Trinity Tigers


The Trinity Tigers is the nickname for the sports teams of Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. They participate in the NCAA's Division III and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. The school mascot is LeeRoy, a Bengal tiger. In the 1950s, LeeRoy was an actual tiger who was brought to sporting events, but today LeeRoy is portrayed by a student wearing a tiger suit. Early in its history, the school participated in Division I and Division II athletics, but by 1991 the entire program made the move to Division III, at which time it joined the SCAC.
Trinity fields strong teams, evidenced by its finishes in the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Learfield Directors' Cup, which recognizes the strength of athletic programs by division. Since the Directors' Cup inception in 1995, Trinity has finished in the top 10 on five occasions out of over 400 Division III programs; it finished 20th in 2021–22.
In recent years, Trinity has reached the national Division III playoffs in several sports, including football, women's basketball, volleyball, baseball, women's cross country, men's and women's track and field, and men's and women's soccer. In 2011–12, the Trinity sports program reclaimed Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference "President's Trophy," awarded to the school in the conference that has the best overall sports record for the year. as of 2022, Trinity has won the President's Trophy every year since. Prior to that, the Tigers had won the award eleven out of the preceding twelve seasons.
In addition to team success, individual Trinity student-athletes have won a number of championships over the years which are detailed below.
Club sports include men's and women's Lacrosse, Water Polo, and Trap and Skeet.

Varsity teams

Baseball

The Trinity University baseball program has a motto - "the tradition continues". The Trinity Baseball Stadium was refurbished in 2022 with a turf field, new netting, updated batting cages and new dugouts.
In May 2015, Trinity baseball qualified for the Division III College World Series for the first time, falling one game short of the championship round and placing third overall.
In 2016, Trinity won the NCAA Division III College World Series and became national champions. In a best-of-three format, Trinity defeated Keystone College 14-6 in game 1 and 10-7 in game 2. Trinity defeated the 2015 champion, SUNY Cortland, twice in the bracket rounds of the tournament en route to the national championship.
Jeremy Wolf was playing in the outfield when the Trinity baseball team won the 2016 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship. In 2016, Wolf hit.408/.508/.741 with 60 runs, 28 doubles, 149 total bases, 11 home runs, and 70 RBIs. He was named All-American First Team of both the American Baseball Coaches Association and D3baseball.com, was named the West Region Player of the Year by the ABCA and D3baseball.com, and was named Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year. In his college career Wolf hit 72 doubles, a Trinity record, over 189 games.
The 2021 Trinity baseball team was ranked #1 in the country during the regular season and was selected for the NCAA Regional Tournament in St. Paul, Minnesota. Trinity won SCAC conference championships in 1995, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2019. In addition to 2015 and 2016, the Trinity Tigers made it to the NCAA College World Series in 2022.
A number of former Trinity baseball players have made names for themselves in the ranks of professional baseball teams around the country.
Tim Scannell is in his 26th season as the head baseball coach. After serving as an assistant coach for two seasons, Coach Scannell took the Tigers’ reins prior to the 1999 campaign. Since that time, the Tigers have amassed an impressive 775 victories over 25 seasons with Coach Scannell at the helm. Coach Scannell is ranked in the top 10 among active NCAA Division III coaches by winning percentage. The other Trinity baseball coaches are both former Trinity baseball players — David Smith is the pitching coach.

Basketball

The Tigers had a successful men's basketball program under Bob Polk from 1965 to 1968; Polk, an Indiana native, had compiled a record of 197–106 at Vanderbilt, but poor health led to his resignation on the advice of his doctors. However, he was out of basketball for only 18 months as his health rapidly improved. As both the head basketball coach and athletics director, Polk became Southland Conference Coach-of-the-Year in 1967. He was also the NCAA National Coach of the Year for the NCAA College Division in 1968. In his three years at Trinity, Polk compiled a 69–28 record and led the Tigers to the 1968 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament, where they finished third overall.
Trinity's women's teams, however, have had considerably more success. The 2002–03 edition went 28–5 and won the national championship under the leadership of coach Becky Geyer, despite never previously having won an NCAA playoff game in school history. While under the leadership of coach Cameron Hill, the team has become a perennial playoff participant, making it to the Elite 8 in 2022 and the Sweet 16 in 2023. In 12 seasons, Hill's teams have earned a record of 249–49.

