In honor of Eastern’s Centennial, let’s take a short gander on the history of Eastern University Athletics from the very first sport to today, as well as some noteworthy achievements that our programs and players have accomplished over the years.
If we’re being technical, the very first sport that we added was Turning Point, who competed iwn various competitions as early as the 1930’s. The feature on Turning Point earlier in this issue provides more information.
The earliest records we have show that the very first sport we added was Men’s Basketball in 1952, just as the school’s name changed to Eastern Baptist College. They went 6-2, mostly playing against Seminaries, including ourselves. Right as they separated from Eastern Baptist Seminary, which is what Eastern originally was before it founded the college, they played two games against said seminary.
Fun fact: Tony Campollo was a freshman playing on that year’s team.
Since then, the Eagles have added 24 more teams, as well as a Marching Band and an Esports program that competes in numerous video-game leagues.
The Eagles have played in numerous leagues over the years. Before 1993, Eastern was part of the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association), which is a league like the NCAA that has two divisions with a combined 92 Christian schools. Eastern then moved to the more popular NCAA in 1993 and joined the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (PAC), which featured notable rivals such as Alvernia, Misericordia, and Cabrini. They then moved to the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) in 2008, and they spent 12 years in the Freedom, before moving to the Commonwealth in 2020 in a saga of changes brought on by the addition of York College of Pennsylvania.
Eastern has had numerous athletes achieve tremendous success, such as Andrea Collesidis Roos (‘02) of Women’s Basketball and Women’s Lacrosse. Dominating in both sports, she is the school’s all-time leader scorer in both sports. Not only that, she was the all-time leading scorer in NCAA history in women’s lacrosse, becoming the first player in Division III history to score 300 career goals in 2002.
The same goes for the teams themselves. Field Hockey made the NCAA Tournament in each of their first five years in the MAC, including a trip to the Elite Eight in 2010. Men’s Soccer and Men’s Lacrosse both made the National Tournament numerous times in the 2010’s, with the former going as far as the Sweet Sixteen in 2018. Men’s Basketball has also made in twice this decade.
Eastern has added a whopping seven sports in the past six years. In 2019, men’s volleyball played in their first season of Division III competition and came out swinging by winning its first four games. Cheer and Dance were also added for the fall of 2021, appearing and performing routines at home football and basketball games, as well as competing in numerous tournaments.
That same fall saw Eastern announce the addition of football, which has been on an upward trajectory since they started playing NCAA competition in 2023. After their first season, which saw them win two games and keep several others to within one score, the Eagles took a big leap in 2024 with three more wins than in 2023, a winning record in conference play, eight All-Conference selections, and falling mere tiebreakers short of a bowl game appearance.
Finally, in year 100, Flag Football is set to begin competition in the Atlantic East. Their first home game is set to kick off on March 26 at 5:30 p.m.
Eastern has also announced the additions of men’s and women’s wrestling, which will begin competing in the 2026-27 academic year.
Savana Dodd 
Hannah Bonanducci 
Jeff Day