Florida Atlantic University sponsors 19 NCAA Division I sports, including a new sport that will begin competing in spring 2012, sand volleyball. FAU teams compete in the Sun Belt Conference (SBC), except for men's soccer. This team competes in the Mid-American Conference as the Sun Belt does not sponsor this sport. Over the years, FAU teams have won more than 20 conference championships in Division I and Division II play. FAU teams joined the NCAA Division I level in 1993 after competing nationally in seven of the 14 sports offered at that time and claiming 83 All-American honors at the Division II level.

The following sections give a recap of the teams' most recent seasons. For the most up-to-date information on FAU sports, visit www.fausports.com.

Baseball, coming off the team's first Sun Belt Conference regular season title in 2010, posted 32 victories in 2011 and tied for fourth in the challenging SBC. The team won the season series against perennial national power University of Miami for the first time since 1984. Several players from the 2011 squad were selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, including pitcher Paul Davis, second baseman Raymond Church, third baseman Alex Santana, and infielder Mitchell Morales. Head Coach John McCormack, named Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year in 2010, will lead a 2012 squad that boasts a talented pitching staff, has one of the SBC's top hitters and aims to return to postseason play two seasons after playing in the NCAA Division I Regional. 

Men's Basketball is under the direction of Mike Jarvis, who was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year for the 2010-2011 season. One of the most accomplished basketball coaches in NCAA history, Coach Jarvis led the Owls to their first regular season title followed by participation in postseason play for just the second time in school history by playing in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). The team tied the school record for most wins in a season (21) and longest winning streak (eight) and two players, Raymond Taylor (first team) and Brett Royster (third team), were named to the All-District Team. Taylor was also named to the Sun Belt First Team and Greg Gantt was named to the Sun Belt Second Team.

Women's Basketball reached new heights last season. Head Coach Chancellor Dugan led her team to 10 conference wins and a fifth overall seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, the most wins and highest seed the Owls have received since joining the Sun Belt four seasons ago. Brittany Bowe and Carla Stubbs both capped off their senior years by surpassing the 1,000-point career scoring mark. Bowe also received individual accolades, being named to the third team all-conference in addition to being a first team all-district academic All-American. The Owls will reload, adding eight new players to the roster in the 2010-2011 season.

Cheer and Dance squads are an integral part of game day at FAU athletic events. Cheer performed at every football game and saw the crowd welcome their enthusiastic efforts to rally the Owls. Dance continued to delight fans at the football and basketball games as well as at FAU fundraisers and pep rallies with their high-energy performances. With nationally recognized cheer and dance teams, FAU Athletics has outstanding support at every event.

Cross Country had two runners advance to the NCAA South Regionals in the 2011 season. Senior Rebecca Hallam earned All-Sun Belt Conference honors by finishing ninth at the Conference Championships with a time of 18:21.5 and placed 35th at the NCAA Regionals. Michelle Jax was second at the Sun Belt Championships among freshmen and 11th overall with a time of 18:31.4 and placed 56th at the NCAA Regionals. Earlier in the season, Jax won the Sun Belt Runner- of-the-Week award by finishing first overall out of 268 runners at the Walt Disney World Cross Country Classic with a time of 18:08.90. That performance, and Hallam’s third-place finish, led the women to a second-place finish in the team standings out of 28 teams, while the men’s squad finished fifth out of 24 teams. The men were led in that meet by freshman Michael Vidal, who was 17th overall with a time of 26:28.51 in only his second 8k run. The highest finisher for the men at the Conference Championships was junior Ryan Davis, who was 28th with a time of 26:53.5. The women’s team had FAU’s highest fall GPA with a 3.385, and 74 percent of the team had a 3.0+ GPA for the semester.

Football faced several of the best teams in the country, including six who saw action in a post-season game. But the 2011 season was more about closing the chapter on the storied career of Head Coach Howard Schnellenberger, who announced in August that he would retire at season’s end. On October 15, 2011, the Owls, led by 16 seniors, opened the new 30,000 seat on-campus stadium featuring many amenities, including an Atlantic Ocean view from the press box and suites. The stadium was also home to the inaugural Battle of Florida All-Star Game that featured FAU’s Mickey Groody, Kevin Cyrille and Jarvis Givens. Senior running back Alfred Morris, who owns nearly every FAU rushing record, elected to play in the East-West Shrine game the following weekend and performed at a level that earned Morris a spot in the Senior All-Star game, becoming the first Owl to participate in the prestigious event. Morris also accepted an invite to the NFL combine and was one of just 11 running backs nationwide to participate. At the conclusion of the 2011 season, FAU announced Carl Pelini as the program’s new head coach.

Men's Golf finished fifth in strong national field in hosting the Spring Break Championship at Gleneagles Country Club in Delray Beach. The 16-team field consisted of 10 teams ranked in the top 100 of the Golfweek Magazine poll. The field included Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Penn State, Ohio State, Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as USF and Florida Gulf Coast, Notre Dame, Eastern Michigan and St. Mary’s (CA). The Owls received votes in the latest Golf World/Nike Division I Coaches poll and have been consistently ranked within the top 100 in the Golfweek Magazine poll. Senior Ben Silverman was named the Sun Belt Conference Male Golfer of the Month for October. The team had six top-five performances in tournaments and posted a win over top 50-ranked Michigan.

