INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA has awarded five championships to the University of North Georgia for the 2023-26 seasons. UNG will serve as the primary host for one regional championship (cross country) and will provide assistance with hosting four national championship sites (women's rowing & softball).
Nighthawk Athletics will host, or provide operational support to, the following championships:
• 2023 NCAA Division II Softball National Championship – Chattanooga, Tenn. (Lee University)
• 2023 NCAA Division II Men's & Women's Cross Country Southeast Regional – Oakwood, Ga.
• 2025 NCAA Division II Softball National Championship – Chattanooga, Tenn. (Lee University)
• 2026 NCAA Division II Softball National Championship – Chattanooga, Tenn. (Lee University)
• 2026 NCAA Division I Women's Rowing National Championship – Gainesville, Ga. (Lake Lanier Olympic Park/City of Gainesville)
UNG was poised to host the 2020 NCAA Division II Men's & Women's Cross Country Southeast Regional this season, and was awarded the right to host again in 2023. The championship will take place at the UNG Cross Country Course on the Gainesville campus and will be the second time that the Nighthawks have hosted the regional meet.
The Nighthawks hosted the Southeast Regional field for the first time in 2018, marking the first time UNG was awarded championship hosting rights through the NCAA's open bid process (non-seeded event) and the first time that a NCAA championship event took place in Hall County.
Chattanooga Sports, a division of Chattanooga Tourism Co., was chosen as the host for the 2023, 2025 and 2026 NCAA Division II Softball Championship with games to be contested at historic Frost Stadium at Warner Park. UNG will collaborate with Lee University and Chattanooga Sports in hosting the championships.
In Spring of 2026, Lake Lanier Olympic Park (LLOP) will play host to the NCAA Divisions I, II and III Women's Rowing Championships. The City of Gainesville, UNG and Lake Lanier Rowing Club joined the Lake Lanier Olympic Park Foundation in its bid to host the 2025-26 NCAA Women's Rowing Championships at Lake Lanier, formally submitted in February 2020.
This is the third time for this specific NCAA championship bid process, which created the largest host site announcement ever, spanning 86 championships across a four-year cycle. Previously, selection announcements varied by sport. This process now gives the NCAA and host sites more time to plan each championship experience.
Bidding for 86 of 90 NCAA championships began in August 2019 and more than 3,000 bid applications were ultimately submitted. Each sport committee, per division, selected the host sites it believed would provide the ultimate experience for the respective student-athletes, resulting in more than 450 total championship event sites being awarded. More than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships each year.
