The UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Santa Cruz. The Banana Slugs compete in Division III of the NCAA, mostly in the Coast to Coast Athletic Conference (C2C). There are fifteen varsity sports – men's and women's basketball, tennis, soccer, volleyball, swimming and diving, cross country, track & field, and women's golf. UCSC teams have been Division III nationally ranked in tennis, soccer, cross country, men's volleyball, and swimming. UCSC maintains a number of successful club sides.
UC Santa Cruz joined the NCAA in September 1980 after years of playing in unofficial club competition. In 2016, due to mounting debt in the funding of the athletic program, the university polled its students on whether or not they would approve an increase in student fees which would be necessary to maintain the athletic program. There was a significant doubt that the students would approve this increase. Contrary to predictions, a majority of the students approved a significant addition to their annual fees to maintain the existence of the athletic program.
Varsity sports
Basketball Basketball Cross country Cross country Soccer Golf Swimming and diving Soccer Tennis Swimming and diving Track and field† Tennis Volleyball Track and field† Volleyball UCSC participates in NCAA Division III men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. In the past, it has also participated in water polo.
Basketball Until 1972, there was a loosely structured club basketball team with no coach; they played the local junior colleges and bible colleges. A more formal team (with a student coach) was fielded in 1972–73. They finished 22–6. Since 2013, both men's and women's basketball teams have played downtown at the Kaiser Permanente Arena.
Cross Country The Women’s Cross Country team has finished as high as 3rd at the NCAA West Regional Championship in 2022, with 4th place finishes in 2021 and 2023. The best finish by the Men’s Cross Country team at Regionals was second in 2017, with 3rd place finishes in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022.
Soccer The Banana Slugs were national runners-up in men's soccer in 2004. Team members included future MLS players Adam Smarte and Stephen Wondolowski.
Women's soccer has made NCAA Tournament appearances twelve times, most recently in 2019. Alumnae include Claire Lim, a full international for The Philippines.
Tennis By defeating Emory to win the 2007 NCAA Championship in men's tennis, UCSC won their sixth Division III team championship. UCSC won their seventh championship in 2009 beating Amherst College in the finals to tie Kalamazoo for the most team titles in NCAA Division III.2009 NCAA Men's Tennis Championships Results and Records(NCAA.org)
Track & Field
UCSC added a woman's track & field varsity program in 2012. In 2016, it added a men's varsity program as well. In 2017, the Slugs track & field team competed in all event groups, for both men and women, for the first time.
Volleyball In 2012, the Men's Volleyball Team made a Division III NCAA Semifinal appearance in the inaugural NCAA Tournament. In 2013, Men's Volleyball qualified for a second Division III Tournament. After a four-year absence, the Slugs returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2019 and were national runners-up.UC Santa Cruz falls in National Title game
The Women's volleyball team has made three appearances in the NCAA tournament: 2013, 2015 and 2022. Both teams started playing at Kaiser Permanente Arena in 2018.
Water Polo In the 2006 season, the men's water polo team won the Division III championship, as well as an overall NCAA ranking of 19th in the nation. However, both the men and women's water polo teams went to club status in 2008 due to budget constraints.
Club sports In addition to its NCAA sports, UCSC maintains a number of successful club sides including its women's rugby NCAA Division team, which won the Division II National Collegiate Championship during its 2005 season and has competed at nationals several times since, most recently in 2010 and 2013. UCSC ultimate frisbee has a distinguished history, winning the men's collegiate national championship in 1991 and the women's national collegiate championship in 1994 and 1995. Many other club teams exist such as soccer, lacrosse, baseball, rugby, softball, and fencing.
Intramural athletics Although UCSC never had a track, the residential colleges regularly competed in an improvised "Slug Run" every spring from 1967 to 1982, though the Run now is a community event and fundraiser event hosted by the cross-country club for much needed fund to pay for entry fees, hotel, and transportation to race.Cross Country Club Stays Strong, Despite Running on Fumes | City on a Hill Press
Approximately 25% of the student population participates in intramural athletics, which tend to be better funded than the intercollegiate athletic programs.
Championships
Appearances The UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs have competed in the NCAA Championships across 14 active sports (7 men's and 7 women's) a combined 121 times at the Division III level.
Women's basketball (2): 2016, 2017 Men's cross country (3): 2017, 2019, 2022 Women's cross country (2): 2022, 2023 Women's golf (1): 2007 Men's soccer (8): 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 Women's soccer (12): 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 Men's swimming and diving (18): 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2017 Women's swimming and diving (16): 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2024 Men's tennis (34): 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2023 Women's tennis (10): 1994, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 Men's Track and Field- Indoor (2): 2023, 2024 Men's Track and Field- Outdoor (2): 2021, 2023 Women's Track and Field- Indoor (1): 2022 Women's Track and Field- Outdoor (2): 2019, 2021 Men's volleyball (5): 2012, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2023 Women's volleyball (3): 2013, 2015, 2022
Team Championships
The Banana Slugs of UC Santa Cruz earned 7 NCAA team championships at the Division III level.
