Campbell Fighting Camels
Encyclopedia
The Campbell University
Fighting Camels and Lady Camels are the nicknames of the school's 18 teams that compete at the Division I level of the NCAA
.
. However the University fields teams as associate members of other conferences for sports the Big South doesn't sponsor. Campbell is an associate member of the Southern Conference
for wrestling. The women’s swimming team was formerly an associate member of the Northeast Conference
until 2007 when Campbell became a charter member of the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association along with 11 other women's swimming programs as well as six men's swimming teams. Campbell does not currently field a men's swimming team. The Fighting Camels football team began play in 2008 and is a member of the Pioneer Football League
.
Campbell University became a four-year college in 1961 and began competing athletically in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
(NAIA
). In 1977, the Fighting Camels program joined the NCAA
Division I level. Campbell was a charter member of the Big South Conference
in 1983, before leaving to join the Trans-America Athletic Conference, which is now the Atlantic Sun Conference
, in 1994. Campbell returned to the Big South on July 1, 2011 and competes in all sports, except for football, wrestling, and women's swimming.
which opened in 2008 and replaced Carter Gymnasium
. Campbell's only conference championship at the Division I level occurred in 1992 when the Fighting Camels won the Big South Conference
tournament held that year at the Civic Center of Anderson
in Anderson, S.C.
. This win placed Campbell in the 1992 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
and 1992 is still the school's only NCAA appearance. The 16th seeded Fighting Camels were defeated by the top-seeded Duke Blue Devils
in Greensboro, N.C.
82-56.
tournament in 1989 defeating Radford University
58-53 in Radford, Va.
. Campbell also won the 2000 Atlantic Sun Conference
championship, held in Pelham, Ala.
by defeating Georgia State University
66-49, which earned the Lady Camels a 15th seed in the 2000 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship
East Regional. However, Campbell lost in the opening round to the 2nd seeded Duke Blue Devils
at Cameron Indoor Stadium
in Durham, N.C.
. The Lady Camels have been coached by Wanda Watkins for 32 years, making her one of the longest tenured active head coaches in college sports.
. Campbell won the Big South Conference
titles in 1988 and 1990. The last appearance by the Fighting Camels in the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament was also in 1990 when the team played in the West Regional at Stanford, California
. Former Major League Baseball
pitcher Jim Perry
played college ball for the Fighting Camels from 1955 to 1956. Jim's hall of fame brother, Gaylord, also went to Campbell from 1958 to 1960 but didn't play baseball. Karl Herrmann played for the Camels in the 1982-83 season then latter went on to the NY Mets farm club. The Fighting Camels are now coached by Greg Goff.
team is an associate member of the Southern Conference
. Wrestling
was founded at Campbell in 1968 under the guidance of Gerald Brown. There has been nine different coaches that directed the Camels over the past 40 years. The most notable coach would have to be Dave Auble. Auble (1999–2004) was a former U.S. Olympic wrestling coach. The most successful coach was Jerry Hartman. Hartman (1981–1988) had a record of 80-39 in his career as a head coach. The team is currently coached by Joe Boardwine.
Division I FCS non-scholarship level. Campbell accepted an invitation to the Pioneer Football League
and competes in PFL conference play. Dale Steele
is the current head coach. In the 2008-09 season, the team had a 1-10 record.
The team has had some successful athletes and has had three athletes earn NCAA Division I All-America status:
Along with the above athletes, more have qualified for the Division I national championships:
after a fire had destroyed the three then existing school buildings in 1900 and said, "Your name's Campbell; then get a hump on you! We've got work to do."
Fight, team on down the field
Fight with your might till victory is ours
Long may your colors wave o'er all others
Sing it to the tune of Hoorah for orange and black,
So Cheer, Cheer for old C.U.
Cheer for the Varsity
For it's Hail, Hail, the gang's all here
As we march on to victory.
The tune is sung to Arizona State University
's song, Maroon and Gold
.
Campbell University
Campbell University is a coeducational, church-related university in rural North Carolina, USA. Its main campus is located in the community of Buies Creek; its law school moved from Buies Creek to a new campus in the state capital of Raleigh in 2009. Campbell has an approximately equal number of...
Fighting Camels and Lady Camels are the nicknames of the school's 18 teams that compete at the Division I level of the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
.
Sports teams
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Conference history
The Fighting Camels and Lady Camels are full members of the Big South ConferenceBig South Conference
The Big South Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. The conference's football teams are part of the Football Championship Subdivision...
. However the University fields teams as associate members of other conferences for sports the Big South doesn't sponsor. Campbell is an associate member of the Southern Conference
Southern Conference
The Southern Conference is a Division I college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision . Member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North...
for wrestling. The women’s swimming team was formerly an associate member of the Northeast Conference
Northeast Conference
The Northeast Conference is a college athletic conference whose schools are members of the NCAA. The NCAA designates the Northeast Conference to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision for Division I Men's Football and to Division I Sports for all other sports.Founded in 1981 as the ECAC-Metro...
until 2007 when Campbell became a charter member of the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association along with 11 other women's swimming programs as well as six men's swimming teams. Campbell does not currently field a men's swimming team. The Fighting Camels football team began play in 2008 and is a member of the Pioneer Football League
Pioneer Football League
The Pioneer Football League is a college athletic conference which operates in the East, Midwest, and California of the United States. It has member schools that range from New York, North Carolina, and Florida in the east to California in the west. The conference participates in the NCAA's...
