Pacific West Conference
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The Pacific West Conference (also known as the PacWest) is an intercollegiate college athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division II. The PacWest was formed in 1992 when the Great Northwest Conference merged the Continental Divide Conference, in response to several member-departures and new NCAA legislation requiring conferences to have at least six members. Member institutions are currently located in California, Arizona, and Hawaii.
At one point the conference expanded to 16 members, but in 2001 member schools from Washington, Alaska, California, and Oregon left to form the new Great Northwest Athletic Conference. In 2005, the non-Hawaii schools left to join the Heartland Conference, leaving the Pacific West Conference two teams short of the NCAA membership requirement for voting rights and automatic qualifying status for tournaments. In July, 2005, the Pacific West Conference voted to admit Notre Dame de Namur University as a provisional member, as it moves from the NAIA to the NCAA Division II. Grand Canyon University, formerly an NCAA DII Independent, will also join the conference, returning the Pacific West Conference to full conference status with six members.
The conference sponsors the following sports: Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Men's and Women's Soccer, Men's Golf, Women's Tennis, Women's Volleyball and Softball. Brigham Young University-Hawaii has won national championships in Men's and Women's Tennis and Women's Volleyball. Hawaii Pacific University has also won national championships in Volleyball.
On July 6th it was announced that Dixie State College would join the PacWest for the 2007-08 season.1
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[edit] New Pacific West Conference
Hawai’i Pacific University, along with the three other Division II schools in Hawai‘i, welcome Notre Dame de Namur University and Grand Canyon University to the Pacific West Conference beginning in fall of 2006. With the departure of Montana State-Billings University and Western New Mexico University last year, the four Hawai‘i schools played this past season as “independents”, receiving a waiver from the NCAA to keep the conference in name, while searching for new members. In order to be eligible for conference membership in the NCAA, a conference must consist of a minimum of six member institutions who sponsor at least ten sports, with two team sports for each gender.
To comply with conference membership regulations, HPU, Chaminade University, Brigham Young University Hawai‘i, and the University of Hawai‘i-Hilo, will add women’s basketball, and men’s and women’s soccer to their athletics programs. The ten sports HPU will now sponsor on the championship level will be men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s golf, women’s volleyball, women’s tennis, and softball. Men’s tennis and baseball will remain sponsored sports at HPU, but will compete as independent.
[edit] Current members
- Brigham Young University-Hawaii (Seasiders)
- Chaminade University of Honolulu (Silverswords)
- University of Hawaii at Hilo (Vulcans)
- Hawaii Pacific University (Sea Warriors)
- Notre Dame de Namur University (Argos)
- Grand Canyon University (Antelopes)
- Dixie State College of Utah (Rebels) will be joining in 2007
[edit] Former members
- University of Alaska Anchorage
- University of Alaska Fairbanks
- Central Washington University
- Humboldt State University
- Montana State University-Billings
- Northwest Nazarene University
- Saint Martin's University
- Seattle University
- Seattle Pacific University
- Western New Mexico University
- Western Oregon University
- Western Washington University
[edit] External link
| Pacific West Conference |
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| Brigham Young Hawaii • Chaminade • Dixie State College (Joining in 2007-08) • Grand Canyon University • UH-Hilo • Hawaii Pacific • Notre Dame de Namur |
