SPORTS
Life’s club rugby team celebrates after winning the D1 national championship
in Ohio. - Special
FACTBOOK 2021 89
tennis and track and field, and women’s teams in basketball, cross
country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field and
volleyball.
The KSU men’s basketball team, which has not had a winning
season since moving from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I
after the 2004-05 season, is entering its second year under the leadership
of head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim. Abdur-Rahim, a former
Wheeler High School standout guard, led the Owls to a 1-28 record
in 2019-20.
The men’s basketball team won the NCAA Division II National
Championship in 2004.
The KSU baseball season came to an early end in 2020 due to
the coronavirus. Through 18 games, the Owls went 10-8 but did
not compete in any conference competition. In 2014, KSU baseball
posted a 40-24 record en route to its first Atlantic Sun Conference
Championship. The Owls advanced to the NCAA Regionals, then
defeated Alabama twice and Georgia Southern once to reach the Super
Regionals. The historic 2014 season came to an end after suffering
two straight Super Regional losses to the Louisville Cardinals.
Head coach Mike Sansing has led the KSU baseball team since
the fall of 1991. During his tenure, the Owls have appeared in seven
national tournaments and have clinched two national titles — the
1994 NAIA championship
and the 1996 NCAA Division
II title.
KSU softball steamrolled
through the opening 25
games of its 2020 campaign.
Under second-year
coach Tripp MacKay, the
Owls posted a 21-4 record,
including wins over Auburn
University and Penn State
University, before the season
was shelved due to the
pandemic.
In 2018, under head
coach Pete D’Amour, KSU
softball posted a 39-17
record and reached the
NCAA Division I Regionals. The Owls own two NCAA Division II
national titles. They won their first national championship in 1995,
then defended their crown with a repeat in 1996.
The Life University Running Eagles compete in the Mid-South
conference in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
Life sponsors men’s teams in basketball, bowling, cross country,
rugby, soccer, swimming, track and field, volleyball and wrestling,
and women’s teams in basketball, bowling, cross country, lacrosse,
rugby, soccer, swimming, track and field, volleyball and wrestling.
The university also sponsors a coed cheer team.
Life has won four of the last seven USA Rugby D1A men’s championships,
claiming titles in 2013, 2016, 2018 and 2019. In both 2018
and 2019, The Running Eagles defeated the University of California
Golden Bears in the championship finals. The 2020 season did not
crown a champion because of the coronavirus.
Chattahoochee Technical College is a member of the National
Junior College Athletic Association and the Georgia Junior
College Athletic Association, sponsoring men’s and women’s
basketball teams.
Georgia Highlands College, which has a Marietta campus, is a
Division I member of the NJCAA and the GJCAA. The Chargers
sponsor baseball, softball and men’s and women’s basketball.
Kennesaw State outfielder Terrence
Norman, a product of Kennesaw Mountain,
was chosen as the ASUN Conference’s
Preseason Player of the Year. - Kennesaw
State — Kyle Hess