Georgetown Hoyas
The University admits that the precise origin of the term "Hoya" is unknown. At some point before 1893, and likely before 1891, students versed in classical languages combined the Greek "hoia" or "hoya", meaning "what" or "such", and the Latin "saxa" to form "Hoya Saxa!", or "What Rocks!" This cheer may either refer to the stalwart defense of the football team, or to the baseball team, which was nicknamed the "Stonewalls", or to the actual stone wall that surrounds the campus. Father William McFadden, S.J., campus Jesuit and the team's in-house announcer at the Capital One Arena, has disputed the Greek and Latin origin, suggesting the classical words were retroactively applied to a nonsensical cheer.
After World War I, the term "Hoya" was increasingly used on campus, including for the newspaper and the school mascot. In 1920, students began publishing the campus's first sports newspaper under the name "The Hoya", after successfully petitioning the Dean of the College to use it instead of the proposed name, "The Hilltopper". "Hilltoppers" was also a name sometimes used for the sports teams. By the fall of 1928, the newspaper had taken to referring to the sports teams as the Hoyas. This was influenced by a popular half time show at football games, where the mascot, a dog nicknamed "Hoya," would entertain fans.
Georgetown Hoyas
Georgetown has won 2 NCAA Division 1 team national championships.
Georgetown has won 23 NCAA Division 1 individual national championships:Georgetown has also won 1 NCAA Division 2 individual national championship:Georgetown University fields numerous club sports teams. They range from club versions of varsity sports, such as tennis or basketball, to sports for which there is no varsity equivalent, such as men and women's Water Polo Clubs or Ultimate Frisbee. The university began supporting club teams in 2000. Though other teams exist, such as the Georgetown University Croquet Society, the Club Sports Board at Georgetown supports eleven men's club teams, nine women's, and three co-ed teams (year founded in parentheses):The Georgetown University Rugby Football Club is the intercollegiate men's rugby union team that represents Georgetown in the USA Rugby Division II competition. It was founded in the spring semester of 1967 by former members of the Washington D.C. Rugby Football Club including graduate student Michael Murphy. In 2005, Georgetown's first reached the Final Four of the USA Rugby Collegiate Division II National Tournament. The "Hoya Ruggers" again reached for the semifinals in 2009 in Palo Alto, California, and have had an undefeated 2009-10 season.