The Manhattan Jaspers are composed of 19 teams representing Manhattan College in intercollegiate athletics. The Jaspers compete in the NCAA Division I and are members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Manhattan College fields 19 Division–I athletic teams for men and women, including basketball, soccer, golf, rugby, baseball and softball, tennis, lacrosse and volleyball. The school's men's sports teams are called the Jaspers; women are known as Lady Jaspers. Historically track and field has been the school's strongest sport. The Jaspers nickname comes from Brother Jasper of Mary, F.S.C., who was a memorable figure at the college. He was head of resident students, athletic director, and baseball coach during the late 1800s.
Teams
History
The school participated in the first intercollegiate lacrosse game in the United States, playing New York University on November 22, 1877. The college annually played the New York Giants in the late 1880s and into the 1890s at the Polo Grounds and Manhattan is credited by the Baseball Hall of Fame with the practice of the "seventh inning stretch" spreading from there into major league baseball. It is written in the Baseball Hall of Fame that "During one particularly warm and humid day when Manhattan College was playing a semi-pro baseball team called the Metropolitans, Brother Jasper noticed the Manhattan students were becoming restless and edgy as Manhattan came to bat in the seventh inning of a close game. To relieve the tension, Brother Jasper called time-out and told the students to stand up and stretch for a few minutes until the game resumed." Manhattan College had a football program from 1924 until 1942. The college team posted an all-time record of 194 wins, 198 losses and 22 ties. The final coach for the school's football team was Herbert M. Kopf. After the 1942 season, the school suspended intercollegiate football competition for World War II and then did not reactivate the program after completion of the war. The team was invited to the first ever Miami Palm Festival Game, predecessor to the Orange Bowl, played on January 2, 1933, University of Miami defeated Manhattan College, 7–0. The team was revived in the 1965 in the form of a club team, and existed until 1987. In the modern era, basketball is the most popular sport at the school. The current coach is Steve Masiello who has been with Manhattan since 2011 as head coach. During the 2013–2014 season, the Jaspers beat Iona in the MAAC Conference Final and went on to play the University of Louisville in the first round of the NCAA tournament in a controversial game where Masiello was set up to face his old mentor Rick Pitino. During the 2014-15 season, the Jaspers again defeated Iona in the MAAC Conference Final to earn their second straight trip to the NCAA tournament, where they lost to Hampton University in the play-in game, or first round. The Manhattan College Track and Field program is the richest athletic tradition in the school, amassing a total of 31 out of a possible 32 MAAC Indoor/Outdoor Track titles. In 1973, Manhattan College won the Indoor NCAA Championship along with setting a new world record in the distance medley relay. Manhattan was also home to former American Record holder in the 5,000m Matthew Centrowitz Sr. The Program was run by legendary coach/runner Fred Dwyer who ran an astounding 4:00.3 mile while at his time at Manhattan. Manhattan still remains a powerhouse on the east coast as one of the top programs around, under the direction of Dan Mecca. Luis Castro, a Manhattan College alumnus, was the first Latin American born player to play in Major League Baseball in the United States, and the first Latin American since Cuban player Esteban Bellán in 1873 to play professional baseball. Manhattan College's rowing program holds much history, as well. The school is one of the original 8 founding members of the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta, the largest Collegiate Regatta in the United States. The race attracts over one hundredColleges and Universities from the U.S. and Canada and thousands of Student-Athletes on the second Saturday of May. The team's coach, Allen Walz, along with the school's football coach at the time, Herbert M. Kopf, served as stewards to the regatta. In 1936 and 1938, Manhattan was one of two teams competing in the regatta, the other being Rutgers, on the Harlem River, where the team trains today. Both the men's and women's teams still compete in the Dad Vail Regatta today, as well as in the MAAC Championships, N.Y. State Championships, Knecht Cup and the C.R.A.S.H. B's World Indoor Rowing Championships. Manhattan's lacrosse program became Division I in 1997. They have qualified for the MAAC tournament 7 times. In 2002 the Jaspers went undefeated in the MAAC, and won the MAAC Championship. They finished with an 11–6 record. The Jaspers earned a bid to the NCAA Playoffs in 2002, playing Georgetown. They fell to Georgetown 12–7 in the first round of the NCAAs. They have produced many ALL-MAAC players throughout the 15 years of the program. On July 15, 2014, it was announced that Manhattan College's baseball team will play all of their home competitions at Dutchess Stadium.
Manhattan has long maintained rivalries with several local, and MAAC Conference opponents. The Jaspers' most notable rivals are the Fordham UniversityRams, with whom they compete in the "Battle of the Bronx", and the Iona Gaels. The Jaspers also maintain a very strong rivalry with the Siena Saints.
