History of the Crusaders
The Holy Cross Crusaders are the athletic teams representing the College of the Holy Cross. They primarily compete in NCAA Division I as members of the Patriot League. In ice hockey, a sport not sponsored by the Patriot League for either sex, the Crusaders are members of two other leagues, with men competing in the Atlantic Hockey Association and women in Hockey East. The men's rowing team is part of the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges. Of its 25 varsity teams, Holy Cross supports 12 men's and 13 women's sports, giving Holy Cross the most significant ratio of teams per enrollment in the country. Holy Cross's athletic teams for both men and women are known as the Crusaders.
Holy Cross is a founding member of the Patriot League and boasts that one-quarter of its student body participates in its varsity athletic programs. Principal facilities include Fitton Field for football (capacity: 23,500) and baseball (3,000), the Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex for basketball (3,600) and ice hockey (1,400), the Linda Johnson Smith Soccer Stadium (1,320), and the Smith Wellness Center, located inside the Luth Athletic Complex.
College Sports Established
1843
Location
Worcester, Massachusetts
College Name
College of the Holy Cross
Collegiate History
1973 - Present / NCAA Division I
1921 - 1973 / University Division of the NCAA
Conference History
1986 - Present / Patriot League
1983 - 1986 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
1939 - 1983 / Independent
Nickname
Crusaders - It is reported that the name "Crusader" was first associated with Holy Cross in 1884 at an alumni banquet in Boston, where an engraved Crusader mounted on an armored horse appeared at the head of the menu.
The name was rediscovered by Stanley Woodward, a sports reporter for the Boston Herald, when he used the term "Crusader" to describe the Holy Cross baseball team in a story written in 1925. The name appealed to the Holy Cross student body, which held a vote later in that year to decide whether this cognomen or one of the other two currently in use – "Chiefs" and "Sagamores"- would be adopted. On October 6, 1925, The Tomahawk, an earlier name of the student newspaper, reported that the results of the ballot were: Crusaders 143, Chiefs 17, Sagamores 7.
Owing to the Post-9/11 controversy over the “Crusaders” nickname, only Holy Cross maintains the Crusaders nickname at the NCAA Division I level.
NCAA Championships
Baseball 1
1952
Men's Basketball 1
1947
Women's Basketball 0
Football 0
Soccer 0
To qualify as the greatest player for this team, the player must have played one season for this team. If not, we will remove the player.
* verifies that player has played for this team as an added player by a fan.
