
* Track and field
Women's sports (11)
* Acrobatics and tumbling
* Basketball
* Cross country
* Esports
* Golf
* Lacrosse
* Soccer
* Softball
* Swimming
* Tennis
* Track and field
* Volleyball
Individual teams
Cross country
The men's
cross country team have been highly successful over the last two decades; from 1997 to 2014 they won 18 straight conference championships; in 2016 they won their 19th conference championship. In 2014 the men's cross country team won the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional championship and advanced to the Division II national championship meet, and in 2015 they finished in second place in the Division II Southeast Regional championship and advanced to the Division II national meet. In June 2017, Nathan Jones, a member of the Mars Hill cross country team, won the South Atlantic Conference Man of the Year Award, and in 2018 Mars Hill baseball player Zac Brown won the SAC Man of the Year Award.
Football
In December 2011, Mars Hill running back
Jonas Randolph
Jonas Randolph (born December 1, 1990) is a former American football player who won the Harlon Hill Trophy in December 2011.
Early life
Randolph graduated from Daleville High School in Daleville, Alabama. At Daleville, Randolph won all-state h ...
won the prestigious
Harlon Hill Trophy
The Harlon Hill Trophy is an award in American college football given to the individual selected as the most valuable player in NCAA Division II. The award is named for former University of North Alabama and National Football League player Harl ...
, which is given annually to the
most valuable player
In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...
in NCAA Division II football.
Club sports
Cycling
In May 2011 the
cycling
Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...
team won the USA Cycling Collegiate Division II national championship. In 2012 they finished in second place nationally, and in May 2015 the Mars Hill cycling team finished the season ranked in first place nationally among Division II teams.
Weightlifting
In March 2025 the Mars Hill Women's Weightlifting Team won the USA Weightlifting Women's National Championship. They scored 230 points, over 45 points more than the second-place finishers, the University of Florida and Lindenwood University. The 45-point differential was the largest point difference by a female team in USA Weightlifting championship history. In the coed division, Mars Hill lost the national title by a single point, to Lindenwood University.
[(https://www.marshilllions.com/sports/weight/2024-25/releases/20250304jsz6wb)]
References
External links
*
{{navboxes
, titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle, Mars Hill Lions, color=white
, list =
{{South Atlantic Conference navbox
{{Conference Carolinas navbox
{{College sports in North Carolina, state=collapsed
{{North Carolina Sports