Black College National Championships Appearances, Collegiate All Girls : first place in 2004, second place in 2003
Gold Star Dancers
Accomplishments
Black College National Championships Appearances : fourth place in 2004, third place in 2003
Former varsity sports
Football
Xavier University formerly sponsored a varsity football team starting in 1925. In 1955, Xavier played the Keesler Air Force Base team in Louisiana's first integrated college football game. The team's last season was 1959 and the program was disbanded in 1960 along with all sports at the university. The team played at the XU Football Field located in Xavier Stadium.
Athletics facilities
Current facilities
Xavier University Academic Convocation Center
The Xavier University Academic Convocation Center opened in November 2012. The 97,000 square-foot multipurpose facility replaced The Barn and became the new home of XU men's basketball, women's basketball and women's volleyball. The 3,937-seat facility includes a hospitality suite, a student-athlete fitness center, a media/video room, a theatre-style meeting space, and a state-of-the-art athletic training facility. The arena contains state-of-the-art sound, lighting and high-definition Daktronics video boards for spectator comfort. The Convocation Center also plays host to many classes, graduations, sporting and community events.
Convocation Center Annex
As part of the growth of the Xavier main campus as well as the athletics department, the Convocation Center Annex project was completed in 2012. The facility, located adjacent to the Convocation Center, is an academic building featuring several classrooms, reception and lecture spaces, meeting spaces, and administrative offices of the Athletics Department, Recreation Sports and Physical Education.
Xavier's cross country teams compete on the City Park Cross Country Course in City Park, a public facility. The mostly flat course is approximately three miles from the XU campus and is near the corner of Wisner Boulevard and Harrison Avenue. Xavier competed twice at City Park in 2014, including the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Championships. City Park covers 1,300 acres and was established in 1853. It is approximately 50 percent larger than Central Park in New York City. City Park holds the world's largest collection of mature live oak trees, some older than 600 years in age.
Xavier's track and field teams compete at Tad Gormley Stadium and practices regularly at the City Park Practice Track adjacent to the stadium. Tad Gormley Stadium offers great versatility for staging events in New Orleans - from outdoor athletic competitions to concerts and corporate special events. Gormley was the site of the 1992 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, the 1993 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the 1998 U.S. Track and Field Championships. Gormley's address is 5400 Stadium Drive, New Orleans, LA 70124. Stadium Features • 26,500 permanent seats • 400-meter polyurethane track • Artificial turf playing field • Three locker rooms • Press box with seating for 110 • Press suite with seating for 40 • Electronic scoreboard and state-of-the-art sound system
XULA Tennis Center
The XULA Tennis Center opened on October 26, 2012, as the home of XU men's and women's tennis. Facility Facts
GPS Driving Location: 3619 Pine St., New Orleans LA 70125
Facility cost: $2.5 million
Architect: Manning Architects
Contractor: Gibbs Construction
First women's dual match: Xavier 9, Loyola 0 on January 25, 2013
First men's dual match: Xavier 7, Loyola 2 on February 6, 2013
First collegiate dual match not involving Xavier: Idaho 4, Youngstown State 3 on March 10, 2013
Former facilities
The Barn
was the former home arena for the men's and women's basketball teams and volleyball team located on the Xavier campus. It opened in 1937 and was demolished in 2013.
Xavier Stadium
is a former stadium that included the XU football field and also a track. It was the former home of the Xavier football team and track and field team. The stadium was located at the corner of Washington Street and Pine Street in New Orleans.
Non-varsity athletic facilities
Fitness Center
On June 24, 2015, the university opened its Fitness Center. The $3.6 million facility is built between the Living Learning Center and St. Martin de Porres Hall, Xavier's two largest student residences on the site of the former B. Samuels building, which was bought and demolished. The first floor of the two-story facility offers an NCAA/NAIA regulation-sized basketball court, an office, a lounge area and an area with free weights and weight machines. The second floor consists of a three-lane walking/running track, a cardio room, spin studio and other multifunctional studios. Exercise machines will be available throughout the facility. The basketball court will be mostly used for intramural events such as basketball and volleyball, large exercise classes, fitness activities, yoga, dance and Zumba classes. The court can be divided with a retractable curtain to offer multiple activities simultaneously. This is the fourth XU athletics facility to open in three years.
