Grand View Vikings
Encyclopedia
The Grand View Vikings are the athletic teams of Grand View University. The college is a member of the Midwest Collegiate Conference and competes in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
, plays in the Mid-States Football Association
, fielding 17 varsity teams in 11 sports: football
, soccer (men's/women's), volleyball
, cross country running
(men's/women's), basketball
(men's/women's), indoor track and field
(men's/women's), wrestling
, baseball
, golf
(men's/women's), outdoor track and field
(men's/women's) and softball
.
In addition, the cheerleading
and competitive dance
squads occasionally perform at athletic events. The squads are supported by the athletic department.
in July 2007. Woodley has over 30 years of coaching experience and prior to Grand View, Woodley was head coach at Sam Rayburn High School
in Pasadena, Texas
. Woodley is a familiar name in the Iowa football community, after serving as head coach at conference rival Saint Ambrose University
in Davenport, Iowa
from 1991 to 1993 and assistant coach at Iowa State University
from 1994 to 2003. Woodley is a 1974 University of Northern Iowa
graduate and four-year football letterman. He still holds the Panthers' school record for 20 career interceptions.
In a press release by the Grand View athletic department, Woodley stated, “Anybody who’s been in this business long enough knows that the opportunity to start a program from scratch is very rare. There are so many exhilarating things happening on campus with the addition of athletic programs, new student housing, and new buildings. Grand View is headed in the right direction, and I want to be a part of it."
Grand View will play independently of a league in 2008 before officially joining the Midwest League of the Mid-States Football Association
, in 2009. Iowa Wesleyan College
, McKendree University, Quincy University
, Saint Ambrose University
, University of St. Francis, and William Penn University
are all members of the MSFA.
The Vikings played Briar Cliff University
in its historical debut on Saturday, August 30, 2008 Williams Stadium, Grand View's new home field. Grand View won 20-17.
, mentioned in its September 7, 2007 issue that construction will begin in the fall of 2007 of "a new weight room for sports teams; faculty offices; and wrestling team area" and will be completed by the summer of 2008 as part of the college's master plan. This addition will be built onto the southeast side of the existing Johnson Wellness Center near the baseball field.
On Thursday, March 6, 2008, Grand View announced the establishment of a wrestling squad with the hiring of new head wrestling coach Nick Mitchell. Mitchell is a graduate of Wartburg College
, where he was an assistant wrestling coach leading up to his hiring at Grand View.
The Grand View wrestling program will be the first Des Moines collegiate wrestling program since Drake University
dropped their program after their 1992-1993 season. The Des Moines Register
also reports that the first season for Grand View wrestling will be in the 2008-2009 winter.
Sisam Arena was renovated in 2002 while the wellness center was being built and received new bleachers, backboards, wall padding and a small media platform.
The upper fieldhouse contains 1/10 mile track, weight lifting equipment open to athletes and Grand View students, faculty and staff and a double basketball court resides on the ground level.
In 2008, a new two-level addition was added on the southeast corner to provide a new weight room, a wrestling
room and athletics staff offices. The 3100 square feet (288 m²) weight room facility exclusively for athletes has ten "Power Lift" stations and a collective 9020 pounds (4,091.4 kg) in plates, dumbbells and bars.
, Williams Stadium. The college and East High will be in a working partnership. Grand View has committed to spending $800,000 on a new locker room facility and will raise an additional $1.2 million for other track and field renovations at the stadium. Grand View and the East High Foundation, an organization for alumni, staff, faculty and the east-side community, will partner in the fundraising. Artificial turf
was installed, allowing both East High and Grand View to play and practice on the field, for the 2009 season. A sports pavilion, new goal posts, and a new college-regulation track will also be part of the renovation plan.
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...
, plays in the Mid-States Football Association
Mid-States Football Association
The Mid-States Football Association is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NAIA. Member institutions are located in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Ohio. The MSFA was organized in 1993, and on-field competition began in 1994...
, fielding 17 varsity teams in 11 sports: football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, soccer (men's/women's), volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
, cross country running
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
(men's/women's), basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
(men's/women's), indoor track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
(men's/women's), wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
, baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
(men's/women's), outdoor track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
(men's/women's) and softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
.
