Houghton Athletics Celebrates Major Milestones

Houghton College is embarking on a new chapter of athletics starting this year as it enters a full membership in the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. According to Jason Mucher, the Empire 8 (E-8) category has proved to be a great fit for Houghton College. “It’s allowed for less travel time, keeping students around,” said Mucher, who also mentioned how the schools themselves were more like Houghton, with the E-8 mainly composed of “small to midsized, private liberal arts colleges who emphasize good academics.” The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes (NAIA) ceased to be a viable fit for Houghton geographically, and was slowly diminishing, which led Houghton to pursue membership into the more widely known NCAA Division III.

The college embarked on a five-year process to earn this new status. The process began with one exploratory year, and then four provisional years. Each year, the college received a promotion until full membership was achieved. In order to start the process, Houghton had to add multiple sports, including baseball, softball, men and women’s lacrosse, men and women’s tennis, and men and women’s golf. When they first started on the path to NCAA Division III, athletic director, Harold “Skip” Lord, met with the Commissioner and the Council President of the E-8 to look at Houghton’s facilities. At the time, the campus only had Burke Field, a practice soccer field, and a field hockey field.

“The question was, what would we do for facilities,” said Lord. Houghton needed all-weather facilities to be viable along with a baseball and softball field. Mucher and Lord both commented that they started looking into what they would like to see built. This is when the Pegula and Kerr families asked what they could do to help. They then decided to give the gift of the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex (KPAC) that includes the Kerr-Pegula Field House (KPFH), baseball field, and softball field.

As Houghton celebrates a new chapter in athletics, it also celebrates its athletic history with this year making 50 years of athletics at Houghton. Lord praised Mucher and stated, “Jason Mucher has been doing a lot of the work.” He also stated it was a team effort and that “many have vision casted what it would look like.”

Mucher talked much about how Houghton is celebrating the milestone. The department created a timeline of milestones, a logo, the mural, giveaways, events, contests, and many other different ways to encourage students to come to athletic events, while also celebrating the legacy and tradition of sports at Houghton. Events started early in September and many students have participated through Homecoming weekend, the legacy chapel, and attending sports games on the Saturday of Homecoming weekend. According to Mucher, the original sports teams at Houghton in 1967 were all men’s and included soccer, cross-country and basketball. In 1968, Houghton added baseball, track, tennis and golf. Finally, in 1969 Houghton added its first women’s sport, basketball.

Students have been enjoying the celebrations and revisiting Houghton’s athletics history. Olivia Bullock ‘20, a women’s soccer player, said, “It’s meaningful to be a part of such a long tradition of high level athletics focused on glorifying God through sports.”

Mucher and Lord agreed this celebration has been a team effort throughout the department. Mucher is proud of the well-rounded teams at Houghton, and the attitude being taken beyond the school. As Houghton continues to celebrate its athletics, the department is looking to plant major events in February and April. There will be continual celebratory events throughout this semester, the next including Throwback Thursdays on Houghton social media, athletics panels, and reminders at games.