Holy Cross Athletics

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

• Holy Cross is a charter member of the Patriot League, competing in the conference each year since its inception. The Crusaders are also members of Atlantic Hockey America (men's ice hockey), the Hockey East Association (women's ice hockey) and the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (men's rowing).

• The Crusaders sponsor 27 varsity programs, including 14 women's and 13 men's sports.

• Baseball was the first varsity sport at Holy Cross, debuting in the spring of 1876.

• The Crusaders played their first football game in 1896, while the basketball program first took the court in 1901.

• The women's athletic program began in 1974, with tennis, field hockey and basketball being the first sports to compete on the varsity level.

AN ACADEMIC POWERHOUSE

• Holy Cross' athletic teams tied for sixth in the nation with an overall graduation rate of 98 percent, and have posted a graduation rate of 97 percent or higher for 16 straight years.

• 14 Holy Cross teams achieved a perfect score of 1,000 in the NCAA's academic performance standard, the Academic Progress Rate (APR), which tied for sixth in the nation out of 361 Division I schools. The APR uses a series of formulas related to student-athlete retention and eligibility to measure the academic performance of all participants on teams at every Division I college and university.

• 288 student-athletes made the Dean's List in the spring of 2024, while 539 student-athletes posted a grade point average of 3.0 or higher.

• Holy Cross' 27 varsity programs combined to post a 3.36 grade point average during the 2023-2024 academic year.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Holy Cross has won NCAA championships in men's basketball (1947) and baseball (1952).

• The Crusaders also captured the National Invitation Tournament title in men's basketball in 1954.

• To this day, Holy Cross remains the only Northeast program to win the College World Series in baseball.

• Holy Cross is also one of just seven schools to have ever won NCAA and NIT men's basketball titles, along with the NCAA baseball championship.

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Holy Cross has totaled 87 conference regular season and tournament championships throughout its history, with 69 of those coming in the Patriot League.

• Women's basketball leads the way, having captured 15 conference tournament titles and 14 regular season championships.

• Men's basketball has added eight league tournament championships and six regular season titles, while football has captured the Patriot League crown 11 times. 

NCAA TOURNAMENT SUCCESS

• Crusader teams have combined for 60 all-time NCAA Tournament appearances. 

• In addition to the baseball and men's basketball teams winning NCAA championships, several other teams have had a great deal of success.

• Women's basketball has made a school-record 14 NCAA appearances, and owns the only two NCAA Tournament victories in the history of Patriot League women's basketball.

• Football has advanced to the FCS playoffs six times, including four straight appearances from 2019-2022, while playing in the quarterfinals in both 1983 and 2022.

• In 2006, Holy Cross became the first No. 4 seed to ever defeat a No. 1 seed in the history of the NCAA men's ice hockey tournament, knocking off Minnesota 4-3 in overtime.

• Baseball's 23 all-time NCAA Tournament victories are the most in school history, followed by men's basketball with 13 NCAA Tournament wins.

CONFERENCE PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

• Holy Cross has won 115 conference Player of the Year awards, with 93 of those coming in the Patriot League.

• Football leads the way with 26 total Player of the Year recipients.

• Field hockey has the most honorees on the women's side with 15 Players of the Year.

• Three Crusaders are three-time Player of the Year selections: softball's Genoa Grosch was selected as the Patriot League Pitcher of the Year in 1996, 1998 and 1999; women's lacrosse's Megan Orr was the Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year in 2005, 2006 and 2007; football's Dominic Randolph was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year in 2007, 2008 and 2009; and field hockey's Erin Singleton was chosen as the Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS

• Ronnie Perry (baseball and men's basketball) is a member of the Academic All-America Hall of Fame. Perry earned Academic All-America honors six times, being a first team selection in 1978, 1979 and 1980 in both baseball and men's basketball.

• Crusader student-athletes have earned Academic All-America honors 48 times, including 18 first-team selections. 

• Sherry Levin (women's basketball) was a three-time Academic All-America selection, while Paige Brennan (baseball), Dan Conti (men's track and field), Gerald Lambert (baseball), Jim Nairus (men's basketball), Amy O'Brien (women's basketball), George Paletta (men's lacrosse) and Chris Potter (men's basketball) all earned Academic All-America honors two times.

• Football (14), baseball (11), men's basketball (8) and women's basketball (7) have produced Holy Cross' most Academic All-Americans.

RANKED NO. 1

• From Jan. 17-Feb. 20, 1950, the men's basketball team achieved the ultimate ranking — No. 1 in the nation. The Crusaders spent five consecutive weeks as the top-ranked team in the Associate Press poll, while beginning the season with 26 straight victories. 

• The football team finished the 1987 season as the No. 1 team in NCAA Division I-AA poll, after posting a perfect 11-0 record and outscoring its opponents 511-110.

CRUSADERS AT THE NEXT LEVEL

• Numerous Holy Cross alumni have gone on to have long careers in professional sports.

• Baseball has sent 79 players to the Major Leagues, while having 32 players selected in the draft since it was instituted in 1965. The most recent Major Leaguer is Declan Cronin, who made his debut with the Chicago White Sox in 2023.

• 78 members of the football team have gone on to play in the National Football League, while 80 players have been selected in the NFL Draft. C.J. Hanson became the Crusaders' first draft selection in 35 years in 2024, while Kalif Raymond earned All-Pro honors in 2022.

• 11 Crusaders have played in the National Basketball Association, including Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers Bob Cousy and Tom Heinsohn. In 2019, Malcolm Miller became the first Patriot League player to appear in an NBA Finals game, while winning the title with the Toronto Raptors.

• In 2020, women's basketball's Lauren Manis was selected in the third round of the WNBA Draft, becoming just the second Patriot League player to ever be drafted.

• Over 60 Crusaders have played professional ice hockey, including Patrick Rissmiller in the National Hockey League from 2003-2011.