.
Campbell University became a four-year college in 1961 and began competing athletically in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...
(NAIA
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...
). In 1977, the Fighting Camels program joined the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division I level. Campbell was a charter member of the Big South Conference
Big South Conference
The Big South Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. The conference's football teams are part of the Football Championship Subdivision...
in 1983, before leaving to join the Trans-America Athletic Conference, which is now the Atlantic Sun Conference
Atlantic Sun Conference
The Atlantic Sun Conference is a college athletic conference operating in the Southeastern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I; it does not sponsor football. The conference was established in 1978 as the Trans America Athletic Conference...
, in 1994. Campbell returned to the Big South on July 1, 2011 and competes in all sports, except for football, wrestling, and women's swimming.
Men's basketball
Campbell's basketball teams play their home games in the newly constructed, 3,100-seat John W. Pope, Jr. Convocation CenterJohn W. Pope, Jr. Convocation Center
The John W. Pope, Jr. Convocation Center is a multi-purpose arena in Buies Creek, North Carolina. The arena is located on the campus of Campbell University and hosts the university's basketball, volleyball, and wrestling programs. The John W. Pope, Jr...
which opened in 2008 and replaced Carter Gymnasium
Carter Gymnasium
Carter Gymnasium is a 947-seat multi-purpose arena in Buies Creek, North Carolina. It was previously home to the Campbell University Fighting Camels men's basketball and women's basketball teams...
. Campbell's only conference championship at the Division I level occurred in 1992 when the Fighting Camels won the Big South Conference
Big South Conference
The Big South Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. The conference's football teams are part of the Football Championship Subdivision...
tournament held that year at the Civic Center of Anderson
Civic Center of Anderson
The Civic Center of Anderson is part of a larger entertainment complex in Anderson, South Carolina, that also features baseball and soccer fields, tennis courts, an amphitheatre, a playground, and conference center. Together, the facility is known as the Anderson Sports and Entertainment Center...
in Anderson, S.C.
Anderson, South Carolina
Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Anderson County, South Carolina, United States. The population was estimated at 26,242 in 2006, and the city was the center of an urbanized area of 70,530...
. This win placed Campbell in the 1992 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
1992 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1992 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 19, 1992, and ended with the championship game on April 6 in Minneapolis, Minnesota...
and 1992 is still the school's only NCAA appearance. The 16th seeded Fighting Camels were defeated by the top-seeded Duke Blue Devils
Duke Blue Devils
Duke University's 26 varsity sports teams, known as the Blue Devils, compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The name comes from the French "les Diables Bleus" or "the Blue Devils," which was the nickname given during World War I to the Chasseurs Alpins, the French Alpine light infantry...
in Greensboro, N.C.
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
82-56.
Women's basketball
The Lady Camels have two conference championship seasons. Campbell won the Big South ConferenceBig South Conference
The Big South Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. The conference's football teams are part of the Football Championship Subdivision...
tournament in 1989 defeating Radford University
Radford University
Radford University is one of Virginia's eight doctoral-degree granting public universities. Originally founded in 1910, Radford offers comprehensive curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, and graduate programs including the M.F.A., M.B.A...
58-53 in Radford, Va.
Radford, Virginia
Radford is a city in Virginia, United States. The population was 16,408 in 2010. For statistical purposes, the Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Radford with neighboring Montgomery County, including the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg, calling the combination the...
. Campbell also won the 2000 Atlantic Sun Conference
Atlantic Sun Conference
The Atlantic Sun Conference is a college athletic conference operating in the Southeastern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I; it does not sponsor football. The conference was established in 1978 as the Trans America Athletic Conference...
championship, held in Pelham, Ala.
Pelham, Alabama
Pelham is a city and suburb of Birmingham in Shelby County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 14,369, but has grown to 21,352 recorded by the 2010 census. It was named for famed Confederate American Civil War officer John Pelham...
by defeating Georgia State University
Georgia State University
Georgia State University is a research university in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Founded in 1913, it serves about 30,000 students and is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities...
66-49, which earned the Lady Camels a 15th seed in the 2000 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship
NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Women's Division I Championship is an annual college basketball tournament for women. Held each April, the Women's Championship was inaugurated in the 1981–82 season...
East Regional. However, Campbell lost in the opening round to the 2nd seeded Duke Blue Devils
Duke Blue Devils
Duke University's 26 varsity sports teams, known as the Blue Devils, compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The name comes from the French "les Diables Bleus" or "the Blue Devils," which was the nickname given during World War I to the Chasseurs Alpins, the French Alpine light infantry...
at Cameron Indoor Stadium
Cameron Indoor Stadium
Cameron Indoor Stadium is an indoor arena located on the West Campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. It is home to the Duke Blue Devils men's and women's basketball teams, the women's volleyball team, and the men's wrestling team....
in Durham, N.C.
