March 13, 2007
HUNTINGDON AND LAGRANGE JOIN SLIAC; FOOTBALL BEGINS IN 2008

ST. LOUIS - Huntingdon College of Montgomery, Ala., and LaGrange College of LaGrange, Ga., have been accepted as Affiliate members for Football into the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

The conference, which last conducted Football as a conference championship sport in 1999, will begin a full, round robin schedule in football in 2008, and will be eligible to receive an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Playoffs in 2010.

The SLIAC schools which currently play football are Blackburn College, Eureka College, Greenville College, MacMurray College, Principia College, and Westminster College.

Although the football schedules have not been announced, they will be a complete round robin with each team playing each other once every season.

Huntingdon and LaGrange will play three of the current SLIAC members at home and three away each year, and the current six will play one of the new members at home, and one away each season.

In making the announcement SLIAC Commissioner Rich Meckfessel said, "We are very pleased to have two institutions that are very much like our schools in size, character, and commitment to the principles of NCAA Division III. They were overwhelmingly approved by our Administrative Council, and received a unanimous vote from the Presidents of our ten schools.

"It's a wonderful opportunity for the more than 500 student-athletes of eight football playing schools to be able to compete for a conference championship and a berth in the NCAA playoffs".

Blackburn, Principia, and Westminster will finish their commitment as members of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) in 2007, and Eureka, Greenville, and MacMurray will play their last season in the Illini-Badger Conference which will no longer exist after 2007. Huntingdon and LaGrange will play one more season as NCAA Division III independents.

Four UMAC members applied for admission to the SLIAC as Affiliates for Football in March of 2006 and were accepted. However, this past Janauary they withdrew and invited the SLIAC schools to join their conference. That offer has been declined.