Athletics Overview
Since its founding as Kennesaw College in 1963, Kennesaw State University has seen significant growth, moving from a two-year college to a burgeoning four-year institution that includes nine colleges and boasts an enrollment of more than 33,000.
Along the way, intercollegiate athletics was introduced as part of the campus experience, and is now engrained in the University landscape. From its beginning in 1982, the Department of Athletics has grown from an NAIA program, to an NCAA Division II member to its current status as a Division I institution competing in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
The rise of the Department of Athletics parallels the growth of the University, and is currently in the midst of a rapid rise rarely seen in collegiate athletics. Kennesaw State University currently boasts 18 sports programs, including women’s lacrosse, which was introduced in November and set to begin its inaugural season in the spring of 2013.
The University and Department of Athletics reached another milestone on Feb. 14, 2013 when University President Dr. Dan Papp made the long-awaited announcement that Kennesaw State would start a football program and open its first season in 2015, and play home games at newly-named Fifth Third Bank Stadium.
Since his hiring as Director of Athletics in May of 2011, Vaughn Williams has quickly transformed and raised the standards of the Department of Athletics, while strengthening the relations with the KSU community, establishing a greater presence in the local communities and working toward moving Kennesaw State to the forefront of Division I intercollegiate athletics.
In two years, Williams has overseen a re-branding of the Department of Athletics that includes new athletics marks (introduced in June of 2012), a partnership with Adidas to be the official apparel provider of the Owls, the installation of a state-of-the-art video board in the KSU Convocation Center, and the recent additions of lacrosse and football.
Intercollegiate athletics was not a part of the Kennesaw State University experience until it was introduced in 1982 and sponsored nine sports. James “Spec” Landrum became the school’s first Director of Athletics.
Those pioneering sports included women’s basketball, men's golf, men’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, men's and women's tennis and men’s and women’s track and field. The “Golden Owls” as they were initially referred to, competed as independent during their initial year of athletic competition before joining the Georgia Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
It took two years for Kennesaw State University to produce its first All-American when Jennifer Turner was recognized for her accomplishments as a member of the women’s track and field team in 1985.
Golfer John Hough was honored as the first KSU male All-American athlete after winning KSU’s first-ever national championship in 1986. Hough captured the individual title while leading the Owls to a district championship and No. 10 national ranking.
Kennesaw State found national success again in 1994 when the baseball team won the NAIA National Championship under head coach Mike Sansing, marking the school’s first-ever team national title.
The victory sparked more success and a transition to NCAA Division II status and membership in the Peach Belt Conference in the fall of 1994. Over the span of the next three years, the Owls captured three more national titles. Softball won back-to-back national championships in 1995 and 1996, and baseball captured its first NCAA Division II championship in 1996.
Kennesaw State also experienced many great individual accomplishments, none more so than those by women’s track and field and cross country athlete Marjo Venalainen. Widely considered KSU’s greatest student-athlete, Vanalainen was a four-year letter winner for the Owls.
In 2002, Venalainen was named the NCAA Division II Cross Country Runner of the Year. A four-time national champion in cross country and track, Venalainen also was a four-time All-American in cross country and remains the only runner in Peach Belt Conference history to win three consecutive conference championships.
In just its second year of existence, the women’s soccer team captured the 2003 national championship, marking the Department of Athletics’ fifth NCAA Division II title. It was the first of two national titles won by the Owls during the 2003-04 athletics season as the men’s basketball team defeated Southern Indiana for its first national championship and the school’s sixth overall.
That success marked the end of one era and the beginning of another as Kennesaw State University transitioned to the Division I level and began competing as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference in the fall of 2005.
It did not take long for the Owls to become competitive at the Division I level as the women’s cross country team won the school’s first A-Sun team title in 2005. The following year, women’s soccer and softball would stamp their imprint in the A-Sun history books by winning conference titles in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Women’s soccer added conference crowns in 2008 and 2010.
Under the leadership of Stan Sims, the KSU track and field program quickly became a perennial contender in the A-Sun. During Sims’ tenure, cross-country teams captured 22 Peach Belt and Atlantic Sun Conference titles and posted five national Top 10 finishes. Sims coached 21 individuals who won conference titles, 16 All-Americans and four individual national champions.
The 2009 season was a memorable one for KSU freshman men’s golfer Matt Nagy as he qualified and competed in the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black. It also was a big year for the Owls baseball program as Chad Jenkins and Kyle Heckathorn were selected among the Top 50 in the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft. KSU was the only program in the country to have two players drafted in the Top 50.
During the last three years, the KSU men’s and women’s golf programs have elevated their stature. The men’s golf team has made three consecutive NCAA regional appearances, while the women claimed their first-ever A-Sun Conference championship and made its initial NCAA regional showing in 2012.
Academically, Kennesaw State student-athletes established a program record with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.10 for the 2011-12 academic year. A total of 19 athletes were named to conference all-academic teams and the women’s cross country team earned USTFCCCA Division I All-Academic status.
There were a number of notable accomplishments during the 2012-13 athletics season that was highlighted by Kennesaw State winning A-Sun Conferene titles in men's indoor track and field and men's outdoor track field championships. The men's golf team advanced to the NCAA Regionals for a third straight year, sophomore Andre Dorsey advanced to the NCAA National Championships in both indoor and outdoor track and field, and the women's 4x100 relay team made the program's first-ever championship appearance.
Seniors Ben Greene and Peder Lunde Hermansson became the first-ever KSU student-athletes to be named CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-Americans, earning second team recognition. Four Owl student-athletes were named A-Sun Conferene Player of the Year, while three were named Freshman of the Year and three were tabbed conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Additionally, six individuals earned All-American honors, 20 student-athletes were named to Academic All-Conference teams, 109 received A-Sun Conference All-Conference accolades, and 116 student-athletes earned conference all-academic honors.
In its comparatively brief intercollegiate history, Kennesaw State University has made a steady rise to become a competitive force at the Division I level and is looking toward a future of building champions in the classroom, community and fields of competition.
