NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Women's Soccer
1987, 1990, 1993
Women's Basketball
1976 (AIAW Small College)
Men's Golf
1998
INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL CHAMPS
Michelle Abernathy
1999 Marathon
Caio Soares
2004 3,000 Meter Race-Walk
Nicole Wildes
2004 Women's Golf
Berry Athletics...
...HOME OF CHAMPIONS!
Sports The Way They Should Be
Berry College not only offers one of the nation’s finest liberal arts education programs in a beautiful 26,000-acre setting, but it features one of the best small-college athletic programs in the country. Berry competes for championships in 16 sports, providing its student-athletes with an opportunity to compete against some of the highest quality colleges in the nation.
Berry Student-Athletes: The Best On The Field…And In Their Field of Study
Since 1965, 223 Berry student-athletes have earned a total of 319 All-American honors on their respective fields of competition. That total does not include the 102 student-athletes who have combined to earn 150 NAIA All-America Scholar-Athlete honors. The college has placed hundreds more on various all-district, all-conference, all-region and all-tournament teams.
We Are The Champions
Berry has won three national championships in women’s soccer (1987, 1990 and 1993), one national title in women’s basketball (1976) and one national crown in men’s golf (1998). In addition, Berry student-athletes Michelle Abernathy (marathon, 1999), Caio Soares (3,000 meter race-walk, 2004) and Nicole Wildes (women’s golf, 2004) have all won individual national championships.
All-Around Success
Berry’s athletics department routinely places high in the United States Sports Academy Directors’ Cup all-sports standings, based on points awarded to colleges and universities representing how far into post-season competition an institution’s teams advance. In 1996, Berry placed fourth nationally in the NAIA Division of the Directors’ Cup, and the college has finished in the top 20 in eight of the past 13 years, including top-10 finishes in each year from 2003-06.
Excellent Leadership
Berry’s coaching staff was not left out when awards were presented last year. Brian Farrer was the region’s women’s golf coach of the year. In addition, Richard Vardy was named conference and Region Coach of the Year for men's soccer. Along with those two honorees, men’s basketball coach Jeff Haarlow, women’s soccer coach Lorenzo Canalis and tennis coach Clay Hightower have all been honored as the conference and/or region Coach of the Year at least once during their Berry careers. Todd Brooks was named the Southern States Athletic Conference’s Athletics Director of the Year in 2005.
Great Athletics Facilities
Berry enjoys some of the top playing facilities in the NAIA, giving you a great place to holler for your favorite Vikings and Lady Vikings teams. Starting with the brand-new Steven J. Cage Athletics and Recreation Center. The new facility, which houses both basketball and volleyball is one of the best facilities in the country at any level. The Cage Center also houses a natatorium that will host Berry's intercollegiate swimming events, when the team begins competition in 2009-10. The Cage also houses the athletic offices and the offices for the HPE and Kineseology departments.
In soccer the teams began using Ford Soccer Field in the mid-1980s, and in 1994 and 1995, the college used these fields to host the NAIA Women’s Soccer National Tournament. Since 1988, the baseball team has played its home games at William R. Bowdoin Field, located on the north end of the main campus, and extensive renovations in the past few years have made it one of the best fields in the nation. The tennis teams had new courts built next to the Roy Richards Memorial Gym in 1992, while the golf teams practice and compete at the Stonebridge municipal golf course adjacent to the north end of the college.
The Berry mountain campus offers a scenic, spacious area for the Viking cross country teams to train, and the college hosts several cross country and road races on campus each year. Ford Gym, closed its doors last season, but remains as an impressive example of English Gothic architecture. The gym and a complex of the castle-like Gothic buildings nearby were built with donations from Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ford in the 1920's.
A Quick History Of Our Winning Tradition
Baseball: Reinstated team after 12-year absence in 1988…ranked among nation’s top-10 teams three times in five year span from 1997-2001…44-13 and ranked second in nation in 1997…won at least 30 games in seven of last nine years. Men’s Basketball: Six 20-win seasons since 1996…won conference title and appeared in national tournament in 1992. Men’s Golf: 1998 national champions…four national runner-up finishes…top-10 at national tournament in 15 consecutive years. Women’s Golf: Became varsity sport in 2001-02 season and has played in national tournament in each of last four years, placing fifth in 2006…2005-08 regional champions…Nicole Wildes won 2004 national championship. Women’s Basketball: 1976 small college national champions (Berry’s first national championship)…eight NAIA national tournament appearances since 1980, including in 2006. Men’s and Women’s Running: Men’s and women’s cross country teams routinely advance each year to the national championships…runners that compete in both indoor and outdoor track are just as successful…since 1990, 38 runners have qualified as track, cross country, or academic All-Americans, and Michelle Abernathy (marathon, ‘99) and Caio Soares (3,000 meter race-walk, ‘04) have won national championships. Women’s Soccer: The winningest NAIA women’s soccer team in the nation…three national championships (1987, 1990, 1993)…advanced to national title match in 1986, its first year as a varsity team. Men’s Soccer: The NAIA’s second-winningest team with over 400 victories in 44 years…appeared in back-to-back national tournament semifinal matches in 2003 and 2004…has qualified for post-season in 27 straight seasons…25 straight non-losing seasons…16 district, region or conference titles. Men’s and Women’s Tennis: Both consistently ranked in the NAIA top 20 each year, and they both have sent players to the NAIA National Tournament every year since 1990…Berry has produced 28 tennis All-Americans in the last 11 years…the Southern States Athletic Conference is the best NAIA tennis conference in the nation.