Lincoln University Athletics announces move to new conference
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Lincoln University Athletics will be leaving the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) to join the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) in the 2024-25 school year. The GLVC Council of Presidents approved the university for full membership on Monday.
Lincoln University will be the 15th member of the GLVC and will be eligible for conference championships in the 2024-25 season, as well.
“This is a significant day for the future of Lincoln University,” said Dr. John Moseley, President of Lincoln University in a press release. “This puts us in a position athletically where we’ve leveled the playing field by realigning ourselves with others of similar size and similar fiscal commitment."
Lincoln had been a member of the MIAA since 2010, competing at the NCAA Division II level. Over the course of their membership, the Blue Tigers won 14 NCAA Division II National Championships in women's track and field, in addition to 14 MIAA Championship wins by the men's team.
The GLVC is not completely new to Lincoln fans. The Blue Tigers were a football-only member of the conference from 2014-2018.
The GLVC is one of the largest NCAA Division II conferences in the nation, featuring 15 schools with a total of 24 sports. Its membership reaches Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio, as well as Missouri. The GLVC commissioner said this also marks a historic day in conference history.
“It’s the first time in the 45-year history of the conference that we’ve had an HBCU member. Under the leadership of Dr. Moseley, and what he’s done for Lincoln as the university president, and Dr. Wilson with intercollegiate athletics, it will be a great fit," said Jim Naumovich, Commissioner of the Great Lakes Valley Conference in a press release.
In addition to the conference move, the Blue Tigers also announced that athletic department will be bringing back baseball and adding men's and women's soccer. With the addition of those teams, Lincoln will host 14 athletics programs: baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s cross country, football, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s indoor track & field, men’s and women’s outdoor track & field, men’s and women’s soccer, and softball.
A national search for a baseball coach and director of soccer, who will serve as the head coach for both the men's and women's programs, will begin immediately. All three programs will begin operation in fall of 2023 and will begin playing other teams in 2024-25.
The baseball team will play all home games at Vivion Field in Jefferson City. The baseball program originally started in 1970, but it will be the first time since 2016 that the Blue Tigers have put a team on the diamond.
Both of LU’s soccer programs, meanwhile, will play their home games on the field at Dwight T. Reed Stadium.
