Pentagon wins award for best championship venue

Providing the student-athletes with a championship experience that they will remember for a lifetime


The NAIA is proud to announce the second year of the NAIA National Championship Host Excellence Awards. Seven honors were awarded to championship site hosts that have gone above and beyond in their execution of their event during the 2017-18 school year. These hosts provided the student-athletes with a championship experience that they will remember for a lifetime.

The Sanford Pentagon is the winner of the Best Championship Venue Award. This honor is awarded to a championship host that provides an outstanding venue to house the championship event and is continually making improvements to better facilitate the event and provide our student-athletes with a greater experience overall.

“Our hosts deserve every bit of recognition for all of the work that they put into making our NAIA Championships better each year,” said Jim Carr, NAIA President and CEO. “The 2017-18 season is no exception with another outstanding group of hosts that did an excellent job of creating experiences for our student-athletes that will last a lifetime.”

The Sanford Pentagon provided a new home to the DII Men’s Basketball Championship in 2018. The championship took place on the 1950s/1960s-inspired Heritage Court.

The facility seats a capacity of 3,200, has three concessions areas, eight locker rooms, six meeting and activity rooms a team store and three athletic training rooms.

“The Sanford Pentagon is honored to receive this award from the NAIA,” said Kevin Lampe, president of Sanford Sports. “It’s a testament to our facility and the incredible staff that makes it come to life. It also adds to our excitement about hosting more NAIA championship events in future years.”