CKSR (Calvin to Join MIAA in Adding Men's/Women's Lacrosse as Varsity Sports in 2012-13)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 6, 2011
 
Calvin To Join MIAA in Adding Men’s, Women’s Lacrosse As Varsity Sports in
2012-13
 
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S LACROSSE

 
Calvin College will be adding men’s and women’s lacrosse as varsity sports
effective with the 2012-13 academic year. The announcement is made in
conjunction with the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association which
announced today that the league will add men’s lacrosse and women’s lacrosse as
varsity conference sports, effective with the 2012-13 season, the 125th
anniversary season for America’s oldest collegiate athletic conference. Calvin
has been a member of the MIAA since the 1953-54 academic year.
 
Calvin has sponsored men’s and women’s lacrosse at the club level for several
years. The last time a club sport made the transition into a varsity sport at
Calvin was in 1988 when women’s soccer moved up to varsity status after
competing for a number of years at the club level.

Competition in MIAA men’s and women’s lacrosse will begin with the fall
non-traditional season in 2012 and conclude with conference regular season and
tournament play in the spring of 2013, MIAA Commissioner David Neilson said.
 
The addition of these sports brings to 20 the number of varsity sports the
MIAA will sponsor in 2012-13, and marks the first new sports to be added to the
conference’s lineup since it added women’s golf in 1991.
 
Seven MIAA member schools will sponsor men’s and women’s lacrosse in the
2012-13 season – Adrian, Albion, Alma, Calvin, Hope, Olivet and Trine, Neilson
said.
 
With the minimum of seven participating conference schools, the MIAA will
receive an automatic qualification to NCAA Division III postseason
competition.
 
Founded in 1888, the MIAA is the nation’s oldest collegiate athletic
conference. Member institutions are Adrian College, Albion College, Alma
College, Calvin College, Hope College, Kalamazoo College, Olivet College, Saint
Mary’s College and Trine University.

In adding men’s and women’s varsity lacrosse, Calvin will now sponsor 21
varsity sports which include the fall sports of men’s and women’s soccer, men’s
and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf and women’s volleyball; the
winter sports of men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s swimming and
diving and men’s and women’s indoor track and field; and the spring sports of
men’s and women’s outdoor track and field, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and
women’s lacrosse, baseball and softball.

 
Received on Tue Sep 6 12:03:37 2011