Oct. 28th, 2002 - Upper Midwest Lacrosse League welcomes Marquette; Minnesota-Duluth picked to three-peat in '03
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- The Upper Midwest Lacrosse League (UMLL) recently held its annual fall meeting at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. 2002 League Associate, Minnesota State University-Moorhead (Moorhead, MN) was elevated to full membership and former CCLA member Marquette University (Milwaukee, WI) was accepted as a full member of the league.
Elections for the executive board were held and new members include: Rob Graff (Head Coach, Minnesota-Duluth) - League Director, Tim Roche (Minnesota State University - Mankato) - President, and Tim Rourk (Iowa State) - Player Representative. Former league director Chris Larson (Head Coach, Minnesota) was elected as Secretary/Financial Officer.
In other league business, implementation of Division B will be delayed until a 14th league member is approved; the National Sports Center (Blaine, MN) will bid to host the UMLL Championship Tournament April 25-27th. The NSC also plans to make a bid to host the USL-MDIA National Championship Tournament.
In the preseason poll, the top four teams are separated by less than 20 points. Duluth, receiving 143 points and 4 first place votes is favored to win the league championship for a third consecutive year. Following in close behind is MSU-Mankato with 133 points and 2 first place votes. Minnesota is just four points behind the Mustangs also garnering 2 first place votes. League newcomer, Marquette received 4 first place votes and totaled 124 points.
2003 Upper Midwest Lacrosse League (UMLL) Poll
1. Minnesota-Duluth 143 points (4 First place votes)
2. Minnesota State – Mankato 133 points (2 First place votes)
3. Minnesota 129 points (2 First place votes)
4. Marquette 124 points (4 First place votes)
5. Iowa State 106 points
6. St. Cloud State 99 points
7. St. Thomas 81 points
8. Bethel College 64 points
9. St. Olaf 61 points
10. Carleton College 51 points
11. St. John's 41 points
12. Minnesota State – Moorhead 37 points
13. Wisconsin – Steven's Point 23 points
The Upper Midwest Lacrosse League (UMLL) is a collegiate lacrosse club league based in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. The UMLL is one of nine leagues nationwide that is affiliated with the US Lacrosse Men's Division Intercollegiate Associates. Currently, the UMLL membership consists of 13 collegiate lacrosse clubs in the Northeastern United States. For more information on the UMLL, please visit the official league web site at:
http://www.umll-lax.org/
Contact: Chris Larson, chris.larson@uslia.com