Sep. 28th, 2003 - PNCLL expands to sixteen teams
The Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse (PNCLL) admitted Central Washington University and re-admitted Western Washington University at it's 2003 Annual Meeting in Seattle on Saturday, expanding the league's membership to sixteen teams for the 2004 season.
Simon Fraser was picked to defend its '03 PNCLL title in the League's Pre-Season Top 10 Poll. The Clansmen garnered 11 first place points, well ahead of second-place Oregon, which got the remaining three first place votes.
Josh Barbour was elected PNCLL President, while Dan Wishengrad, the outgoing President, was voted in to an At-Large position. Greg "Bubba" Gutherless was elected Vice-President to fill the vacancy created by Barbour's elevation to the PNCLL's top spot. Dave Schmitz was unanimously re-elected League Treasurer to another two-year term.
Western Washington was restored to full membership and placed in the A Division, pending approval of an appeal to the US Lacrosse MDIA for this move. The Vikings made a powerful presentation and were well represented by all the club's officers, the Head Coach, a dedicated parent and the Club Sports Director. The returning members were impressed by the preparation, the passion and the sincerity displayed by the Western contingent. Likewise, the Central Washington entourage also was well prepared and represented, and the members had little in the way of questions before unanimously voting the Wildcats in as a probationary first-year member of the B Division.
In a surprising move, perennial power Whitman College moved down from the A Division -- where the Missionaries had been a Final Four team in 2003, to Division B. With only 1,300 students (less than half of which are men), Whitman has somehow managed to stay competitive for years but wished to make the move a year early to what is hoped will become a small-college conference at the USL MDIA level by 2005 or 06. Whitman immediately becomes the team to beat in the PNCLL B Division, which also expanded its playoffs to the top four teams.
The PNCLL also voted to eliminate the quarter-final weekend, opting to play all post-season games from Friday April 30th through Saturday May 2nd. Friday night will feature two A Division quarter-final matchups, while a jam-packed Saturday has four semi-final games, two each in the A and B Divisions. Championship Sunday will feature the two divisional finals. The PNCLL will announce it's selection of a host school and city for the playoffs by Feb. 1st.
CONTACT: Dan Wishengrad
danwish at yahoo dot com