Tennis

Trinity has historically had a strong tennis program, once a Division I tennis power, under tennis coach Clarency Mabry, winning the men's NCAA championship in 1972, as well as being runners up in 1970, 1971, 1977 and 1979. The women's team captured the first USLTA women's collegiate championship in 1968 and won several more titles. In the early 1960s the program was home to arguably some of the best tennis players in the world, and bypassed the NCAA tournament to enter Wimbledon. In 1963, Chuck McKinley of Trinity won the Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship. He was also the runner up in 1961. In 1970, as a freshman at Trinity, Brian Gottfried won the USTA boys 18s singles championship, as well as the doubles championship with Alexander Mayer.
Other famous tennis players to attend Trinity included Butch Newman, Bob McKinley, Frank Froehling, Dick Stockton, Bill Scanlon and Gretchen Magers. The school's men's and women's programs both claimed national championships in 2000.

Tennis Team championships (Division I era)

  • 1968 USTA National Women's Collegiate Championship
  • 1969 USTA National Women's Collegiate Championship
  • 1972 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship
  • 1973 USTA National Women's Collegiate Championship
  • 1975 USTA National Women's Collegiate Championship
  • 1975 National Collegiate Team Champions – Trap and Skeet
  • 1976 USTA National Women's Collegiate Championship
  • 1976 National Collegiate Team Champions – Trap and Skeet
  • 1977 National Collegiate Team Champions – Trap and Skeet
  • 1980 National Collegiate Team Champions – Trap and Skeet

    NCAA Team championships (Division III era)

  • 2000 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championship
  • 2000 NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championship
  • 2003 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship
  • 2003 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship
  • 2015 ITA Men's Tennis Indoor National Championship
  • 2016 NCAA Division III Men's Baseball Championship

    Tennis Individual championships (Division I/II era)

  • 1966 NCAA Division II Men's Outdoor 100yd Dash
  • 1968 USTA National Women's Singles Championship
  • 1968 USTA National Women's Doubles Championship
  • 1968 NCAA Division II Men's Outdoor 200yd Dash
  • 1969 USTA National Women's Singles Championship
  • 1969 USTA National Women's Doubles Championship
  • 1972 NCAA Division I Men's Singles Championship
  • 1975 USTA National Women's Singles Championship
  • 1975 USTA National Women's Doubles Championship
  • 1976 NCAA Division I Men's Singles Championship
  • 1979 NCAA Division I Men's Doubles Championship
  • 1983 NCAA Division I Women's Doubles Championship

    NCAA/ITA Individual championships (Division III era)

  • 1997 ITA Men's National Singles Championship
  • 1997 ITA Men's National Doubles Championship
  • 1998 ITA Women's National Singles Championship
  • 1998 ITA Women's National Doubles Championship
  • 1999 ITA Women's National Singles Championship
  • 1999 ITA Women's National Doubles Championship
  • 2003 ITA Men's National Doubles Championship
  • 2003 ITA Women's National Doubles Championship
  • 2004 NCAA Division III Women's Outdoor High Jump
  • 2004 NCAA Division III Women's Indoor High Jump
  • 2005 NCAA Division III Women's Outdoor High Jump
  • 2006 NCAA Division III Women's Outdoor High Jump
  • 2009 NCAA Division III Men's Indoor Pentathlon
  • 2010 NCAA Division III Women's 1-Meter Diving
  • 2010 NCAA Division III Women's 3-Meter Diving
  • 2010 NCAA Division III Men's Indoor Pentathlon
  • 2010 ITA Men's National Doubles Championship
  • 2012 NCAA Division III Women's 3-Meter Diving
  • 2012 ITA Men's National Singles Championship
  • 2014 NCAA Division III Men's 100 Yard Freestyle
  • 2014 ITA Men's National Doubles Championship