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Chico State Wildcats
University	California State University, Chico
Conference	CCAA (primary)
NCAA	Division II
Location	Chico, California
Varsity teams	13 (6 men's, 7 women's)
Football stadium	University Stadium
Basketball arena	Art Acker Gymnasium
Baseball stadium	Nettleton Stadium
Softball stadium	Wildcat Softball Field
Soccer stadium	University Soccer Stadium
Nickname	Wildcats
Fight song	Chico State Fight Song
Colors	Cardinal and white
Website	chicowildcats.com
Team NCAA championships
7
Individual and relay NCAA champions
65

The Chico State Wildcats (also CSU Chico Wildcats and Cal State Chico Wildcats) are the athletic teams that represent California State University, Chico, located in Chico, California, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Wildcats compete as an associate member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association for all 13 varsity sports. Since 1998, Chico State’s athletic teams have won 99 NCAA Championship berths, 40 CCAA titles, 24 West Region titles and 15 National titles. The school finished third in the 2004–2005 NACDA Director's Cup.

Varsity sports

Baseball

The Chico State baseball team plays at the 4,100–seat Nettleton Stadium, known as Ray Bohler Field until its 1997 renovation. The Wildcats won the NCAA Division II national title in 1997 and 1999, and was runner-up in 2002 and 2006; all four appearances in the finals were under head coach Lindsay Meggs. The head coach since 2007 is Dave Taylor. Big Blue Bird is the 2019 All Star.

Softball

The Wildcats softball team won the first AIAW Division III national championship in 1980, led by pitcher Kathy Arendsen.

Men's soccer

The men's soccer reached the Division II College Cup final in 2003, losing 2–1 to Lynn University.

Championships

Appearances

The Chico State Wildcats competed in the NCAA Tournament across 13 active sports (6 men's and 7 women's) 220 times at the Division II level.

• Baseball (20): 1978, 1987, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018
• Men's basketball (14): 1958, 1974, 1981, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
• Women's basketball (13): 1987, 1988, 1996, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014
• Men's cross country (24): 1969, 1972, 1973, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
• Women's cross country (21): 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
• Men's golf (17): 1963, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1977, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016
• Women's golf (1): 2009
• Men's soccer (13): 1972, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1986, 1992, 2003, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2018
• Women's soccer (8): 1992, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2017, 2018
• Softball (12): 1982, 1983, 1984, 2002, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
• Men's outdoor track and field (45): 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
• Women's outdoor track and field (27): 1982, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993• 1994, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
• Women's volleyball (5): 1992, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2016

Team

The Wildcats of Chico State earned 6 NCAA championships at the Division II level and one NCAA championship at the Division III level.

• Men's (6)
  • Baseball (2): 1997, 1999
  • Golf (1): 1966
  • Swimming and diving (3): 1973, 1974, 1976
  • Swimming and diving (1): 1975

Results

Chico State won 1 national championship at the Division III level.

• Men's swimming and diving: 1975

Below is one national championship that were not bestowed by the NCAA:

• Softball – Division III (1): 1980 (AIAW)

Below are five national club team championships:

• Women's rugby: 2001, 2018 (USA Rugby)
• Co-ed wakeboarding: 2010, 2012 (USA Wakeboarding) // 2012 (College Wake)

Individual

Chico State had 59 Wildcats win NCAA individual championships at the Division II level.

At the NCAA Division III level, Chico State garnered 6 individual championships.

Former varsity sports

Football

Chico State ended its football program in 1997, citing rising insurance costs, in addition to an increased bias in favor of other athletic programs.

College Football Hall of Fame

Swimming & diving

CSU Chico won the NCAA Division II national championships in men's swimming and diving in 1973, 1974 and 1976. In 1975, the program was moved to Division III despite objections by the team, its coach and the community at large. The team responded by winning the Division III Championship with a record number of points (465), and the largest margin of victory to that point by an NCAA Swimming program. In 1976, back in Division II, the team set a record for total points scored by a Division II swim team (428) while winning their 4th straight NCAA team championship. The program was eliminated after the 1991 season. At that time, the team had finished in the top 7 at the NCAA championship meet for 19 straight years, 16 of those finishes being top 4 or better.

Other sports

Rugby

Chico State's team plays college rugby in Division I-AA in the California Conference, playing alongside Fresno State, Stanford, San Jose State, UNR, and Sacramento State.

In 2001, the women's rugby team won a Division I national championship.

In 2019, the men's rugby team won the Pacific West Conference and went on to the Division I-AA national championship game.

References

1. "2016–17 Chico State WBB Media Guide" (PDF). March 22, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
2. "Competing with NCAA Elite - Best of Chico State - CSU, Chico". Csuchico.edu. Archived from the original on November 12, 2011. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
3. "Taylor takes the reins at Chico State". Chico Enterprise-Record. July 26, 2006. Retrieved January 4, 2007.
4. "Baseball media guide" (PDF). Chico State Athletics. 2014. pp. 1–8.
5. "The Hall of Fame Committee Salutes the 1980 Softball Team" (PDF). Retrieved March 7, 2016.
6. "NCAA Championships Statistics". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
7. ^ "Championships Summary" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
8. ^ "NCAA Division II Men's Swimming and Diving Championships Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
9. ^ "NCAA Division II Men's Outdoor Track Championships Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
10. ^ "NCAA Championships Records (Discontinued Sports)" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
11. "NCAA Division II Women's Swimming and Diving Championships Records Book" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
12. ^ "NCAA Division II Women's Outdoor Track Championships Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
13. ^ "NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
14. "NCAA Division II Men's Cross Country Championships Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
15. Murphy, Sean; Kinmartin, Patrick (February 3, 2007). "Chico State football: 10 years gone, and not likely to..." Chico Enterprise-Record. Retrieved January 4, 2007.
16. Murphy, Sean (February 3, 2007). "Final coach looks back at the end". Chico Enterprise-Record. Retrieved January 4, 2007.
17. "Mike Bellotti (2014) - Hall of Fame".

External links

• Official website

v t e California Collegiate Athletic Association
Current members	Cal Poly Humboldt Lumberjacks Cal Poly Pomona Broncos Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros Cal State East Bay Pioneers Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles Cal State Monterey Bay Otters Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes Cal State San Marcos Cougars Chico State Wildcats San Francisco State Gators Sonoma State Seawolves Stanislaus State Warriors
Future member	UC Merced Golden Bobcats (joining in 2025)

• Chico State Wildcats