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| Denver Pioneers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| University | University of Denver |
| Conference | The Summit League (primary) Big 12 (gymnastics) Big East (lacrosse) NCHC (ice hockey) RMISA (skiing) |
| NCAA | Division I |
| Athletic director | Josh Berlo (June 2022) |
| Location | Denver, Colorado |
| Varsity teams | 18 |
| Basketball arena | Hamilton Gymnasium |
| Ice hockey arena | Magness Arena |
| Soccer stadium | CIBER Field at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium |
| Lacrosse stadium | Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium |
| Nickname | Pioneers |
| Fight song | "D-Rah/Fairest of Colleges" (Dororthy Hickey, 1916) |
| Colors | Crimson and gold[1] |
| Website | denverpioneers |
The Denver Pioneers are the sports teams of the University of Denver (DU). They play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, and have amassed 35 NCAA titles as of 2024, which is in the top 15 among all schools (24 in Skiing, 10 in men's ice hockey and 1 in men's lacrosse). Denver is a member of The Summit League for men's and women's basketball, swimming and diving, men's and women's soccer, tennis and golf for both men and women, plus women's volleyball. Other DU teams play in various conferences in the sports that are not sponsored by The Summit. The men's ice hockey team is a charter member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC),[2] which formed in 2011 with play beginning in 2013. The lacrosse teams for men and women are members of the Big East Conference; the men began Big East play in the 2013–14 school year (2014 season), while the women left the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) after the 2016 lacrosse season.[3] Men's and women's skiing compete in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association, while the women's gymnastics team became an affiliate of the Big 12 Conference starting with the 2015–16 season.
The university has been fielding athletic teams since 1867. DU's athletic teams are known as the Pioneers. In the early years of competition from the 1860s to the early 1920s, Denver had no official nickname, but sportswriters of the day referred to Denver teams as the "Ministers" or "Fighting Parsons" in homage to the Methodist heritage of the school. Denver officially became the "Pioneers" in 1925, after the result of a student nickname contest, and that nickname has been in place ever since.
Today, DU operates a full NCAA Division I athletic program with a mix of sports in and around the $85 million Daniel Ritchie Center for Sports and Wellness, which was completed in 2000. In 2017, Denver finished #4 in the men's Division I Capital One Cup rankings, the highest finish in school history, and has also won the Learfield Cup in nine of the past 10 seasons, emblematic of the top non-football Division I athletic department in the nation.
- ^ Colors | University of Denver. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
- ^ "New college hockey conference formed". ESPN.com. Associated Press. July 13, 2011. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
- ^ "Denver Added To BIG EAST Women's Lacrosse Lineup" (Press release). Big East Conference. May 3, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2016.