Limestone College
Encyclopedia
Limestone College is a private
four-year, coeducational liberal-arts college
located in Gaffney, South Carolina
. Limestone College is a Christian non-denominational college. Its programs lead to the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Social Work, Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degree.
Limestone was established in 1845 by Dr. Thomas Curtis and his son, Dr. William Curtis, distinguished scholars born and educated in England. Limestone was the first women's college in South Carolina
, and one of the first in the nation. Ten buildings on the campus, as well as the Limestone Springs and Limestone Quarry itself, are on the National Register of Historic Places
. In the 1960s, Limestone became fully coeducational, and today student enrollment is about 55:45 male:female. It is the third oldest college in South Carolina.
The college has expanded with branch campuses in Yemassee, SC; Greer, SC; Charleston, SC; Kingstree, SC; Graniteville, SC; Florence, SC; and Columbia, SC that offer evening classes.
, etc. in the day campus program.
As of 2008-2009, 56% of living alumni graduated from Extended Campus programs while the college itself has the largest undergraduate enrollment of any private accredited college in SC, at 3,273 (Fall 2009).
Colors: Blue and Gold
Affiliation: NCAA Division II
Conference Carolinas: Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Track & Field, Volleyball
Bluegrass Mountain Conference: Swimming
Independent: Field Hockey, Wrestling
Limestone plays sports in the 12-school Conference Carolinas
, offering competitive opportunities at the NCAA Division II level for men in soccer, basketball, baseball, wrestling, lacrosse, golf, cross country, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball and for women in golf, volleyball, basketball
, softball
, tennis
, soccer, swimming
, cross country, lacrosse
, track and field, and field hockey. Limestone has an indoor Olympic-size pool for swim team and recreational use, along with a newly constructed (2005) campus Physical Education facility containing modern classrooms, offices, locker rooms, Athletic Training Education facilities for the school's fully accredited Athletic Training program, a state of the art fitness center, and a wrestling practice facility.
Until 1997, Limestone competed for championships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Limestone gained membership in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Division II in 1991 and began competing for NCAA championships when it joined the Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference in 1998. Today, 17 of Limestone’s athletic teams compete in the Conference Carolinas, while both swimming teams are affiliated with the Bluegrass Mountain Conference and wrestling competes as an independent.
Limestone helped pave the way for collegiate lacrosse, swimming. and field hockey in the South. The Saints fielded South Carolina’s first collegiate lacrosse team in 1990. The swimming teams are the only NCAA Division II swimming programs in South Carolina and among the few in the two Carolinas. The Saints' field hockey program is southernmost field hockey team in the United States and the only collegiate squad in the state.
Over the years, the Saints baseball, men’s basketball, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s lacrosse, softball, men’s soccer, and men’s and women’s tennis teams have all been ranked on the national level. Twelve student-athletes have gone on to play professionally in their sport, with seven of those signing professional baseball contracts. The Saints baseball program was started by two-time Cy Young Award winner Gaylord Perry, a member of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Additionally, Saints athletes have earned All-American honors on over 100 occasions and over a dozen have been named Academic All-Americans.
The Limestone men's soccer program is one of the fastest developing programs in college soccer. In 2001, against Southern Wesleyan University
, a Limestone College soccer player set the NCAA record for the fastest goal in NCAA history, just under 5 seconds.
Limestone has been labeled a powerhouse in Men's Lacrosse and has won two National Championship titles (2000 & 2002). The Saints have also compiled eleven Conference Championship titles in (1994, 1999-2007, & 2009). With its 2000 national title, Limestone College became the smallest coeducational institution to ever win an NCAA National Championship.
The Women's Lacrosse program has made appearanes in six NCAA Division II National Tournaments (2004, 2006, & 2008-2011), reaching the NCAA DII National Championship in 2011. They have accumulated eight Conference Carolina's regular season championships (2004-2011), five conference tournament championships (2006, 2008-2011), and produced over twenty IWCLA All-Americans. Current Head Coach, Scott Tucker, was named NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Coach of the Year in 2006 and recently was an assistant coach to Team Canada in the Women's Lacrosse U-19 World Cup which was held in Germany in August 2011. The Lady Saints have an overall record of 148-59. They are the southern-most collegiate Women's Lacrosse program to make an appearance in a national tournament.
