NCAA Division II Location Arcata, California | Athletic director Tom Trepiak (interim) Varsity teams 12 | |
University Humboldt State University Conference California Collegiate Athletic Association
Great Northwest Athletic Conference (football) | ||
The Humboldt State Lumberjacks are the 12 varsity athletic teams that represent Humboldt State University, located in Arcata, California, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Lumberjacks compete as an associate member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association for all sports except football, which competes in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
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Basketball
Recently the men’s basketball team achieved its first-ever West Region title and advancement to the semifinals of the NCAA Division II for the first time in the program’s 81-year history.
The men's head coach is Steve Kinder, and the women's head coach is Michelle Bento-Jackson.
Softball
HSU's softball team has qualified for the NCAA post-season 18 times between 1990 and 2008, capturing the national championship in 1999 and in 2008.
Rowing
The women's rowing team claimed the NCAA Division II national rowing championship title in 2012 and 2014. In 2012 they took first in both the varsity 8 and varsity 4 boats. In 2014 the varsity 8 was first, and the varsity 4 took third. In 2011 the team finished third overall at the national championships, placing second in the varsity 4 and third in the varsity 8. The women’s rowing program advanced both its varsity 4 and varsity 8 boats to the NCAA Championships in 2004, with the varsity 4 earning the individual boat national title and the varsity 8 placing second at nationals. Women's rowing became an intercollegiate sport at Humboldt State in 1994.
Track & Field
The Lumberjacks have produced national champions and All-Americans in cross country and track and field. In 1980, the school’s first year in Division II, the HSU men’s cross country team claimed a national title. A year later, cross country runner Mark Conover earned the individual crown and later represented the USA as a marathoner in the 1988 Summer Olympic Games. The women's track and field team, led by future 1928 Olympic sprinter, Elta Cartwright, won the 1926 national championship meet conducted in telegraphic form by the Women's National Collegiate and Scholastic Track Association.
Football
Humboldt State won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in 2011 and 2015. The championship in 2015 led them to the Division II playoffs, during which they made it to the second round before losing to eventual champion Northwest Missouri State. The Lumberjacks play their home games in the Redwood Bowl. Their biggest rivals in football are Western Oregon and Azusa Pacific.
Head coach
Humboldt State has been coached by Rob Smith since the 2008 season. Coach Smith has accumulated 55 wins as the head coach of the Lumberjacks.
2015 season
The 2015 season was one of the most successful in Humboldt State history. The Lumberjacks won 10 games, 9 in the regular season, en route to a perfect 6-0 GNAC record, and the conference championship. For the first time in school history, HSU hosted an NCAA Division II home playoff game, played against Augustana University. The Lumberjacks defeated Augustana by a score of 45-31 to secure the first DII playoff victory since 1960. They lost their second round matchup with top seed and eventual champion Northwest Missouri State 54-7.
The season saw individual success as well, as running back Ja'Quan Gardner was named an All-American and finished as the runner-up in the Harlon Hill Trophy, the Division II version of the Heisman Trophy. Gardner rushed for 2,266 yards on 337 carries, both GNAC records. Gardner also led the country in rushing yards per game (188.8) and rushing touchdowns (25). Gardner won the GNAC Offensive Player of the Year award, and set a school record for single-game rushing yards by running for 305 yards against Azusa Pacific. Offensive Lineman Alex Cappa was named the conference Offensive Lineman of the Year award for the second straight season, and was a second-team All-American.