Valparaiso University Accepts Membership Invitation To Join Horizon League
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Horizon League ·
May 17, 2006
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INDIANAPOLIS - Valparaiso University and the Horizon League announced jointly Wednesday afternoon (May 17) that Valparaiso has accepted a membership invitation to join the Horizon effective July 1, 2007.
The announcement was made by Valparaiso President Alan F. Harre on the university's campus at a press conference that also included comments by Mark LaBarbera, Director of Athletics at Valpo and Horizon League Commissioner Jonathan B. LeCrone.
"Institutions in the Horizon are much more geographically centralized than the institutions within the Mid-Continent Conference," said Dr. Harre (pronounced HARR-ee). "The transition to the Horizon League means less time will be needed by our student-athletes as they travel to and from competition, and it means they will miss fewer classes. Shorter travel also means less fatigue and increased concentration in the classroom.
"Sixty-one percent of all Valparaiso alumni reside in the five states encompassed by the Horizon League. Seventy-one percent of our students come from these five states. In addition many of the alumni in these states are in metropolitan areas not served by our current conference affiliation, so a greater number now will have an opportunity to watch the performances of student-athletes representing their alma mater."
Valparaiso becomes the Horizon League's tenth current member, joining Butler University, Cleveland State University, the University of Detroit Mercy, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Loyola University Chicago, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wright State University and Youngstown State University. The addition of Valparaiso marks the first membership change for the Horizon League since Youngstown State joined for the 2001-02 academic year.
"By becoming members of the Horizon we give our student-athletes the opportunity to compete in a midwestern conference with a national reach," said Mr. LaBarbera. "We will be renewing and strengthening relationships and rivalries that have historic significance to our student-athletes, our alumni, and all of our constituents."
The Crusaders will begin Horizon League competition in 17 intercollegiate sports beginning with the 2007-08 academic year, competing for all but two of the League's 19 championships (men's and women's golf). Valparaiso presently sponsors nine sports for men (cross country, soccer, basketball, swimming and diving, indoor track and field, tennis, outdoor track and field, and baseball plus football in the Pioneer Football League) and nine for women (cross country, volleyball, soccer, basketball, swimming and diving, indoor track and field, tennis, outdoor track and field, and softball).
"The addition of Valparaiso University as our tenth member marks a very exciting time for the Horizon League," said Mr. LeCrone. "As the fourth private school member, Valpo is an extraordinary fit for the League. They share our core values of academic achievement, community service and personal responsibility, and their location in the middle of our League's Midwest footprint in ad¬dition to their highly competitive athletic program enhance the profile of the Horizon League.
"The decision to add Valparaiso to the Horizon League was enthusiastically and unanimously approved by our Board of Directors. This promises to be a long and successful relationship."
Valparaiso's rich athletics history is highlighted by seven appearances in the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship from 1996-2004, including a dramatic trip to the Sweet Sixteen in 1998. The Crusader men also captured 10 straight Mid-Continent Conference regular-season or tournament titles from 1994-95 through 2003-04. The Valpo women's basketball team, meanwhile, made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2003 and 2004 after advancing to the quarterfinals of the Women's NIT in 2002. In addition, the volleyball team owns an active streak of three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, while the women's soccer team won both the Mid-Con's regular-season and tournament titles this past fall en route to an NCAA berth.
Founded in 1859 as Valparaiso Male and Female College, Valparaiso University was one of the first coeducational colleges in the United States. The school was reorganized and opened in 1873 as the Northern Indiana Normal School and Business Institute, then rechartered as Valparaiso College in 1900 and Valparaiso University in 1906. In 1925, the university was purchased by the Lutheran University Association, a group of clergy and lay leaders affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
Although historically linked to the LCMS, Valparaiso University operates today as a national independent university committed to excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Enrollment is approximately 4,000 students, with some 3,000 enrolled in the undergraduate programs.Located in the northwest Indiana city of Valparaiso, the university is geographically centered in the Horizon League and will add a third institution to the Chicago DMA, the nation's third-largest media market, as well as a second to Indiana, where the Crusaders will join historical rival Butler.
Chartered in 1979 as the Midwestern City Conference, the Horizon is an NCAA Division I athletics conference that sponsors 19 intercollegiate championship sports and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The League and its nine member institu¬tions aspire to teach young people, through athletic competition, the value of learning, service to others and personal responsibility.
The Horizon League enjoys NCAA automatic qualification in baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's golf, men's soccer, women's soccer, softball, men's tennis, women's tennis and women's volleyball. In the past few years, the Horizon has enjoyed unprecedented success on the national stage, headlined by two Sweet Sixteen appearances (Butler 2003, UW-Milwaukee 2005) and five wins in the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship in the past four seasons, including Milwaukee's victory over the University of Oklahoma this past March.
