Roanoke Maroons-Cedar Herald Index

The Roanoke Maroons are the athletic teams that represent Roanoke College, located in Salem, Virginia, a suburban independent city adjacent to Roanoke, Virginia.

Roanoke is an NCAA Division III member competing in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference; the Maroons were a founding member of the conference in 1976. The college fields teams in 12 men's and 11 women's sports.

Roanoke Maroons

History

Roanoke athletics began in 1870 when the college fielded its first baseball team. In 1900, Roanoke helped serve as a founding member of the Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Association, but quickly left the association. Roanoke later re-joined as a non-football member from 1915 to 1918. The men's basketball program, added in 1911, received national recognition in 1939 when the team finished third in the National Invitational Tournament, the premiere postseason tournament of that era; and with more than 1,300 wins (almost 2,000 games played; better than 60% winning percentage over more than 90 years) is among the most successful in the nation. The "Five Smart Boys" of the 1937 through 1939 seasons were Guard John Wagner; 'Bounding' Bob Lieb; Forwards Paul Rice; Gene Studebaker and Center Bob Sheffield. Frankie Allen, arguably the greatest men's basketball player in Virginia college sports (2,780 points and 1,758 rebounds), graduated from Roanoke in 1971.

Roanoke Maroons

Men's lacrosse and men's basketball are two of the school's most popular, and historically most successful sports at the college. However, a number of other teams have made significant NCAA tournament runs and claimed ODAC titles in recent years. Most notably, the school's baseball team in 2017, who entered the ODAC Tournament as the conference's 6th seed, went on a run to win the title before sweeping the South Region and making an appearance in the Division III College World Series in Appleton, Wisconsin. The team finished the season #3 in the national rankings. With the addition of men's volleyball, a sport not sponsored by the ODAC, Roanoke joined the Continental Volleyball Conference: a Division III men's volleyball conference that two fellow ODAC members call home for their men's volleyball programs (Eastern Mennonite and Randolph-Macon). In November of 2022, Scott Allison announced that he will retire at the end of the 2022-23 academic year. Coach Allison contributed 37 total years of service to the college serving as Head Men's Lacrosse Coach in the 1987 and 1988 seasons, the Head Women's Tennis Coach in the 1989 season and most notably as the Head Men's Soccer Coach from 1986-2012 and the school's director of athletics from 1993 until his retirement in 2023. In late May 2023, then Morehouse College athletic director and industry veteran Curtis Campbell was named the next director of athletics at Roanoke College.

Roanoke Maroons

Roanoke teams have won two national championships: 1972 NCAA Division II men's basketball championship: Salem native Hal Johnston led the Maroons to the national title in Evansville, Indiana. Roanoke defeated the George Gervin-led Eastern Michigan Eagles in the semifinals before dispatching the Akron Zips in the championship game by a score of 84–72. Johnston was subsequently named tournament MVP. 1978 NCAA Division II Lacrosse Championship: The men's lacrosse team won the national championship by defeating the Hobart Statesmen who were two-time defending national champions at the time 14–13 in Geneva, New York.

The school also boasts two individual national championships: 2001: Roanoke athlete Casey Smith won an individual national championship in the Division III women's 10,000m track and field event. 2009: Robin Yerkes secured an individual national championship for Roanoke when she won the Division III women's 400m track and field event. Yerkes is the most decorated athlete ever to graduate from Roanoke, earning 12 All-American honors in multiple events.

As of May 2021, teams at Roanoke College have won 104 conference championships (48 in men's sports, 56 in women's sports) since the college joined the ODAC as a founding member in 1976. Currently, Roanoke owns more conference championships than any other school in the ODAC in men's lacrosse with 18 titles and women's basketball with 13 titles. Roanoke, Hampden-Sydney, and Randolph-Macon are tied for the most conference championships in men's basketball with 10 titles each.