Athletics
St. John Fisher College competes at the NCAA Division III level, and is a member of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and the Empire 8. The college's mascot is the Cardinal.
Men compete at the varsity level in baseball, basketball, cross-country, football, golf, indoor and outdoor track and field, lacrosse, rowing, soccer and tennis. Women compete at the varsity level in basketball, cross-country, field hockey, golf, indoor and outdoor track and field, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball. The St. John Fisher women's lacrosse team won the Empire 8 conference championships in both 2007 and 2009. Also in 2009 the Cardinals advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament for the first time in the program's history.
Fisher offers some of the top athletic facilities in the state. Growney Stadium is home for Fisher's football, soccer and lacrosse teams. The stadium's all-weather playing field extends the outdoor sports season through the winter with lighting and a 2,100 seat grandstand. The student Life Center boasts a new 19,000-square-foot (1,800 m2) addition, which houses team locker rooms training rooms and fitness facilities. The field house now has an all purpose floor with four module courts that can be used for a variety of sports. There are six remodeled racquetball courts, a sauna and a whirlpool in the Student Life Center, as well as the Manning & Napier Varsity Gymnasium, which features a new parquet floor. Dugan Yard, Fisher's baseball field, is one of the finest collegiate facilities in the state. Other outdoor facilities include: the Polisseni Track and Field Complex, four tennis courts, a nine-hole golf course, a cross-country course, two regulation-sized practice fields, which serve as the home rugby fields, and a softball diamond.
St. John Fisher College is a founding member of the Empire 8 Athletic Association and competes with other full member schools: Alfred University, Elmira College, Hartwick College, Ithaca College, Nazareth College, Rochester Institute of Technology, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Utica College. The Empire 8 also has affiliate members in football (Springfield College) and field hockey (Washington & Jefferson College).
In 2006, Fisher's football team had the best season in the program's 20-year history. The Cardinals finished the season with a 12-2 record overall and shared the Empire 8 Conference title. Fisher received an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament, in which they defeated Union College, Springfield College and Rowan University to reach the national semifinals in which they lost to Mount Union College, the defending national champions, by a score of 26-14.
In 2007, Fisher's men's basketball team won the Empire 8 Conference title for the 5th consecutive year and the 6th time in seven years. In 2006, Fisher advanced to the "Elite 8" of the NCAA Men's Division III Basketball Championship Tournament.
The women's basketball program was led for 34 seasons by Phil Kahler, who posted a career record of 797 wins (the most in Division III history) and 175 losses with a career winning percentage of .821. Under Kahler, the women's basketball program reached the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament 14 times and played in the NCAA Women's Division III Basketball Championship game in 1988 and 1990. Kahler retired shortly before the start of the 2008-09 basketball season and was replaced on the bench by Marianne O'Connor Ermi, his top assistant coach for 20 seasons.
Fisher also offers the following other club sports: men's hockey, cheerleading, karate and rugby. Both the men's and women's rugby clubs have enjoyed success, with the men's rugby club earning a New York State Championship in 1999, and both teams having won numerous tournament titles. The club hockey team achieved success in 2006-07, winning the Upstate New York Collegiate Hockey League championship.
Fisher has recently added rowing to their large range of athletic events.
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