Missouri Western State University (D2) Adds Women's Lacrosse

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western State University Board of Governors unanimously approved the addition of women's lacrosse as the 17th NCAA Division II varsity sport at the University during a telephone poll Tuesday morning. The team will become active in the 2020-21 academic year and begin competition in the spring of 2021. A press conference detailing the addition will be held at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, in the KCP&L Theater inside the Griffon Indoor Sports Complex.

Missouri Western will become the fourth NCAA Division II member in the state of Missouri to add the sport and the first from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. Missouri Western will be the only public DII member in the state of Missouri sponsoring women's lacrosse.

"What an incredible opportunity to be the first MIAA institution to sponsor women's lacrosse and be at the forefront of leading the rapid growth of the sport in this region," MWSU vice president of intercollegiate athletics Dr. Josh Looney said. "Between the recently-renovated Spratt Stadium and the Griffon Indoor Sports Complex, our state-of-the-art infrastructure will allow lacrosse student-athletes to experience championship success on and off the field at Missouri Western. We are excited to grow our student-athlete population beyond 400 students with this high-achieving group of athletes and lead an important University initiative that will continue to move MWSU forward."

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Posted in: Division I,Division II,High School,Indiana,Michigan,Missouri,MLL,PLL,Professional,WPLL,Youth

Grove City College (D3 PA) Adds Women's Lacrosse

GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Women's lacrosse will become the 23rd intercollegiate varsity sport at Grove City College in the 2021-22 academic year. The College will field its inaugural NCAA Division III varsity team beginning in the spring of 2022. The team will compete in the Presidents' Athletic Conference, which sponsored women's lacrosse for the first time in spring 2019.

"The Grove City College varsity athletics culture is a distinctive strength of our school. Our student athletes are outstanding young scholars and leaders. Adding women's lacrosse creates another opportunity to mold talented students into great citizens for Christ's kingdom and the common good," Grove City College President Paul J. McNulty '80 said.

"We are extremely excited about the potential for women's lacrosse at Grove City College as a varsity sport," Grove City College Athletic Director Todd Gibson said. "Women's lacrosse has a long history of success at the club level at Grove City, and we feel we have the building blocks to develop a varsity program that displays strong Christian character while striving to be the best college lacrosse program in the country."

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Posted in: Division III,Pennsylvania

Eastern Michigan University Adds Women's Lacrosse, MAC to Sponsor

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Eastern Michigan University announced today, Nov. 6, that the EMU Department of Athletics will add women's lacrosse as a varsity sport. The program will play its inaugural season against NCAA Division I competition in the 2021-22 academic year.

 The announcement takes place at the same time the Mid-American Conference announced that it will be adding the sport as a conference championship beginning with the 2021 season. Eastern will be the fourth full-time MAC institution to sponsor the sport at the NCAA Division I level. Central Michigan added the sport in 2016, Kent State began playing in 2019, while Akron is set to field a team for the first time in 2020. Detroit Mercy and Youngstown State are also joining as MAC affiliate members.


"Women's lacrosse is growing at an incredible pace and we are excited to expand opportunities for Michigan high school women to participate in a Division I sport and the academic experiences that Eastern Michigan provides," said EMU Vice President/Director of Athletics Scott Wetherbee. "We are committed to providing more athletic and academic opportunities for women and we believe the sport is a strong fit for our athletic program. We are very excited about the addition and I am certain the team will contribute to our legacy of athletic success."

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Posted in: Conferences,Division I,Michigan

University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire (D3) Adds Women's Lacrosse

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (blugolds.com) - The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire has announced the launch of a plan for investing in its future to ensure student success and bring talent to the region for years to come.

"We are in the midst of an exciting time for UW-Eau Claire," Chancellor James Schmidt said. "We are making strides toward improving success outcomes for our students. We're launching new in-demand academic programs and moving forward in important initiatives like our research collaboration with Mayo Clinic Health System and our public-private partnership for the new Sonnentag Event and Recreation Complex — all developments that will bring significant new opportunities for our students while serving the needs of the Chippewa Valley and our state. That's what this new investment plan is all about."

The expansion of UW-Eau Claire's athletics teams will include the reinstatement of men's baseball (which was discontinued in 1995) and the addition of women's lacrosse in the spring 2021 season, as well as the addition of men's soccer in the fall 2021 season.

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Lake Forest College (D3 IL) Adds Lacrosse

Lake Forest College will add men's and women's lacrosse to its slate of varsity athletic programs in the 2021-22 academic year, Vice President for Career Advancement and Athletics Jackie Slaats announced Friday. The men's team has already been accepted into the Midwest Lacrosse Conference and the women's team into the Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference. Both conferences include schools from Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri.

"We are very excited to elevate lacrosse to varsity status," Slaats said. "Our club teams have been successful for years and we're confident they can quickly become highly competitive varsity programs in conference competition and at the NCAA Division III level. Other varsity teams at the College have achieved a combined 70 percent winning record over the past two years with seven representing Lake Forest in NCAA postseason play. Forester lacrosse will be the latest addition to our longstanding Tradition of Excellence."

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Posted in: Division III,Illinois