Cornell esports program gains momentum

June 29, 2021

The Cornell College esports program and Head Coach Mayson Sheehan are gearing up for a big year as the team continues to make a name for itself in national competitions.

Trophy sitting in the Cornell College esports arena
The program’s trophy for winning 2nd place at the tournament held by House of Hope

“We really cemented ourselves as one of the strongest teams in Iowa and one of the strongest teams in National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) with our results over the past year and a half,” Sheehan said. “Now we take the results and use them to attract top talent from Iowa and across the country to help us break further into these tournaments.” 

The program continues to grow as more and more students show interest in joining the team, which competes in a number of different games including League of Legends, Super Smash Brothers, Overwatch, Valorant, and Rocket League.

“My goal as the director was to always qualify for playoffs every season we compete in, and we’ve mostly done that with only a few developing teams barely missing that goal on occasion,” Sheehan said. “Not only have we achieved that goal, we also had teams blow well past that goal.”

Sheehan especially notes the team’s 3rd place finish for the Hearthstone National title during the spring of 2021, the Super Smash Brothers performance during the 2020-21 year, and the League of Legends team playing in the largest collegiate League of Legends tournament with roughly 500 teams and a playoff of 128 teams to finish in the top 32 during the spring of 2021.

Esports players
Student team members practice in Cornell’s esports arena.

Sheehan is looking forward to seeing Cornell’s newly recruited players join the team in the fall and adding to the program’s growing list of accomplishments.

Check out the titles for this new esports program, which only started competing in 2019:

  • 2nd–House of Hope Iowa Cup 2020 (Overwatch – 8 teams invited)
  • 3rd–NACE Hearthstone National Championship 2021 (apx. 200 teams)
  • 4th–Principia College LoL Invitational 2021 (16 teams invited)
  • 5th–Collegiate Star League (CSL) Super Smash Brothers Northwest Regional Qualifier 2021 (apx. 40 teams)
  • 5th & 6th–CSL Super Smash Brothers Northwest Regional Championship 2021 (16 teams qualified)
  • Top 8–NACE Super Smash Brothers Ultimate National Championship 2020 (apx. 200 teams)
  • Top 32–CSL League of Legends National Championship 2021 (apx. 500 teams)
  • Top 32–NACE Valorant National Championship 2020 (apx. 200 teams)
  • Top 32–NACE Overwatch National Championship 2020 (apx. 200 teams)
  • Top 32–PlayVS Overwatch National Championship 2021 (apx. 200 teams)
  • Top 64–TESPA Overwatch National Championship 2020 (apx. 500 teams)
  • 61st–PlayVS Rocket League Western Conference Championship 2021 (apx. 200 teams)

Sheehan is actively recruiting team members for the future of the program with the possibility of earning scholarships to play with the Cornell Esports Team. If prospective students have any questions about the esports program, please contact Sheehan at msheehan@CornellCollege.edu.