Lincoln College to join CCAC in
2020-21
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[November 27, 2019]
The Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) will expand
further south one year from now with Lincoln College joining as the
16th member of the league. The conference office made the
announcement after Lincoln was accepted into the league by a vote of
the CCAC Executive Council at its annual fall meeting. The Lincoln,
Ill.-based school is expected to start league play in a majority of
conference-sponsored sports beginning with the 2020-21 academic
year.
Lincoln, which transitioned from a two-year college to a four-year
institution of higher learning in 2018, was accepted into the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) at its 2018
Convention and started competing as an NAIA independent last fall.
The Lynx sponsor 21 sports, including CCAC-sponsored sports
baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross
country, men's and women's golf, men's and women's soccer, softball,
men's and women's track & field and men's and women's volleyball.
"The Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference is excited to add
our 16th school in Lincoln College," said CCAC Commissioner Jeff
Schimmelpfennig. "Lincoln brings the excitement of a new NAIA
athletic program along with the deep history of a successful
intercollegiate athletics department.
"This is another example of the CCAC being a national leader in
growth, while having one of the smallest footprints of NAIA
conferences. A strength of the CCAC is in the diversity of our
members and adding Lincoln College continues to show our commitment
to the NAIA's growth agenda."
Lincoln's addition will allow the league to maintain its status as
one of the largest conferences in the NAIA.
"Lincoln College is proud to join the CCAC as the conference for
NAIA athletics," stated Lincoln College President Dr. Dave Gerlach.
"Founded 155 years ago, Lincoln College athletics have played a
critical role in our esteemed history whether it was as a founding
member of the Illinois Little 19 when we last participated in
four-year athletics, or during our storied tenure in the NJCAA.
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"This transition is a natural part of our evolution back to our
founding roots as Lincoln University."
The majority of the conference resides in the Chicagoland area with
the likes of Judson University (Elgin, Ill.), Olivet Nazarene
University (Bourbonnais, Ill.), Robert Morris University Illinois
(Chicago), Roosevelt University (Chicago), Saint Xavier University
(Chicago), University of St. Francis (Joliet, Ill.), Trinity
Christian College (Palos Heights, Ill.) and Trinity International
University (Deerfield, Ill.).
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Representing the state of Indiana are Calumet College of St. Joseph
(Whiting), Holy Cross College (Notre Dame), Indiana University
Northwest (Gary) and Indiana University South Bend. Milwaukee, Wis.
is home to Cardinal Stritch University, while St. Ambrose University
(Davenport, Iowa) became the first school to represent the
conference from Iowa when it joined the league at the start of the
2015-16 academic year.
The CCAC sponsors the sports of baseball, men's and women's
basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf,
men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's tennis, men's
and women's indoor and outdoor track & field and men's and women's
volleyball.
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"We are excited to become a part of the Chicagoland Collegiate
Athletic Conference as we continue new athletic traditions in the
NAIA," said Lincoln director of athletics Mark Perdue. "By joining
the CCAC, it allows our student-athletes to experience top-notch
competition without having to travel great distances with most of
the schools in the conference being within a three-hour drive.
"As a new member of the NAIA, the CCAC was a natural fit for Lincoln
College in terms of travel and building competitive rivalries."
The groundwork for the CCAC stemmed from a meeting of baseball
coaches in the fall of 1949. Attending that meeting was Kyle
Anderson of the University of Chicago, Ed Glancy of Illinois
Institute of Technology, George Boyle of Chicago Teachers College
(now Northeastern Illinois University) and Les Miller of the
University of Illinois-Chicago Navy Pier. Concordia College joined
the group and the first sporting event was a baseball tournament on
Memorial Day weekend of 1950 at the University of Chicago's Stagg
Field.
The men's basketball coaches met in February of 1972 to form their
conference sport that started with the 1973-74 season. The original
basketball members were Illinois Institute of Technology, Saint
Xavier College, Northeastern Illinois University, University of
Illinois-Chicago Circle, Purdue University Calumet, Trinity
Christian College and College of St. Francis. The conference also
added cross country and tennis in the mid-1970's and women's sports
in the early 1980's.
Lincoln College will become the 33rd school to hold membership in
the league since its inception when the Lynx join the conference
next fall.
[Lauren Grenlund
Director of Public Relations
Lincoln College] |