Name-a-Day Calendar, January 6: CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners
Page 61 of 365
Chosen in: 1970
Chosen by: Victoria Houchin and unnamed Freyburger child via student body vote
Welcome to California! I’m using each individual school’s preferred athletic branding, so the order of some schools here might be a tad confusing. I promise I’m not just skipping teams.
What is now California State University, Bakersfield, was established in the late 1960s and began instruction in Fall 1970. In November of that year, the school’s public call for mascot proposals drew 33 suggestions, including Aardvarks, Cobras, Condors, El Cid, and Roadrunners. The final vote was between the last two of those, with “Roadrunners” winning 368-157.
According to then-athletic director Rudy Carvajal, the name “Roadrunners” was submitted by a group from rural Buttonwillow that comprised C.A. “Dutch” and Patty Houchin and Jim and Laura Freyburger. Houchin daughter Victoria and an unnamed Freyburger daughter1 suggested the name because it was the mascot for their local Buttonwillow Elementary School. Victoria Houchin would go on to graduate from CSU Bakersfield.
In 2016, USA Today ranked the mascots of the 68 teams to make that year’s NCAA Tournament and CSU Bakersfield’s Rowdy the Roadrunner2 took the top spot.
Previous page: Creighton Bluejays
Next page: CSUN Matadors
Find every page at the Name-a-Day Calendar hub!
They had three daughters but Carvajal didn’t specify which one was in on the nickname.
Rowdy is also the name of the roadrunner mascots for both UTSA and Division II’s Metro State, by the way.