Sports
From its inception, each conference member selected its own competitive division within the NCAA (I, II, or III). In 1980, however, the presidents voted to reclassify the entire conference to Division II. Although all institutions are members of NCAA Division II, some have elected to compete at the Division I level in select sports. The PSAC offers championships in baseball, men and women's basketball, men and women's cross country, women's field hockey, football, men and women's golf, women's lacrosse, men and women's soccer, softball, men and women's swimming, men and women's tennis, men and women's indoor (winter) and outdoor (spring) track and field, women's volleyball, and wrestling. Competitions in cross country, golf, swimming, tennis, track and field, and wrestling are not divided into divisions. Softball is divided into three divisions.
In wrestling, all members with a team compete in the conference. Bloomsburg, Clarion, Edinboro, and Lock Haven compete additionally in the Eastern Wrestling League, a Division I conference. Other members are eligible for Division II championships.
In field hockey, West Chester began competing in the Atlantic 10 Conference in 1996. Lock Haven became an associate member of the A-10 in 2010. In 2011, West Chester returned to play in the PSAC, and Seton Hill University joined as an associate member.
In addition to those sports with conference championships, some members offer additional sports. Cheyney competes in women's bowling; Mercyhurst competes in men and women's water polo, men and women's rowing, men's lacrosse, and Division I programs in men and women's ice hockey; West Chester offers women's gymnastics and rugby; Gannon offers men and women's water polo; and Kutztown in women's bowling. Conference members who compete at the Division I level in conference-sanctioned sports are noted on the table.
Read more about this topic: Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference
Famous quotes containing the word sports:
“In the end, I think you really only get as far as you’re allowed to get.”
—Gayle Gardner, U.S. sports reporter. As quoted in Sports Illustrated, p. 87 (June 17, 1991)
“I looked so much like a guy you couldn’t tell if I was a boy or a girl. I had no hair, I wore guys’ clothes, I walked like a guy ... [ellipsis in source] I didn’t do anything right except sports. I was a social dropout, but sports was a way I could be acceptable to other kids and to my family.”
—Karen Logan (b. 1949)
“The whole idea of image is so confused. On the one hand, Madison Avenue is worried about the image of the players in a tennis tour. On the other hand, sports events are often sponsored by the makers of junk food, beer, and cigarettes. What’s the message when an athlete who works at keeping her body fit is sponsored by a sugar-filled snack that does more harm than good?”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)