SNU moves forward with NCAA Division II membership

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Bethany, Oklahoma

A summer sigh of relief has come on the Southern Nazarene University campus as the institution was accepted into Candidacy Year Two of the NCAA Division II membership process.

“We are excited to have been notified of our acceptance into the second year of the NCAA Division II membership process,” said SNU President Loren Gresham. “This next step represents a great honor and distinction for our university. We look forward to achieving full membership and are enthusiastic about the future of our athletic programs.”

SNU began the NCAA Division II membership process in order to become a member of the new Great American Conference. The 2-year-old conference is made up of nine NCAA Division II institutions from Arkansas and Oklahoma. SNU and Northwestern Oklahoma State are provisional members of the GAC with dependence on each school’s ability to complete the NCAA Division II Membership Process. 

During the upcoming school year, SNU will compete in the GAC in men’s and women’s cross country, volleyball, women’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s golf, and women’s tennis. These sports will be eligible for NCAA regular season championships and awards, and will compete in the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCAA) postseason. Football will not be eligible for a conference championship as the GAC is in the second year of a two-year rotation. Football will have a full 10-game GAC schedule starting in the 2013 season. Men’s soccer will play under the umbrella of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA), comprised of schools from the MIAA, GAC, and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. 

“As always, we are very grateful for each stage of this process we are able to complete,” said SNU Athletics Director Bobby Martin. “We as an institution have worked very hard and I couldn’t be more thankful of the effort that each person has put forward. We are excited about our future and this is a big step in the process and we look forward to what God will allow us to accomplish in the upcoming season.”

If SNU completes Candidacy Year Two of the NCAA Division II Membership Process, it will then enter year three, which is the provisional year, and run for the 2013-2014 academic year. SNU will not be able to participate in postseason play until the school becomes an active Division II member, but SNU will eligible to play a full NCAA and GAC schedule. The provisional stage is set for evaluation if the institution is ready to become a full-fledged member of NCAA Division II.

Founded in 1906, the NCAA is the governing body for more than 1,200 schools with more than 400,000 student-athletes. In 1973, the membership divided among three divisions. Currently there are 288 Division II members.
--Southern Nazarene University Athletics

 

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