In addition, the cheerleading
Cheerleading
Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
and competitive dance
Competitive dance
Competitive dance is a popular, widespread activity in which competitors perform dances in any of several permitted dance styles—such as acro, ballet, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, modern, and tap—before a common group of judges...
squads occasionally perform at athletic events. The squads are supported by the athletic department.
History
Grand View joined the NAIA after it moved from junior college status in 1979. Many athletic programs at Grand View have been reinstated or added in the past decade. Grand View added women's soccer in 1998 and has reinstated competitive dance (2002), cross country (2003), golf (2004) and track (2006). Wrestling and football were added in 2008. There was talk of reinstating women's tennis in fall of 2007, but so far nothing has been announced.Football
Grand View announced that it will be creating a football team in the fall of 2008 with the hiring of Mike WoodleyMike Woodley
-External links:*...
in July 2007. Woodley has over 30 years of coaching experience and prior to Grand View, Woodley was head coach at Sam Rayburn High School
Sam Rayburn High School
Sam Rayburn High School is a public high school located in Pasadena, Texas in the United States. The school is a part of the Pasadena Independent School District.The mission of Sam Rayburn is to provide a supportive, ethical, academic environment in which students acquire the intellectual, social...
in Pasadena, Texas
Pasadena, Texas
Pasadena is a city in the U.S. state of Texas within the metropolitan area. It is the second-largest city in Harris County, 17th-largest in Texas, and 162nd largest in the United States. The area was founded in 1893 by John H. Burnett of Galveston....
. Woodley is a familiar name in the Iowa football community, after serving as head coach at conference rival Saint Ambrose University
Saint Ambrose University
St. Ambrose University is a private, coeducational, liberal arts university affiliated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport. It is located in a residential area of Davenport, Iowa.-History:...
in Davenport, Iowa
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...
from 1991 to 1993 and assistant coach at Iowa State University
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
from 1994 to 2003. Woodley is a 1974 University of Northern Iowa
University of Northern Iowa
The University of Northern Iowa is a college located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States. UNI offers more than 120 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities and Fine Arts, Natural Sciences, and Social and Behavioral sciences, and graduate college.UNI has...
graduate and four-year football letterman. He still holds the Panthers' school record for 20 career interceptions.
In a press release by the Grand View athletic department, Woodley stated, “Anybody who’s been in this business long enough knows that the opportunity to start a program from scratch is very rare. There are so many exhilarating things happening on campus with the addition of athletic programs, new student housing, and new buildings. Grand View is headed in the right direction, and I want to be a part of it."
Grand View will play independently of a league in 2008 before officially joining the Midwest League of the Mid-States Football Association
Mid-States Football Association
The Mid-States Football Association is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NAIA. Member institutions are located in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Ohio. The MSFA was organized in 1993, and on-field competition began in 1994...
, in 2009. Iowa Wesleyan College
Iowa Wesleyan College
Iowa Wesleyan College is a private four-year liberal arts college of the United Methodist Church located Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.Iowa Wesleyan is recognized as a pioneer in higher education in America. Founded in 1842, it ranks as the oldest coeducational college located west of the Mississippi River...
, McKendree University, Quincy University
Quincy University
Quincy University a private liberal arts Catholic university in the Franciscan tradition. It is located in Quincy, Illinois and currently enrolls around 1,300 students.-History:...
, Saint Ambrose University
Saint Ambrose University
St. Ambrose University is a private, coeducational, liberal arts university affiliated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport. It is located in a residential area of Davenport, Iowa.-History:...
, University of St. Francis, and William Penn University
William Penn University
William Penn University is a private, liberal arts university in Oskaloosa, Iowa, United States. It was founded by members of the Religious Society of Friends in 1873 as Penn College...
are all members of the MSFA.
The Vikings played Briar Cliff University
Briar Cliff University
Briar Cliff University is a private, Franciscan Roman Catholic liberal arts university located in Sioux City, Iowa, United States. -History:In March 1929, Mother Mary Dominica Wieneke, Major Superior of...
in its historical debut on Saturday, August 30, 2008 Williams Stadium, Grand View's new home field. Grand View won 20-17.
Wrestling
The campus newspaper, The Grand ViewsThe Grand Views
The Grand Views is the official student newspaper of Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, published in print and online. It was founded in 1949, and its publication is funded by advertising revenues as well as funds from the university administration, which pays for its free distribution on...