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
. The Lady Camels have been coached by Wanda Watkins for 32 years, making her one of the longest tenured active head coaches in college sports.
Baseball
The Fighting Camels baseball team plays its home games at the on-campus Taylor FieldTaylor Field (Campbell University)
Taylor Field is a baseball stadium in Buies Creek, North Carolina. It is the home field of the Campbell University Fighting Camels college baseball team. The field dates back to the 1940s and Campbell's junior college baseball days. Taylor Field was named for Herbert B...
. Campbell won the Big South Conference
Big South Conference
The Big South Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. The conference's football teams are part of the Football Championship Subdivision...
titles in 1988 and 1990. The last appearance by the Fighting Camels in the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament was also in 1990 when the team played in the West Regional at Stanford, California
Stanford, California
Stanford is a census-designated place in Santa Clara County, California, United States and is the home of Stanford University. The population was 13,809 at the 2010 census....
. Former Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
pitcher Jim Perry
Jim Perry (baseball)
James Evan Perry, Jr. is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched for 1959-1975 for four different teams. During a 17-year baseball career, Perry compiled 215 wins, 1,576 strikeouts, and a 3.45 earned run average....
played college ball for the Fighting Camels from 1955 to 1956. Jim's hall of fame brother, Gaylord, also went to Campbell from 1958 to 1960 but didn't play baseball. Karl Herrmann played for the Camels in the 1982-83 season then latter went on to the NY Mets farm club. The Fighting Camels are now coached by Greg Goff.
Men's wrestling
The Fighting Camels wrestlingCampbell Fighting Camels wrestling
The Campbell Fighting Camels wrestling team represents Campbell University of Buies Creek, North Carolina. The squad is coached by Joe Boardwine. Boardwine has been the coach of the Camels since 2010. Boardwine is also the National Wrestling Director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes...
team is an associate member of the Southern Conference
Southern Conference
The Southern Conference is a Division I college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision . Member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North...
. Wrestling
Collegiate wrestling
Collegiate wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the collegiate and university level in the United States. Collegiate wrestling emerged from the folk wrestling styles practised in the early history of the United States...
was founded at Campbell in 1968 under the guidance of Gerald Brown. There has been nine different coaches that directed the Camels over the past 40 years. The most notable coach would have to be Dave Auble. Auble (1999–2004) was a former U.S. Olympic wrestling coach. The most successful coach was Jerry Hartman. Hartman (1981–1988) had a record of 80-39 in his career as a head coach. The team is currently coached by Joe Boardwine.
Football
Campbell announced in April 2006 that the university would be restarting its football program for 2008. The Fighting Camels compete at the NCAANational Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division I FCS non-scholarship level. Campbell accepted an invitation to the Pioneer Football League
Pioneer Football League
The Pioneer Football League is a college athletic conference which operates in the East, Midwest, and California of the United States. It has member schools that range from New York, North Carolina, and Florida in the east to California in the west. The conference participates in the NCAA's...
and competes in PFL conference play. Dale Steele
Dale Steele
-External links:* *...
is the current head coach. In the 2008-09 season, the team had a 1-10 record.
Track and field
The Fighting Camels track team is in the middle of having a new track facility constructed.The team has had some successful athletes and has had three athletes earn NCAA Division I All-America status:
- Orville Peterson-decathlon (1980)
- Ernie White-decathlon
- Eric Bergemann-indoor high jump (2003)
Along with the above athletes, more have qualified for the Division I national championships:
- Heather Lee-cross country, 5000m (2007)
- Alicia Valtin-3000m Steeplechase (2007)
- Sam Tilly-outdoor long jump (2007,2008)
- Adoniss Jones-110m high hurdles (2010)
Mascot
Before 1934 Campbell's athletic teams were known as the "Hornets." Other early known nicknames for the program were simply reflective of the school name, like "Campbells" or "Campbellites." The origin of the name "Fighting Camels" is popularly believed to be derived from a statement by early school patron Zachary Taylor Kivett, who approached school founder James Archibald CampbellJames Archibald Campbell
James Archibald Campbell founded Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina in 1887. Campbell was the father of Dr. Leslie Campbell, who would succeed him as president of Campbell College and Arthur Carlyle Campbell, who would become president of Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina...
after a fire had destroyed the three then existing school buildings in 1900 and said, "Your name's Campbell; then get a hump on you! We've got work to do."
Fight song
The lyrics to Campbell's fight song (titled, "The Campbell University Fight Song") are:Fight, team on down the field
Fight with your might till victory is ours
Long may your colors wave o'er all others
Sing it to the tune of Hoorah for orange and black,
So Cheer, Cheer for old C.U.
Cheer for the Varsity
For it's Hail, Hail, the gang's all here
As we march on to victory.
The tune is sung to Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
's song, Maroon and Gold
Maroon and Gold
"Maroon & Gold" is the official fight song of Arizona State University. It was composed by former Director of Sun Devil Marching Band, Felix E. McKernan, in 1948.-Alma mater:...
.