NAIA National Championships
NCAA Division II National Championships
Regular Season Conference Championships (since 1998)
Conference Tournament Titles
Private university
Private universities are universities not operated by governments, although many receive public subsidies, especially in the form of tax breaks and public student loans and grants. Depending on their location, private universities may be subject to government regulation. Private universities are...
four-year, coeducational liberal-arts college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
located in Gaffney, South Carolina
Gaffney, South Carolina
Gaffney is a city in and the county seat of Cherokee County, South Carolina, United States, in the upstate region of South Carolina. Gaffney is also sometimes referred to as the Peach capital of South Carolina. The population was 12,414 at the 2010 census...
. Limestone College is a Christian non-denominational college. Its programs lead to the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Social Work, Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degree.
Limestone was established in 1845 by Dr. Thomas Curtis and his son, Dr. William Curtis, distinguished scholars born and educated in England. Limestone was the first women's college in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, and one of the first in the nation. Ten buildings on the campus, as well as the Limestone Springs and Limestone Quarry itself, are on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. In the 1960s, Limestone became fully coeducational, and today student enrollment is about 55:45 male:female. It is the third oldest college in South Carolina.
The college has expanded with branch campuses in Yemassee, SC; Greer, SC; Charleston, SC; Kingstree, SC; Graniteville, SC; Florence, SC; and Columbia, SC that offer evening classes.
Student body
Limestone enrolls approximately 825 traditional day students. However, its total student population of over 3500, including evening and distance learning students in its innovative Extended Campus program, makes it the largest private accredited institution in the state of South Carolina. The university primarily serves students from South Carolina and the Eastern seaboard, with an increasing number of students from all over the world in its day and Extended Campus programs.Academics
81% of the faculty at Limestone hold the terminal degree in their field, and the student/faculty ratio is a very low 12:1. Limestone offers students 38 majors in four different divisions of study: Arts and Letters, Natural Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Professional Studies. An innovative and comprehensive Program for Alternative Learning Styles (PALS) serves a growing number of college age students with specific learning disabilities (LD) such as AD/HD, dyslexiaDyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
, etc. in the day campus program.
As of 2008-2009, 56% of living alumni graduated from Extended Campus programs while the college itself has the largest undergraduate enrollment of any private accredited college in SC, at 3,273 (Fall 2009).
Athletics
Nickname: SaintsColors: Blue and Gold
Affiliation: NCAA Division II
Conference Carolinas: Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Track & Field, Volleyball
Bluegrass Mountain Conference: Swimming
Independent: Field Hockey, Wrestling
Limestone plays sports in the 12-school Conference Carolinas
Conference Carolinas
Conference Carolinas, formerly known as the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference , is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA’s Division II. Conference Carolinas reached its modern incarnation in 1994. Member institutions are located in the southeastern United States in...
, offering competitive opportunities at the NCAA Division II level for men in soccer, basketball, baseball, wrestling, lacrosse, golf, cross country, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball and for women in golf, volleyball, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, soccer, swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
, cross country, lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
, track and field, and field hockey. Limestone has an indoor Olympic-size pool for swim team and recreational use, along with a newly constructed (2005) campus Physical Education facility containing modern classrooms, offices, locker rooms, Athletic Training Education facilities for the school's fully accredited Athletic Training program, a state of the art fitness center, and a wrestling practice facility.
Until 1997, Limestone competed for championships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Limestone gained membership in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Division II in 1991 and began competing for NCAA championships when it joined the Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference in 1998. Today, 17 of Limestone’s athletic teams compete in the Conference Carolinas, while both swimming teams are affiliated with the Bluegrass Mountain Conference and wrestling competes as an independent.
Limestone helped pave the way for collegiate lacrosse, swimming. and field hockey in the South. The Saints fielded South Carolina’s first collegiate lacrosse team in 1990. The swimming teams are the only NCAA Division II swimming programs in South Carolina and among the few in the two Carolinas. The Saints' field hockey program is southernmost field hockey team in the United States and the only collegiate squad in the state.
