Pomona's teams were formed in 1895, and it was a founding member of the SCIAC in 1914. The college competed withClaremont Men's College (CMC) for a decade beginning in 1946, and joined with Pitzer in 1970.
Pomona College's first intercollegiate sports teams were formed in 1895.[1] The college was one of the three founding members of theSCIAC in 1914, and its football team played in the inaugural game at theLos Angeles Coliseum in 1923, losing to theUniversity of Southern California Trojans.[1] From 1946 to 1956, Pomona joined withClaremont Men's College (CMC) to compete as Pomona-Claremont.[1] In 1970, Pomona began competing with Pitzer College (then seven years old) on an interim basis, and the arrangement became permanent two years later.[1]
The Sagehens ranked 15th out of 323 competing Division III schools and 2nd among SCIAC schools in the 2024–2025 Division IIINACDA Directors' Cup, which ranks athletics programs and awards points relative to their finish in NCAA championships.[6] Thewater polo,track and field, women'ssoccer, and women'stennis teams are regarded as particularly strong.[7]
The Sagehens have won 50 individualNCAA Division III championships: 19 in men's track and field, 12 in women's swimming and diving, 9 in women's tennis, 6 in men's swimming and diving, and 4 in women's track and field.[9] Additionally, they have won four team titles: women's tennis in 1992, back-to-back titles in men's cross country in 2019 and 2021, and an additional title in men's cross country in 2023.[9]
Pomona-Pitzer's primary indoor athletics facility is the Center for Athletics, Recreation, and Wellness (CARW),[a] located near the center of Pomona's campus. It was reconstructed and renovated in 2022,[16] replacing the Liliore Green Rains Center for Sport and Recreation, built in 1989.[17] The gym is complemented by various outdoor facilities, mostly located within the naturalistic eastern portion of Pomona's campus known asthe Wash.[18]
The officialmascot of the team is Cecil the Sagehen, agreater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus).[20][21] The bird is a large ground-dweller native to the western United States (although not Southern California), and is distinguished by its long, pointed tail and complexlek mating system. It is named after thesagebrush on which it feeds.[22]
Pomona-Pitzer is the only team in the world to use the Sagehen as a mascot,[23] and it is often noted for its goofiness.[24][25] Rather than in the grouse's natural brown and white colors, the mascot is rendered in the team's official colors, blue (for Pomona) and orange (for Pitzer).[26]
The precise origin of the nickname is unknown. Pomona competed under a variety of names in its early years, including "the Blue and White" and "the Huns".[1] The first known appearance of "Sagehens" was in a 1913 issue ofThe Student Life newspaper, and in 1918 it became the sole nickname.[20] Later Pomona-Claremont began using it, and it is now the nickname for the combined Pomona-Pitzer team. The first known reference to "Cecil" was made in the 1946Metate (Pomona's yearbook).[20]
Long-distance swimmer and world record-holder for the fastest swim across theEnglish Channel in 1978; later coached the Pomona women's swimming and diving team for more than 25 years
^The acronym "CARW" is seldom used by students, who instead refer to the gym generically. Some have proposed rearranging the letters to form the more pronounceable "CRAW".[14][15]
^Kendall, Mark (April 6, 2020)."Save the Sagehen".Pomona College Magazine. Pomona College.Archived from the original on October 20, 2023. RetrievedAugust 24, 2020.
^abReynolds, Kirk (April 1, 1999)."The Rivalry".Pomona College Magazine. Pomona College.Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. RetrievedSeptember 22, 2020.
^"1979".Pomona College Timeline. Pomona College. November 7, 2014.Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. RetrievedAugust 14, 2020.
![Pomona organized the first women's basketball team in Southern California in 1903.[1]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aPomona_College_women%2527s_basketball_team_photo%2c_1903.jpg)
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