Women's Golf improved its score during each round of the Sun Belt Conference Championships. Freshman Marilyne Cadieux carded rounds in the 70s in all but two rounds this season to lead the team in scoring average. The Owls competed in national field tournaments at USF, Florida and Xavier while also participating in the Pat Bradley tournament in Fort Myers. FAU won the Lady Eagles Golf Invitational hosted by Florida Gulf Coast for its first tournament title since 2007. The Owls posted three top-five efforts on the season.

Men's Soccer played a difficult schedule while being hit with injuries to key members all season. They began the 2011 season a 3-1 win over Florida Gulf Coast and then tore into the core of the Atlantic Sun Conference by going through Jacksonville University, Stetson University and University of North Florida, which was a come-from-behind victory in sudden death overtime. Senior forward Darnell King led the squad with 13 points, including five goals. He and sophomore Joachim Hansteen were named to the Mid-American Conference All-Academic first team. Another sophomore, Martin Nesic, was named honorable mention. Goalkeeper Jeremy Crumpton started each of the team’s 15 matches and had a shutout at home against Howard.

Women's Soccer posted its second straight home winning season in 2011 with a 6-3-1 mark at the FAU Soccer Complex. The team started the season winning three of its four matches and had its first winning non-conference schedule since the 2005 campaign with a 4-3 mark. FAU defeated Troy in overtime while also picking up a 2-1 home win over Louisiana-Monroe. Goalkeeper Ashley Lantes posted three shutouts on the season. FAU finished 2011 with a 6-11-1 record. Gabriela DeVries earned Academic All-District honors by CoSIDA for the second-consecutive season.

Softball continued its winning tradition last season, with the Owls holding their program streak of 16-consecutive seasons with a winning record, every year of the program’s existence. The team’s usually difficult non-conference schedule included games against UCLA, Georgia, Oklahoma, Florida State and Ohio State. Blair Bodenmiller was named preseason conference player of the year. She was named to the All-Conference team for the second year in a row and was joined by teammates Taylor Fawbush and Jessica Myers.

Men's Swimming and Diving recorded its best finish ever in Sun Belt Conference Championships with a fourth-place effort. Sophomore Csaba Pek was a three-time SBC Swimmer of the Week and had three top-five performances at the Conference Championships. Other individuals receiving the league’s weekly honor include divers Garret LeMon, Andrew Scully and swimmer David Rudolf. Pek and Mikolaj Czarnecki provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships. Czarnecki won the 200-yard butterfly at the conference meet. The team hosted Denver, LSU, Clemson and Cincinnati in meets throughout the season.

Women's Swimming and Diving finished fourth in the Sun Belt Conference Championships. Freshman Eszter Bucz established school records in the 200-yard individual medley and 400-yard individual medley while at the conference meet. She also finished second in her individual races. She was named the SBC Swimmer of the Week on three separate occasions. Bucz also set the freshman school record in the 1,000-yard freestyle event. Jonna Nyback had two top-five performances at the conference meet and earned the conference’s weekly honor. Other individuals receiving the honor include divers Christina Sterman, Stephanie Goodman and Maegan Butler. The team hosted Denver, Cincinnati, LSU, Miami and FIU in home dual meets.

Men's Tennis secured its third straight double-digit win total and advanced to the semifinal round of the Sun Belt Conference Championships for the fourth straight season. Junior Marc Abdelnour and freshman George Matschke were named to the all-conference team. Junior Joshua Scholl was named to the ESPN the Magazine First Team At-Large Academic All-District team. The Owls picked up a 4-0 victory over the University of New Orleans in the conference tournament and knocked off Middle Tennessee State University 4-0 as part of the Sun Belt Shootout. FAU was featured in a world-wide radio broadcast on radiotennis.com when it played at Miami. The team had five players win 13 or more singles matches throughout the season. 

Women's Tennis increased its win total by two matches and picked up victories over Sun Belt Conference foes Middle Tennessee State University and the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. The Owls played nationally ranked opponent Miami, DePaul and Florida International. The team had three players win double-digit singles matches. FAU had a three-match winning streak during the middle of the season, mirroring the longest winning streak since the 2007 season.

Track produced two individual conference champions last season. Patricia Gumbs (800 meters) and Toyria Mattear (400 meter hurdles) both won Sun Belt event titles. Mattear’s title was the second of her career at FAU. Gumbs and triple jumper Ashani Roberts also advanced to the NCAA Preliminaries in Greensboro, North Carolina. 

Volleyball faced a tough non-conference schedule, including a match at No. 9 Florida, in addition to a tough Sun Belt Conference schedule. The Sun Belt placed multiple teams in the NCAA tournament for the third-consecutive year. FAU will return its entire roster for the 2012 season, including junior libero Cintia Nightingale, who picked up her 1,000th career dig during the final weekend of the season. Nightingale will begin her senior year with an opportunity to become the school’s all-time leader in digs. Madison Lang led the Owls with 613 assists on the year and Sara Stoll led the team with 92 total blocks.

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