Over the years, the Saints baseball, men’s basketball, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s lacrosse, softball, men’s soccer, and men’s and women’s tennis teams have all been ranked on the national level. Twelve student-athletes have gone on to play professionally in their sport, with seven of those signing professional baseball contracts. The Saints baseball program was started by two-time Cy Young Award winner Gaylord Perry, a member of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Additionally, Saints athletes have earned All-American honors on over 100 occasions and over a dozen have been named Academic All-Americans.
The Limestone men's soccer program is one of the fastest developing programs in college soccer. In 2001, against Southern Wesleyan University
Southern Wesleyan University
Southern Wesleyan University is a four-year and graduate Christian college, with its main campus in the town of Central, South Carolina. The university was founded in 1906 by what is now the Wesleyan Church....
, a Limestone College soccer player set the NCAA record for the fastest goal in NCAA history, just under 5 seconds.
Limestone has been labeled a powerhouse in Men's Lacrosse and has won two National Championship titles (2000 & 2002). The Saints have also compiled eleven Conference Championship titles in (1994, 1999-2007, & 2009). With its 2000 national title, Limestone College became the smallest coeducational institution to ever win an NCAA National Championship.
The Women's Lacrosse program has made appearanes in six NCAA Division II National Tournaments (2004, 2006, & 2008-2011), reaching the NCAA DII National Championship in 2011. They have accumulated eight Conference Carolina's regular season championships (2004-2011), five conference tournament championships (2006, 2008-2011), and produced over twenty IWCLA All-Americans. Current Head Coach, Scott Tucker, was named NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Coach of the Year in 2006 and recently was an assistant coach to Team Canada in the Women's Lacrosse U-19 World Cup which was held in Germany in August 2011. The Lady Saints have an overall record of 148-59. They are the southern-most collegiate Women's Lacrosse program to make an appearance in a national tournament.
NAIA National Championships
- Men's Golf (1984)
- Men's Golf Individual Medalist (1984)
NCAA Division II National Championships
- Men’s Lacrosse (2000, 2002)
- Wrestling-184 lbs. Individual Title (2008)
- Men’s Swimming-200-yard Freestyle Relay (2008 & 2009)
- Men's Swimming-50-yard freestyle Individual Title (2009)
Regular Season Conference Championships (since 1998)
- Baseball (2005)
- Women’s Lacrosse (2004-2011)
- Men’s Lacrosse (2007-2011)
- Softball (2009-2011)
- Volleyball (2006)
Conference Tournament Titles
- Men’s Lacrosse (1994, 2000-2007, 2009-11)
- Women’s Lacrosse (2006, 2008-11)
- Men’s Soccer (2006)
- Women's Track & Field (2009)
- Men's Basketball (2011)
Clubs & Organizations
There are over twenty student clubs and organizations at Limestone College ranging in academics, religious, leadership, musical, theatre, and special interest affiliations. Students also contribute to The Calciid, the Limestone College yearbook, and The Candelabra, the student literary magazine of poems, essays, short stories, and art. LC also offers an ROTC program for students interested in serving in the military or reserves.Notable alumni
- Gaylord PerryGaylord PerryGaylord Jackson Perry is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He pitched from 1962-1983 for eight different teams in his career. During a 22-year baseball career, Perry compiled 314 wins, 3,534 strikeouts, and a 3.11 earned run average...
, Professional Baseball Player - Bob PeelerBob PeelerBob Peeler served as Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina from January 1995 to January 2003. He was defeated in the Republican gubernatorial primary by former Congressman Mark Sanford. He currently serves on the Clemson University Board of Trustees. Peeler, a 1991 graduate of the school, was...
, '74, former Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina - Travis GillespieTravis GillespieTravis Gillespie is a lacrosse player for the Washington Stealth of the National Lacrosse League....
, '02, Professional Lacrosse Player, Washington StealthWashington StealthThe Washington Stealth are a member of the National Lacrosse League, the professional box lacrosse league of North America. Based in Everett , the Stealth began play in the 2010 NLL season, with home games played at the 8,513-seat Comcast Arena at Everett.The team was previously known as the... - Kevin PucetasKevin PucetasKevin Randall Pucetas is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball. He currently plays for the Omaha Storm Chasers, the Royals Triple-A affiliate....
, '06, Professional Baseball Player, Kansas City RoyalsKansas City RoyalsThe Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From 1973 to the present, the Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium...