The Denver Pioneers are the sports teams of the University of Denver (DU). They play the in the NCAA Division I. 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. The Summit League includes DU, North Dakota, North Dakota State, Omaha, Oral Roberts, Purdue Fort Wayne, South Dakota, South Dakota State, and Western Illinois (The Summit League, 2019). The men's ice hockey team is a charter member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC), which includes DU, Colorado College, Miami, Minnesota Duluth, Omaha, North Dakota, St. Cloud State, and Western Michigan (NCHC, 2019). The men's and women's lacrosse teams are members of the Big East Conference, along with Butler, Georgetown, Villanova, Providence, Marquette, and St. John's (Big East Conference, 2019). Men's and women's skiing compete in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association, competing against University of Colorado, Montana State, University of New Mexico, University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Colorado Mountain College, University of Utah, Westminster College, and University of Wyoming (RMISA, 2019). And finally, the women's gymnastics team became an affiliate of the Big 12 Conference starting with the 2015-16 season.
Facilities at DU Athletics include the Magness Arena (hockey and gymnastics), Hamilton Gym (basketball and volleyball), Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium, University of Denver Soccer Stadium, El Pomar Natatorium (swimming), and the Denver Tennis Park. All of these are housed within or around the Ritchie Center, a 440,000 square-foot, $84 million facility (University of Denver Athletics, 2019).
With over 200 All Americans, 33 NCAA Championships, and 61 Olympians in its history, there is a long tradition of excellence in Pioneer sports. Today, DU operates a full NCAA Division I athletic program with a unique and successful mix of sports in and around the 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 departments in the nation (University of Denver, 2019).
References: NCHS. (2019). Teams. Retrieved from https://www.nchchockey.com/ RMISA. (2019). Schools. Retrieved from http://www.rmisaskiing.com/schools.php The Big East Conference. (2019). Member Schools. Retrieved from https://www.bigeast.com/sports/2015/6/30/Member_Schools.aspx? The Summit League. (2019). Schools. Retrieved from http://thesummitleague.org/landing/index University of Denver. (2019). Athletics. Retrieved from https://www.du.edu/athletics/overview University of Denver Athletics. (2019). Facilities. Retrieved from https://denverpioneers.com/sports/2018/5/24/facilities-denv-facilities-html.aspx