The Middlebury Panthers are the 31 varsity teams of Middlebury College that compete in the New England Small College Athletic Conference. The Panthers lead the NESCAC in total number of national championships, having won 42 team titles[2] since the conference lifted its ban on NCAA play in 1994.[3] Middlebury enjoys national success in soccer, cross country running, field hockey, men's basketball, women's hockey, skiing, men's lacrosse and women's lacrosse, and fields 31 varsity NCAA teams and several competitive club teams including a sailing team (MCSC),[4] a crew team, a water polo team, an ultimate frisbee team, and a rugby team. Since 2000, Middlebury's varsity squads have won 84 NESCAC titles. Currently,[when?] 28% of students participate in varsity sports.
Middlebury boasts nearly 40 athletes who have competed in the Olympic Games.[6]
In 1979 and 1980 the women's ski team won two AIAW national championships.[7]
In 2003, Middlebury Water Polo won the Men's Division III Collegiate Club Championship.[8]
From 2004 to 2006, both the men's and women's ice hockey teams won three consecutive NCAA Division III National Championships, an unprecedented feat for a college at any level. The men have won eight cumulative titles, while the women own six.
In 2007, Middlebury's Men's Soccer team captured its first NCAA Championship in the 54-year history of the program.
In 2011, the Middlebury men's basketball team reached the 2011 NCAA Men's Division III Tournament for the first time in school history.
In 2013, the Middlebury women's soccer team reached the NCAA Division III Final Four for the first time in school history and appeared in the NCAA Championship match in 2018.
In 2019, Middlebury Water Polo won the Women's Division III Collegiate Club Championship.
In 2019, the Middlebury football team won the NESCAC Championship with a perfect 9–0 record, the first in NESCAC history.
From 2015 to 2022, the Women's Field Hockey team won six national championships and has won five-straight NCAA titles from 2017-2022.
During the 2021-22 academic year, the Panthers won NCAA Championships in field hockey (22-0), women's ice hockey (27-0-0) and women's lacrosse (22-1).
In 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022 the Men's Club Ultimate Frisbee team reached the national semifinals. The 2020 tournament was cancelled and the team won the championship in 2019.
The 2011 Princeton Review ranks Middlebury's athletic facilities as #18 best in the United States.[10]
Middlebury's athletic facilities include:
Middlebury's newest athletic facility, Virtue Field House, opened in January 2015. The 110,000-square-foot structure houses the New Balance Foundation Track, a 200-meter track with nine 60-meter sprint lanes. Dedicated jumping and vaulting areas beyond the oval for field events are also part of the facility, as is McCormick Field, a 21,000-square-foot Field Turf surface inside the track for varsity, club, intramural and recreational purposes as well as throwing events.
