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A Mountaineer Impact Reaches $60 Million Fundraising Goal

Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of App State’s alumni, fans and friends, the $60 million goal for App State Athletics’ comprehensive fundraising initiative – A Mountaineer Impact, A Drive for Excellence – has been met.

Launched in February 2017, the initiative was designed to:
–       Construct and enhance athletic facilities.
–       Provide critical scholarship support.
–       Impact the overall athletic experience for student-athletes and fans.
–       Strengthen campus and community engagement.

“We cannot thank the App Family enough for their commitment to taking App State to another level,” Director of Athletics Doug Gillin said. “There is a culture of excellence that’s been here for decades, and the contributions of our alumni, fans and friends have boosted that championship tradition. While the past year has been challenging, donations of more than $1 million to the Keep Climbing initiative helped us to sustain operations and support our student-athletes during a difficult season due to the pandemic.

“Mountaineer student-athletes have never had better access to academic support, health and well-being resources and life skills development. Thank you to all those who have Made An Impact.”

There are many examples of how donations to A Mountaineer Impact have increased the profile of App State Athletics and enhanced the experience of Mountaineer student-athletes. Below are a few of the highlights:

  • Mountaineer student-athletes just completed their 18th straight semester with a 3.0 cumulative GPA and regularly lead Sun Belt schools in academic honor roll members.
  • Since fall 2016, App State teams have won 15 conference titles in seven different sports.
  • App State is the first college football program to win bowl games in each of its first six eligible FBS seasons.
  • Football’s record of 63-15 from 2015-20 trails only Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma among all FBS schools.
  • The 2019 football team became the first Sun Belt or North Carolina FBS school to win 13 games. It finished 18th and 19th in the national polls, the best by a Sun Belt school at the time.
  • This spring, men’s basketball won its first Sun Belt Tournament Championship and made its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000.
  • Wrestling has sent a school-record number of athletes to the NCAA Championships each of the last two years, including seven in 2021. The Mountaineers won four straight league titles from 2016-19.
  • App State won the 2019 Women’s Basketball Invitational postseason tournament.
  • Women’s tennis won its first conference title in 2019.
  • Men’s and women’s cross country have combined for four league titles since 2016.
  • This spring, Timothius Tirto Tamardi became the first App State golfer to compete at the NCAA Championships since at least 1974.
  • Softball made its first postseason appearance in 2019 (NISC) and has posted three straight winning seasons for the first time in program history.
  • Volleyball advanced to the championship match of the 2018 Sun Belt Tournament and earned a postseason berth to the NIVC.
  • App State’s endowment has doubled, and scholarship support has increased throughout the span of the initiative.
  • The north end zone facility, finished in phases in 2020-21, houses new football locker room, weight room, training center, meeting rooms, recruiting lounge and barber shop, as well as 1,000 premium club-level seats at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
  • State-of-the-art videoboards were installed at Kidd Brewer Stadium and the Holmes Convocation Center in 2017.
  • The Mark E. Harrill Basketball Practice Facility, which is currently undergoing renovations, features a new hardwood floor and upgrades for practices for both basketball teams and volleyball.
  • Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium received a new AstroTurf field in 2020 and is undergoing updates to the Don and Pat Phillips Indoor Hitting and Pitching Facility among other stadium enhancements.
  • New AstroTurf fields were installed at the Appalachian Soccer Stadium at Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex in 2019 and at Kidd Brewer Stadium in 2020.
  • Construction of the new home of App State track & field is underway at the Appalachian 105 complex.
  • Other facility enhancements since the start of the initiative have been completed for wrestling, volleyball, golf, field hockey and football.
The north end zone facility, featuring a new front entrance to Kidd Brewer Stadium and the Mark E. Ricks Athletics Complex, was completed in phases in 2020-21.
The basketball programs began practicing on the new courts in the Mark E. Harrill Basketball Practice Facility in September 2020.
Nationally recognized for its gorgeous setting, Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium received a new AstroTurf field in 2020.
A new AstroTurf field was installed at the Appalachian Soccer Stadium at Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex in 2019.
A state-of-the-art videoboard was installed at Holmes Convocation Center, as well as Kidd Brewer Stadium, in 2017.
App State won the first two Sun Belt football championship games, including this one in 2019 as part of a historic 13-1 season that ended with a top-20 national ranking.
Four wins in four days last March resulted in the Mountaineers’ first Sun Belt men’s basketball title and their first trip to the Big Dance since 2000.
App State went on a postseason surge to capture the 2019 Women’s Basketball Invitational trophy.
Wrestling won four straight Southern Conference titles from 2016-19 and has sent a school-record number of athletes to the NCAA Championships each of the last two years.
App State captured women’s cross country Sun Belt titles in 2016 and 2018.
The Mountaineers were crowned Sun Belt champions in men’s cross country in 2017 and 2019.
App State won its first women’s tennis league title in 2019.