Feb. 13th, 2001 - USLIA Tournament expands to 16 teams
US LACROSSE INTERCOLLEGIATE ASSOCIATES CHAMPIONSHIPS EXPANDMen's tourney grows to 16 teams, inaugural women's field will feature eight teams
BALTIMORE - The US Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates championships will be expanded this year with 16 men's teams and eight women's teams competing for national championships. The tournaments will take place in St. Louis from May 8-13. This event is the only national championship endorsed, sponsored and sanctioned by US Lacrosse.
The US Lacrosse Men's Division Intercollegiate Associates National Championship will begin play on May 8. The quarterfinal round of games will be played on May 9. Teams in the winners bracket will have off on Thursday before the semifinal and final rounds are contested on Friday and Saturday, May 11 and 12. The field will consist of the eight conference champions and eight at-large teams as determined by the bimonthly US Lacrosse Men's Intercollegiate Associates national poll. Tournament invitations will be extended the week of April 30.
The Women's Division Intercollegiate Associates National Championship will be held from May 12-13. Champions from six women's leagues will receive bids to the inaugural tournament along with two at-large teams. These teams compete outside of the NCAA and college varsity program and voluntarily comply with and enforce NCAA rules and guidelines for competition within the leagues that comprise the Intercollegiate Associates.
At the US Lacrosse Men's Division Convention in Philadelphia, Pa., in January, the Men's Division Intercollegiate Associates Board of Directors voted to expand the field for the national championship tournament from 12 to 16 teams, pending successful negotiations with the Anheuser-Busch Conference and Sports Centre in St. Louis, the host venue, and with US Lacrosse's St. Louis regional chapter. Doug Horn, 3rd vice-president of the Men's Division Intercollegiate Associates and tournament director, announced this week that those negotiations were complete. "Anheuser-Busch was very accommodating in providing fields and times to add the additional games required to expand our tournament," said Horn. "We were also successful in building in a "rest day" into the tournament to allow the men's teams the opportunity to recoup midway through the event. As each participating team will now play four games during the event, it was felt that a day off was in order to allow the team's to perform at their best."
"The (Men's Intercollegiate Associates Executive) Board felt, that given the growth of our association, that a field of 16 teams is more appropriate and we're confident that it'll be a very competitive championship from the first day through the last," said Horn. "Additionally, the inaugural US Lacrosse Women's Division Intercollegiate Associates Championship will be contested in conjunction with the men's championship. This combination will help solidify the US Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates Championships as a 'mark-your-calendar' annual event."
The US Lacrosse men's championship tournament has been contested since 1997. Brigham Young University captured the 2000 crown, defeating Colorado State University 17-13. These two teams sit atop the preseason poll as play gets underway for the 2001 season.
For more information, visit the US Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates Men's Division website at www.uslia.com or visit the US Lacrosse web site at www.lacrosse.org. You may also contact Sonny Pieper, vice president of US Lacrosse's Men's Division Intercollegiate Associates at sonny@selc.org or (770) 925-1097. Companies interested in sponsorship of this year's national championship tournament should contact Suzanne Gedney at sgedney@lacrosse.org or (410) 235-6882, x103.
US Lacrosse, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization, is the national governing body of men's and women's lacrosse.
