[4] In the early part of her 50-year tenure, she worked to schedule games with other local colleges, thereby turning many of the intramural sports into “extramural” ones.

In the fall of 2008, already in Division III, the team went to the ECAC Southeast Bowl and defeated Johns Hopkins University 18–17 to give the Cards their first post season win since 1936.

The Catholic University Cardinals played the 1977 NCAA Division I baseball tournament after winning the ECAC District II championship.

The 2011–12 women's basketball team won the Landmark Conference title and made the program's first trip to the NCAA tournament.

In 2013 they won their second straight Landmark Conference title and again received the LC's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament, repeating in 2015.

The track & field team has produced three individual national champions: The men's swim team has won four Capitol Athletic Conference titles and three National Catholic Division III championships, while women's swimming has won a Catholic Division III title.

In 2008, the women's lacrosse team went undefeated in the inaugural year of the Landmark Conference and won the Conference post-season tournament, garnering a berth in the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history, and making it to the regional finals where they lost to Salisbury University.

Women's soccer went undefeated in the CAC in 2005 and earned a berth in the NCAA tournament, repeating in 2009, 2014 and 2015 as LC champions.

In 2011 CUA won its first conference championship, which propelled the Cardinals to their first-ever NCAA tournament.

The softball team won its first and only Capital Athletic Conference title in 1994, and went on to become the ECAC Southern Region Champions in the same season.

In 2014 CUA won its first Landmark Conference championship, which propelled the Cardinals to their first-ever NCAA tournament.

Student-led club teams include rugby, ice hockey, lacrosse, and sailing.

The team went 13–0–0 during the 2014–15 season and went on to win the Blue Ridge Hockey Conference (BRHC) Championship in a 5–4 victory against the Maryland Terrapins.

An important rivalry in Cardinals' history has been the football game against the Georgetown Hoyas, where the Steven Dean Memorial Trophy is in dispute.

The winner was Hail CUA (lyrics by Robert H. Mahoney and music by Victor Herbert), but second-place winner Guardian of Truth (music and lyrics by Thomas J. McLean) became more popular over the years.