SPECIAL FEATURE: Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) begins its 15th intercollegiate athletic season later this month, and Athletic Director Shane Hurley said, "It is amazing to see what the original vision has become today as athletics has impacted all areas of OLLU, not just athletics."
In June 2006, the university announced it would start the athletics program the following year, beginning with a men's soccer team and a women's volleyball team. OLLU, after being accepted into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), then began searching for its first head coaches. The first one hired was Hurley himself for men's soccer and Mark Lee for volleyball. Hurley, now the athletic director, said, "I think we owe a thank you to Jack Hank [then Athletic Director] and Dr. Tessa Martinez Pollock [then OLLU President] for supporting the start of the athletics program."