Seattle University has accepted an offer to join the Great West Conference as an associate member in the sports of men's and women's cross country, men's and women's indoor track and field, and men's and women's outdoor track and field, announced Wednesday by the conference office.
The Seattle University cross country and track and field teams will be eligible to compete in Great West championships beginning in the 2009-10 academic year. Seattle U will compete against Great West members Chicago State, Houston Baptist, NJIT, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas-Pan American, and Utah Valley.
"This is a terrific opportunity for our student-athletes in cross country and track and field to be able to compete for a conference championship," said Seattle University director of athletics Bill Hogan. "Our program has grown by leaps and bounds over the past several years and the coaches and student-athletes are ready to measure themselves against the other Great West schools."
Seattle University will head across the country for the 2009 Great West Cross Country Championships on Oct. 31, hosted by NJIT at Van Cortlandt Park in The Bronx, N.Y. South Dakota will host both the 2010 Great West Indoor Track and Field Championships (Feb. 26-27) and the 2010 Great West Outdoor Track and Field Championships (May 13-15) in Vermillion, S.D.
"I am thrilled to be joining the Great West Conference," added head cross country and track & field coach Trisha Steidl. "The Great West is a wonderful fit for our cross country and track and field teams. This is a great opportunity to compete against new, strong teams and help us take our programs to the next level of competitiveness. I believe our teams will be competitive from the get-go and am looking forward to competing in a DI conference."
These six squads join four other Seattle University athletic teams that will be part of a conference in 2009-10: the men's soccer program will be competing in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, the men's and women's swim teams will continue to participate in the Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference, and the softball team begins play in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference in the spring 2010 season.
Seattle University is in Year Two of the reclassification process towards NCAA Division I status, which entails following all Division I rules beginning this year, including in scheduling.