Legendary Point Loma sports figure Carroll B. Land will be stepping down as athletic director at Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) after 41 seasons, effective June 15. “It is time for me to be doing other things,” Land said. “Every year, around Feb. 1, I would sign an annual contract, and one year ago I negotiated one more contract and [said] after that I would retire.” Ethan Hamilton has been named as Land’s replacement. Prior to serving as athletic director, Land played baseball and was a standout pitcher for PLNU in the late 1950s, when the college was still located in Pasadena. Following his graduation in 1961, he became the head baseball coach at Pasadena College/PLNU, serving for 39 years between 1961 and 1999. Land guided the program to numerous winning seasons, one Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) title in 1994, four Region II titles in 1985, 1986, 1993 and 1994 and two College World Series appearances in 1993 and 1994. While in his early years of coaching in the early 1960s, he earned an M.S. and a Ph.D. from USC. During Land’s four-decade-long tenure at PLNU, the athletic program made tremendous strides. “What I am most proud of in my time here is how we were able to enhance our athletic facilities,” Land said. “We built the tennis courts, improved the baseball field and built the synthetic track before the 1984 Olympics. Since then, we have added bleachers to the track area (in 1996), built fencing areas and administrative stations.” The baseball stadium, also dubbed “America’s Most Scenic Ballpark,” was renamed Carroll B. Land Stadium in 1998. The PLNU athletic program has also expanded and succeeded under Land’s steady leadership. Since 1968, the men’s basketball program won two GSAC titles in 1986 and 1987 and qualified for four appearances in the nationals in 1983, 2000, 2003 and 2008. The women’s basketball program has also achieved success with three GSAC titles in 1991, 1992 and 2008 and seven trips to the nationals in 1991, 1993, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. The PLNU softball program won three GSAC titles in 2002, 2003 and 2004, three Region II titles in 2001, 2003 and 2004 and eight nationals appearances from 2001 through 2008, which included two runner-up appearances in 2002 and 2007 since the program was restarted in 1991 after a ten-year hiatus. Less popular sports such as volleyball, tennis and golf have also achieved prominence in a relatively brief time. The volleyball team has won two GSAC titles in 1990 and 2000 and 10 appearances in the nationals between 1992 and 2005. The men’s tennis team won four GSAC titles in 1991, 1993, 1999 and 2001 and eight straight berths in the nationals between 2000 and 2007. The women’s tennis team has also won its share, with five GSAC titles in 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2003, five Region II titles from 2000 to 2004 and nine straight nationals from 2000 to 2008. Land has also created a greater relationship between athletics and academics by adding athletic areas of study to the academic curriculum, which includes exercise/science and physical education programs. Despite the accomplishments of the PLNU athletic department, Land said he has not achieved all the things he has wanted in terms of expanding the facilities. “There are a lot of things I wish I could do here but I don’t have the time to do it, so maybe new people can provide a spark and get it done,” Land said. One of the things Land hopes the athletic department can accomplish in the future is a new university health and fitness center. “[It would be] a new health and fitness center which emphasizes weight training to help give our athletes a better chance at competing,” Land said. “Also, the possibility of a new multi-level softball field built on top of a parking lot, building new tennis courts and an auxiliary gymnasium,” he said. Hamilton, Land’s successor, has been the associate athletic director the last four years and has also just completed his first season as the men’s head basketball coach. “I am very humbled and honored to follow in Dr. Land’s footsteps, which are big shoes to fill,” Hamilton said. Like his predecessor, Hamilton is also a PLNU man. He graduated from PLNU in 1997, then returned four years ago as the associate men’s basketball coach from 2005 to 2008 until he was named head basketball coach in the spring of 2008. “He’s (Hamilton) well-qualified and will do a great job,” Land said. The day after Land’s retirement takes effect he will be traveling to Pittsfield, Mass. to coach the American Defenders collegiate baseball team from June to mid-August. “After that we’ll see what happens,” Land said.