HPU Athletics: Top 11

Flynn Clayman went 31-5 in his first season as head coach. Back-to-back Big South championships. A 12-seed that went to Portland and beat Power 4 Wisconsin on a layup with 11.7 seconds left, for the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament win. The 4,500-seat Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena is loud, it is packed, and students here are in the student section when moments like that happen. Get loud, get proud, and get hyped!

27-6. Three straight Big South regular-season titles. Back-to-back tournament championships. A second straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The program just finished its best season in Division I history, and first-year head coach Wyatt Foust is already building what comes next. Students who show up this fall get to be part of it from the start.

HPU finished the 2025 season with 39 wins, the most in Division I program history, with Landen Johnson leading the entire NCAA in RBIs with 86 and Christian Smith landing on SportsCenter's Top 10 for a home run robbery. This is also the program that beat Vanderbilt 10-9 in the 2024 Clemson Regional for their first-ever NCAA Tournament win. Head coach Joey Hammond has this program pointed toward more. A spring afternoon at Williard Stadium is one of the best ways to spend a Saturday on this campus.

In 2025, HPU went undefeated in Big South play, earned the No. 10 national seed, beat West Virginia 3-2 at Vert Stadium in the second round, and reached the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in program history under head coach Zach Haines. They finished ranked No. 16 nationally, the highest postseason ranking the program has ever seen. The 36,000-square-foot Witcher Athletic Center anchors the soccer side of campus, and a big match night at Vert Stadium is worth being there.

Eight conference championships. Head coach Aaron McGuiness won his first Big South Tournament title in 2025, with Aubrey McKessy earning Tournament MVP honors, and it sent the Panthers to the NCAA Tournament. Fall soccer at Vert Stadium, with a title banner already in the case, is a great place to spend an October afternoon.

Head coach Lyndsey Boswell has been building this program since 2011 and has 12 Big South championships to show for it. On May 12, 2017, this team beat No. 18 Towson 21-15 for the first NCAA Tournament win in HPU Athletics history across any sport. The 36 combined goals in that game remain the most ever scored in a single NCAA Women's Lacrosse Tournament game. One of the most decorated programs on campus. Spring season runs February through May.

HPU Men's Lacrosse competes in the Atlantic 10 Conference under head coach John Crawley. The A-10 is one of the most competitive lacrosse conferences in the country, which means every home game at Vert Stadium is played at a high level against programs with national profiles. Fast-paced, physical, and worth your afternoon.

Three-peat. The 2025 Big South Tournament championship was HPU's third straight title, won in head coach Ryan Meek's first season. Tournament MVP Addison Freeland posted 13 kills on a .476 hitting percentage in the championship match alone. The Panthers earned an NCAA Tournament bid and the HPU pep band traveled all the way to Lawrence, Kansas to fill an entire section of the arena. That road trip says everything about what fall volleyball at the Millis Athletic Convocation Center feels like from the student side.

HPU sent athletes to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship in 2025-26, part of the reason the program ranks in the top 25th percentile of all 365 Division I schools nationally. Athletes train on the nine-lane Beynon surface at the Ike Belk Track inside Vert Stadium, one of the best facilities in the conference. Cross country runs the campus courses year-round. Between the two programs across both genders, the HPU athletics calendar runs practically every week of the year.

HPU fields 17 Division I programs, which means something competitive is always happening on or near campus. Men's and women's golf train year-round at dedicated HPU facilities. Women's Rowing launched in 2024-2025 and stepped straight into Mid-American Conference competition. Whatever your sport, there is a program here worth following.

More than 750 student-athletes compete through HPU Recreation's 30-plus Intercollegiate Club Sports programs, and these teams compete at a serious national level. Men's Club Hockey has an ACCHL Championship and an AAU D2 National Championship game appearance. Women's Club Hockey won their third ACCHL title in February 2026. The club esports team won the inaugural 2024 Big South Esports Championship. Men's Club Golf placed third at the NCCGA National Championship. Add intramural flag football, dodgeball, ultimate frisbee, and indoor volleyball, and there is a place for every student to compete at HPU. 17 Teams. 1 Family.