McKendree Bearcats

The McKendree Bearcats are the intercollegiate athletic programs that represent McKendree University, located in Lebanon, Illinois, United States. They are a member of the NCAA Division II ranks, primarily competing in the Great Lakes Valley Conference ; achieving D-II full member status in the 2013–14 academic year.
Prior to joining the NCAA, the Bearcats previously competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics as members of the American Midwest Conference from 1987–88 to 2010–11, as well as an NAIA/NCAA Division II Independent during the 2011–12 school year. They also competed in the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1912–13 to 1937–38.
In addition to GLVC sponsored sports, McKendree also fields NCAA-sanctioned teams in women's bowling as an independent program and men's volleyball at the [NCAA Men's NCAA Men's National Collegiate Volleyball Championship|National Collegiate Volleyball Championship|National Collegiate] level in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. The women's bowling team won the NCAA National Collegiate Bowling Championship in 2017 and 2022. They were runner-up in the 2018 event. The school also fields teams outside of the NCAA structure in two NCAA-sponsored sports and four non-NCAA sports. In the NCAA sports of men's ice hockey and women's lacrosse, McKendree is respectively a member of the ACHA Division II in the Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association and the Western Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association. The non-NCAA sports sponsored by McKendree are men's and women's bowling, men's and women's powerlifting, and co-ed bass fishing.

WWW mckbearcats.com

Move to NCAA Division II

On July 12, 2010, the university was informed by the NCAA Division II Membership Committee that it was accepted into the NCAA Division II. McKendree continued to play in the NAIA during the two-year candidacy period, before it became a member of the GLVC during the provisional year. The fourth academic year, 2013–2014, the NCAA would vote to make McKendree an active member of NCAA D-II.
On October 6, 2010, it was announced that McKendree University received and accepted an invitation to the GLVC. The Bearcats became the 17th member of the GLVC in 2012. The university is now eligible for all conference and NCAA championships.

Varsity teams

McKendree competes in 39 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, football, golf, ice hockey, powerlifting, rugby, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, volleyball, water polo and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, beach volleyball, bowling, cross country, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, powerlifting, rugby, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, volleyball, water polo and wrestling; and co-ed sports include bass fishing, cheerleading and dance.
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Men's basketball

McKendree's men's former basketball coach, Harry Statham, at one point held the all-time record for wins at a four-year institution. On February 16, 2019, this record was broken by Duke University head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Statham's 1,122 wins during his 52 seasons at McKendree were previously unmatched by any other basketball coach at a four-year college or university in the United States.

Bowling

The McKendree University bowling team is headed by Shannon and Bryan O'Keefe. Shannon played softball up through high school and won the All-American award as a center fielder. She went to Portland State University and began to input herself in the amateur status. Bryan went to University of Nebraska and took many coaching classes. Shannon has been on bowling's Team USA for 15 years, and has won over 20 professional titles, including 14 on the PWBA Tour. Bryan was never much of a professional bowler, however was very passionate about coaching, and because of that landed himself a place in the Bowling Hall of Fame as one of the top coaches of the decade. Since their placement at McKendree University the bowling teams, together, have increased their overall average by 12 pins. They came to McKendree in the 2014–2015 school year to coach the men and women's programs. Under their supervision the men and women both went to the National Collegiate Bowling Competition. The women placed fifth and the men placed sixth. The 2016 men's team won the USBC national championship while the women's team won the 2017 NCAA National Championship, sweeping perennial powerhouse Nebraska 4–0 on April 15, 2017. A month later, the women's team also won the 2017 USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, completing a sweep of the two major college competitions. On April 16, 2022, the women's team won its second national championship, sweeping Stephen F. Austin 4–0 in the 2022 NCAA Bowling Championships.