, mentioned in its September 7, 2007 issue that construction will begin in the fall of 2007 of "a new weight room for sports teams; faculty offices; and wrestling team area" and will be completed by the summer of 2008 as part of the college's master plan. This addition will be built onto the southeast side of the existing Johnson Wellness Center near the baseball field.
On Thursday, March 6, 2008, Grand View announced the establishment of a wrestling squad with the hiring of new head wrestling coach Nick Mitchell. Mitchell is a graduate of Wartburg College
Wartburg College
Wartburg College is a selective four-year liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America located in Waverly, Iowa. Wartburg West is in Denver, Colorado....
, where he was an assistant wrestling coach leading up to his hiring at Grand View.
The Grand View wrestling program will be the first Des Moines collegiate wrestling program since Drake University
Drake University
Drake University is a private, co-educational university located in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The institution offers a number of undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and pharmacy. Today, Drake is one of the twenty-five oldest law schools in the country....
dropped their program after their 1992-1993 season. The Des Moines Register
Des Moines Register
The Des Moines Register is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa, in the United States. A separate edition of the Register is sold throughout much of Iowa.-History:...
also reports that the first season for Grand View wrestling will be in the 2008-2009 winter.
Charles S. Johnson Wellness Center/Sisam Arena
Located at 1500 Morton Avenue, the Charles S. Johnson Wellness Center opened in 2002 and is the largest building on campus as of summer 2007. The 80000 square feet (7,432.2 m²) facility can be considered the nerve center of the Viking athletic program. The women's volleyball team plays home games in the fieldhouse, and the men's and women's basketball teams play home games in Sisam Arena. Home wrestling events are also held in Sisam Arena. The lobby of the arena contains trophy cases which make up the Grand View Athletic Hall of Fame. Sisam Arena was named after David Sisam, longtime coach and athletic director.Sisam Arena was renovated in 2002 while the wellness center was being built and received new bleachers, backboards, wall padding and a small media platform.
The upper fieldhouse contains 1/10 mile track, weight lifting equipment open to athletes and Grand View students, faculty and staff and a double basketball court resides on the ground level.
In 2008, a new two-level addition was added on the southeast corner to provide a new weight room, a wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
room and athletics staff offices. The 3100 square feet (288 m²) weight room facility exclusively for athletes has ten "Power Lift" stations and a collective 9020 pounds (4,091.4 kg) in plates, dumbbells and bars.
Luhrs Athletic Complex
Luhrs Athletic Complex, located behind the wellness center at 1500 Morton Avenue, is composed of one field each for soccer, baseball, softball as well as an open grassy practice area adjacent to the baseball field on Sheridan Avenue. Luhrs was renovated in 2004. Residential houses sit immediately on the other side of the fence of the soccer field.Williams Stadium
Located away from campus at 1591 East University Avenue, Grand View will be playing at the stadium of East High School (Des Moines)East High School (Des Moines)
East High School, usually referred to simply as East, is a secondary school located in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. East was the third largest high school in Iowa with 2,115 students, following Lincoln and West in Davenport as of the 2005-2006 school year...
, Williams Stadium. The college and East High will be in a working partnership. Grand View has committed to spending $800,000 on a new locker room facility and will raise an additional $1.2 million for other track and field renovations at the stadium. Grand View and the East High Foundation, an organization for alumni, staff, faculty and the east-side community, will partner in the fundraising. Artificial turf
Artificial turf
Artificial turf is a surface manufactured from synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commercial applications as well...
was installed, allowing both East High and Grand View to play and practice on the field, for the 2009 season. A sports pavilion, new goal posts, and a new college-regulation track will also be part of the renovation plan.
Other facilities and venues
- Ewing Park, a park owned and maintained by the City of Des Moines, is the home of Grand View's cross-country team and hosts the Viking Invitational each year. Ewing Park is located south of the Grand View campus.
- Briarwood Golf Course is a golf course located north of the campus in Ankeny, IowaAnkeny, IowaAnkeny is a city in Polk County, Iowa, United States. The population was 45,562 in the 2010 census, an increase of 68% from the 27,117 population in the 2000 census. It is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, a city north of Des Moines, Iowa Briarwood, an 18-hole, par-72 course is used for practice.