INDIANAPOLIS – Effective on Saturday, July 1, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference welcomed the official membership of the University of Findlay, Hillsdale College, Lake Erie College, Ohio Dominican University and Walsh University.
The Great Midwest, entering its sixth year of existence in the 2017-18 academic year, expanded from eight to 13 full member institutions.
The league also has three associate member schools competing in men’s lacrosse (Mercyhurst, Seton Hill, Wheeling Jesuit).
The initial announcement was released two years ago back on June 29, 2015. Malone University made the move one year prior from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference (GLIAC) and completed its first year of Great Midwest membership in 2016-17.
Findlay, Hillsdale, Lake Erie, Ohio Dominican and Walsh, will offer additional competitiveness on the sport sponsorship level across the board to continue to enhance the league’s strength of schedule.
Findlay also finished 26th in the final 2016-17 Learfield Division II Directors’ Cup standings to lead all current or new Great Midwest schools.
Academically, the profile will also be raised following a record number of 569 student-athletes named to the 2016-17 Great Midwest Academic All-Conference Team just yesterday. The number of honorees for 2017-18 will increase significantly with new schools joining the mix.
Administrators from the new institutions have already been active participants in league meetings and different Great Midwest committees, helping shape the conference’s future with current membership.
The fall schedules are continuing to be added to the new design of greatmidwestsports.com with all five institutions being factored into the league contests and standings.
The sport of football sees a significant change with an expanded eight-member league and the transition to Super Region I on the NCAA Division II landscape with the Mountain East Conference (MEC), Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) and Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).
The conference now awaits the arrival of Tiffin University, a current GLIAC institution, as a new member effective for the 2018-19 academic year.