Athletics

http://www.goashlandeagles.com

Athletic Director

Al King

Ashland University offers 24 intercollegiate sports – 12 for women, 11 for men, and 1 co-ed. The Eagles play in NCAA Division II, and in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

The 2020-21 academic year was another unique one in the rich history of Ashland University athletics. On August 12, 2020, the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference suspended all sports competition for the remainder of the calendar year due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

All 2020-21 winter sports would start later than usual, and 2020 fall sports would become 2021 spring sports.

Fall 2020 Postponed to Spring

Thanks to the pandemic, all Ashland 2020 fall sports either were moved to the spring of 2021, or canceled entirely. Men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball played GLIAC-only spring schedules, men’s and women’s golf and men’s and women’s tennis played spring-only championship slates, football practiced and had two controlled scrimmages in the spring, and men’s and women’s cross country did not compete.

Winter 2020-21 Highlights

By any measure, the 2020-21 winter season was one of the best in the history of the athletic department.

The Eagle men’s indoor track and field team won the 2021 NCAA Division II Championships, giving the men’s program its third consecutive national title (2019 indoor and outdoor nationals, 2020 was canceled due to the pandemic. Ashland’s men have won more consecutive D-II track and field national titles than anyone since Saint Augustine’s in 2013-14.

Following the season, senior Trevor Bassitt (National Men’s Track Athlete of the Year), head coach Jud Logan (National Men’s Coach of the Year), and associate head coach Ernie Clark (National Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year) all earned top U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) honors.

Ashland’s wrestling team finished seventh as Division II nationals, and boasted five All-Americans, led by sophomore Daniel Beemer’s third-place ending at 174 pounds.

The Eagle women’s basketball team turned an 8-7 beginning into an 8-2 finish, going 16-9 and finishing as runner-up in both the GLIAC and Midwest Regional tournaments.

Ashland’s men’s basketball team was 15-9, and also caught fire at the end of the season, running the table in the GLIAC Tournament for its first and only GLIAC championship. The Eagle men then won a game in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 30 years.

Ashland’s women’s indoor track and field team finished in a tie for 23rd nationally despite having just three nationals competitors.

The Eagle men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams finished sixth and seventh at the GLIAC Championships, respectively.

Spring 2021 Highlights

As of publication, the Eagle outdoor track and field teams were finding out who made NCAA Division II nationals. Bassitt was the men’s program’s first GLIAC Men’s Track Athlete of the Year.

Playing in the spring, Ashland’s men’s soccer team won the GLIAC Tournament for the second time in three seasons, and ended with its first winning record (6-4-0) since 2010.

The Eagle women’s soccer team finished 8-2-1 in a spring-only slate, and beat Grand Valley State 2-1 on the road – AU’s first win over the Lakers in 16 years.

Also as of publication, Ashland’s baseball team was 22-17 and preparing to play in the GLIAC Tournament for the final time.

History was made on April 17, 2021, when Ashland’s STUNT team made its debut, and won at Tiffin, 13-7. The Eagles had just one game in its inaugural season due to the pandemic.

The Eagle volleyball team played its spring season and finished at 9-8, which included a 4-0 beginning.

Ashland’s men’s (5-8) and women’s (4-9) tennis teams each reached the GLIAC Tournament, and both Eagle golf teams played at the GLIAC Championships.

Ashland’s young and injury-riddled softball team ended its season at 13-29.

The Eagle women’s lacrosse team was 1-12.

Ashland Joins Great Midwest Athletic Conference

The Great Midwest, established in 2011, consists of 12 private, non-profit member institutions and sponsors 23 conference championship sport offerings.

Current members of the Great Midwest are Current member institutions include Ashland University, Cedarville University (Cedarville, Ohio), University of Findlay (Findlay, Ohio), Hillsdale College (Hillsdale, Mich.), Kentucky Wesleyan College (Owensboro, Ky.), Lake Erie College (Painesville, Ohio), Malone University (Canton, Ohio), Ohio Dominican University (Columbus, Ohio), Tiffin University (Tiffin, Ohio), Trevecca Nazarene University (Nashville, Tenn.), Ursuline College (Pepper Pike, Ohio) and Walsh University (North Canton, Ohio).

Ashland officially joined the Great Midwest as a full member on July 1, 2021