UMC Earns Full Membership in NCAA Division II
Now that student athletes have arrived to begin practice for their respective fall sports at the University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC), they will be taking an active role in the next stage of evolution for the campus and its athletics program. UMC has been approved for full-fledged, active membership in Division II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), effective September 1, 2002.
The UMC Golden Eagles will now be eligible to participate in NCAA championship playoffs. For the past four years UMC had been a provisional member of NCAA Division II within the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).
Other benefits of full NCAA Division II membership include eligibility to vote at the annual NCAA Convention, coverage under the NCAA Catastrophic Athletics Injury Insurance Program, and access to the NCAA Division II Enhancement Fund.
UMC’s athletes have proven that they can compete at the Division II level. Last year the Golden Eagles men’s and women’s basketball, women’s fast-pitch softball, and women’s volleyball teams all would have been eligible for NSIC post-season play.
“This is a great step forward for UMC Athletics and for the campus as a whole,” said Lon Boike, Director of Athletics at UMC. ”The enthusiasm of our coaching staff and our student athletes is very high,” Boike added, “and UMC will now be eligible to apply for NCAA grants in the education and outreach programs and be able to serve on various NCAA administrative and sport committees.”
Mike Curfman, Head Women’s Basketball Coach and last year’s NSIC Coach of the Year, commented that “being eligible for NCAA post-season play will aid in recruitment and will give the current players the excitement of the opportunity for post-season play.”
Earning active Division II membership is the culmination of a transition that began in 1993, when the campus first began offering baccalaureate degrees. That significant change would move UMC from junior college competition to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the North Dakota College Athletics Conference (NDCAC). UMC continued building its athletics program throughout its four-year tenure in the NDCAC, 1994-1998.
In 1999, the college was offered the chance to become a provisional member of NCAA Division II by joining the NSIC. The campus accepted the offer because, according to UMC Chancellor Don Sargeant, “it gave us an opportunity to better meet students’ interests and needs. It has also offered more opportunities for regional and national media exposure.” In subsequent years the decision to move to Division II play has led to many positive changes, including the addition of women’s soccer and equestrian as varsity sports.
UMC will begin its fall sports season when the Golden Eagles Football Team faces NCAA II defending champions the University of North Dakota Sioux at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks on Thursday, August 29, at 7 p.m.
To learn more about UMC Athletics, visit the website www.umcrookston.edu/athletics.
Posted 08/19/2002
Contact: Andrew Svec,
218-281-8435