Men's (7) Tennis (7): 1989, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2005, 2007, 2009
Results
1988–89 Men's tennis Swarthmore 5–4 1994–95 Men's tennis Washington College 4–1 1995–96 Men's tennis Emory 4–2 1997–98 Men's tennis Williams 4–2 2004–05 Men's tennis Middlebury 4–1 2006–07 Men's tennis Emory 5–1 2008–09 Men's tennis Amherst 5–0
Below are nine national club team championships:
Women's rugby – Division II (1): 2006 (USA Rugby) Co-ed sailing (1): 1976 (ICSA) Men's tennis – Division III (3): 2001, 2007, 2010 (ITA) Men's ultimate (1): 1991 (USA Ultimate) Women's ultimate (2): 1994, 1995 (USA Ultimate) Women's Water Polo – Division III (1): 2022 (Collegiate Water Polo Association)
Note: Those with no denoted division is assumed that the institution earned a national championship at the highest level.
Individual
UC Santa Cruz had 18 Banana Slugs win NCAA individual championships at the Division III level.
NCAA individual championships Order School year Athlete(s) Sport Source 1 1993–94 Jonathan HarperRon Ward Men's tennis 2 1995–96 Matthew Humphreys Men's swimming and diving 3 1995–96 Jonathan HarperJosh Vining Men's tennis 4 1997–98 Brian CummingsThomas Oechel Men's tennis 5 1998–99 Thomas Oechel Men's tennis 6 1998–99 Brian CummingsThomas Oechel Men's tennis 7 1999–00 Peter GladkinThomas Oechel Men's tennis 8 2000–01 Derek Fitzpatrick Men's tennis 9 2000–01 Nick CunninghamDerek Fitzpatrick Men's tennis 10 2001–02 Ben Weston Men's swimming and diving 11 2002–03 Mollie Lewis Women's swimming and diving 12 2003–04 Matt Seeberger Men's tennis 13 2004–05 Matt Seeberger Men's tennis 14 2004–05 Matt BrunnerMatt Seeberger Men's tennis 15 2005–06 Matt SeebergerShane Templeman Men's tennis 16 2006–07 Matt Seeberger Men's tennis 17 2006–07 Max OrtizMatt Seeberger Men's tennis 18 2009–10 Brian PybasMarc Vartabedian Men's tennis
Mascot
UCSC's mascot is the banana slug (specifically, Ariolimax dolichophallus). In 1970, volleyball team member David Van Cleve created the mascot "Banana Slugs" for the UCSC volleyball team. He was concerned that, as sports began to gain in popularity at the institution, a team name or mascot did not exist. His roommate, Bob Grindeslug (no relation), silk-screened uniform shirts for the entire volleyball team in preparation for the All-Cal tournament that year. After their graduation in 1972, the team name was no longer used until 1974, when the UCSC club soccer team reinvigorated the Banana Slug mascot. Three soccer team members, Larry DeGhetaldi, Fred Bicknell, Sven Steinmo and their roommate, Richard Hedges, chose to name the team the Banana Slugs before an All-Cal tournament. The team's unusual name was noted by the San Jose Mercury News after the team suffered a humiliating defeat against the San Jose State Spartans.
In the Fall of 1972, when the club basketball team became formalized (with a coach and expanded schedule), the athletic director at the time, Terry Warner, informed the team that they needed to have a mascot and that it had been chosen to be the Sea Lions. The team summarily rejected that name, claiming to not need any mascot. Consequently, their uniforms simply said "UCSC" on them and there was no recognized mascot. In 1980, when the university began more formally participating in NCAA intercollegiate sports, the then-chancellor and some student athletes declared the mascot to be the sea lions. Most students disliked the new mascot and offered an alternative mascot, the banana slug. In 1986, students voted via referendum to declare the banana slug the official mascot of UCSC – a vote the chancellor refused to honor, arguing that only athletes should choose the mascot. When a poll of athletes showed that they, too, wanted to be Slugs, the chancellor relented.
The June 16, 1986, issue of People magazine featured a full-page spread dedicated to the selection of the Banana Slug as the official mascot of UCSC. In February 2008, ESPN Sports Travel named the UCSC Banana Slugs as one of the ten best nicknames in college basketball.The full pages spread on page 85 of People featuring UCSC's mascot choice.
The "Fiat Slug" logo prominently featured on campus is a trademark of UCSC owned by the Regents. It was developed by students, artist Marc Ratner, with input by Pete Blackshaw, and Bob Byington in 1986, who later incorporated as "Oxford West" and licensed their design from the Regents to produce clothing inspired by the university. The slug also is featured along with the school's logo on Vincent Vega's T-shirt in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction.
After extensive discussion with the university community, the official logo was re-designed in 2020. The new logo still features Sammy the Slug, but re-drawn to be a "sleek and immediately recognizable design that is meant to evoke the department’s core values: inclusivity, ambition, and progressive values."
2016 referendum