Franklin & Marshall Diplomats football Athletics . Sports have been an active part of Franklin and Marshall since its inception . The school ' s sports teams are called the Diplomats . Many of the teams compete in the Centennial Conference . Men ' s intercollegiate competition is in fourteen sports : baseball , basketball , cross country , football , golf , lacrosse , soccer , squash , swimming , tennis , indoor track and field , outdoor track and field , wrestling , and rowing . Women ' s intercollegiate competition is in fourteen sports : basketball , rowing , cross country , field hockey , golf , lacrosse , soccer , softball , squash , swimming , tennis , indoor track and field , outdoor track and field , and volleyball . F & M competes in NCAA Division III for all varsity sports except wrestling , which is Division I , and men ' s and women ' s squash , which are nondivisional . In 1866 , the student - run Alpha Club sponsored the college ' s first baseball game . In 1887 , the first football team was organized by Seminary student Miles O . Noll . Franklin and Marshall College was defeated 9 – 0 by the York YMCA . Later that year , the program played a re - match and lost again , this time by score of 6 – 4 . Distler House , the school ' s first gymnasium , was constructed in 1891 and contained a bowling alley , indoor running track , and gymnastic equipment . Sponaugle - Williamson Field was constructed in 1895 with the assistance of $ 1 , 500 from Henry S . Williamson . It was later renamed " Williamson Field . " A concrete grandstand was added in 1922 at a cost of $ 10 , 000 . In 1900 the first basketball game was played . The opposing team was Millersville Normal School . Professor Charles W . Mayser founded the F & M wrestling team in 1923 , and early 1924 saw the college ' s first wrestling match as the Blue & White defeated Western Maryland College 24 – 5 . The Diplomat grapplers finished their maiden season with a 4 – 1 record . F & M wrestling competes in the EIWA , the oldest collegiate wrestling conference in the United States . Mayser Physical Education Center , the college ' s second gymnasium , was opened in 1927 . In 1992 , F & M became a charter member of the Centennial Conference , an athletic conference of 11 mid - Atlantic institutions that compete in 22 sports in the NCAA ' s Division III . The other founding members of the conference are Bryn Mawr College , Dickinson College , Gettysburg College , Haverford College , Johns Hopkins University , Muhlenberg College , Swarthmore College , Ursinus College , Western Maryland College , ( renamed McDaniel College ) and Washington College . In 1995 , the Alumni Sports and Fitness Center , the school ' s third gymnasium opened on the site of the college ' s former ice rink . In 2007 , the F & M women ' s lacrosse team won the NCAA Division III championship with an undefeated season record of 21 – 0 . The women ' s lacrosse team took back the NCAA Division III championship in 2009 , for the second time in three years with a 21 – 1 record . It marked the third consecutive year that the women ' s lacrosse team played in the championship game . The men ' s basketball team has reached the NCAA Division III Final Four on five occasions ( 1979 , 1991 , 1996 , 2000 , 2009 ) , appearing in the national championship game in 1991 . The men ' s basketball team has been nationally ranked on a frequent basis since the late 1970s , including No . 1 in Division III at some point during seven different seasons . Head coach Glenn Robinson is the career leader in wins in Division III . Robinson has been listed as one of the top 100 college basketball coaches of all - time . Other successful athletic teams at F & M include men ' s soccer , men ' s and women ' s swimming , baseball , and squash . They all traditionally compete for conference championships and have been ranked high nationally . In 2008 , the men ' s swimming team won the Centennial Conference championships and the women ' s swimming team placed second . At that championship , Thomas Anthony Grabiak Jr . of F & M set Centennial Conference championship meet records in the 100 and 200 yd breaststroke events . Men ' s squash consistently maintains a Top - 10 Division I national ranking , having finished No . 8 in the past two seasons . In 1988 , the Men ' s lacrosse team finished the season 13 - 3 and played all the way until the USILA national semifinals . Club Sports . F & M also boasts several student - run clubs , most notably Men ' s and Women ' s Rugby , both of which have become serious contenders for regional , and national championships each season and which compete in the Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union . Ultimate Frisbee is also a popular club sport on campus , fielding both a men ' s and a women ' s team . In 2009 , the college water polo team was revived and currently competes in the American Water Polo League and the Collegiate Water Polo League .