In other sports, Horizon League teams have won at least one game in their respective NCAA Championships each of the last four seasons in both men's soccer (UW-Milwaukee 2002-05) and softball (UIC 2002, 2004; Wright State 2003; UW-Green Bay 2005) and the last two in women's soccer (Detroit 2004, UW-Milwaukee 2005). Butler's Victoria Mitchell became the League's first NCAA individual champion when she won the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Horizon League student-athletes also excel in the classroom as 505 were named to the Academic Honor Roll in the spring of 2005 and 514 in the fall for carrying a grade-point average of 3.0 or better. Sixteen student-athletes were CoSIDA Academic All-District picks this past fall, and 11 have earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors since the spring of 2005.
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Transactions Horizon League --- Announced that Valparaiso University will join the conference effective July 1, 2007.
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May 17, 2006
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat ReaderINDIANAPOLIS - Valparaiso University and the Horizon League announced jointly Wednesday afternoon (May 17) that Valparaiso has accepted a membership invitation to join the Horizon effective July 1, 2007.
The announcement was made by Valparaiso President Alan F. Harre on the university's campus at a press conference that also included comments by Mark LaBarbera, Director of Athletics at Valpo and Horizon League Commissioner Jonathan B. LeCrone.
"Institutions in the Horizon are much more geographically centralized than the institutions within the Mid-Continent Conference," said Dr. Harre (pronounced HARR-ee). "The transition to the Horizon League means less time will be needed by our student-athletes as they travel to and from competition, and it means they will miss fewer classes. Shorter travel also means less fatigue and increased concentration in the classroom.
"Sixty-one percent of all Valparaiso alumni reside in the five states encompassed by the Horizon League. Seventy-one percent of our students come from these five states. In addition many of the alumni in these states are in metropolitan areas not served by our current conference affiliation, so a greater number now will have an opportunity to watch the performances of student-athletes representing their alma mater."
Valparaiso becomes the Horizon League's tenth current member, joining Butler University, Cleveland State University, the University of Detroit Mercy, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Loyola University Chicago, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wright State University and Youngstown State University. The addition of Valparaiso marks the first membership change for the Horizon League since Youngstown State joined for the 2001-02 academic year.
"By becoming members of the Horizon we give our student-athletes the opportunity to compete in a midwestern conference with a national reach," said Mr. LaBarbera. "We will be renewing and strengthening relationships and rivalries that have historic significance to our student-athletes, our alumni, and all of our constituents."
The Crusaders will begin Horizon League competition in 17 intercollegiate sports beginning with the 2007-08 academic year, competing for all but two of the League's 19 championships (men's and women's golf). Valparaiso presently sponsors nine sports for men (cross country, soccer, basketball, swimming and diving, indoor track and field, tennis, outdoor track and field, and baseball plus football in the Pioneer Football League) and nine for women (cross country, volleyball, soccer, basketball, swimming and diving, indoor track and field, tennis, outdoor track and field, and softball).
"The addition of Valparaiso University as our tenth member marks a very exciting time for the Horizon League," said Mr. LeCrone. "As the fourth private school member, Valpo is an extraordinary fit for the League. They share our core values of academic achievement, community service and personal responsibility, and their location in the middle of our League's Midwest footprint in ad¬dition to their highly competitive athletic program enhance the profile of the Horizon League.
"The decision to add Valparaiso to the Horizon League was enthusiastically and unanimously approved by our Board of Directors. This promises to be a long and successful relationship."
Valparaiso's rich athletics history is highlighted by seven appearances in the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship from 1996-2004, including a dramatic trip to the Sweet Sixteen in 1998. The Crusader men also captured 10 straight Mid-Continent Conference regular-season or tournament titles from 1994-95 through 2003-04. The Valpo women's basketball team, meanwhile, made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2003 and 2004 after advancing to the quarterfinals of the Women's NIT in 2002. In addition, the volleyball team owns an active streak of three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, while the women's soccer team won both the Mid-Con's regular-season and tournament titles this past fall en route to an NCAA berth.
Founded in 1859 as Valparaiso Male and Female College, Valparaiso University was one of the first coeducational colleges in the United States. The school was reorganized and opened in 1873 as the Northern Indiana Normal School and Business Institute, then rechartered as Valparaiso College in 1900 and Valparaiso University in 1906. In 1925, the university was purchased by the Lutheran University Association, a group of clergy and lay leaders affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
Although historically linked to the LCMS, Valparaiso University operates today as a national independent university committed to excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Enrollment is approximately 4,000 students, with some 3,000 enrolled in the undergraduate programs.Located in the northwest Indiana city of Valparaiso, the university is geographically centered in the Horizon League and will add a third institution to the Chicago DMA, the nation's third-largest media market, as well as a second to Indiana, where the Crusaders will join historical rival Butler.
Chartered in 1979 as the Midwestern City Conference, the Horizon is an NCAA Division I athletics conference that sponsors 19 intercollegiate championship sports and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The League and its nine member institu¬tions aspire to teach young people, through athletic competition, the value of learning, service to others and personal responsibility.
The Horizon League enjoys NCAA automatic qualification in baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's golf, men's soccer, women's soccer, softball, men's tennis, women's tennis and women's volleyball. In the past few years, the Horizon has enjoyed unprecedented success on the national stage, headlined by two Sweet Sixteen appearances (Butler 2003, UW-Milwaukee 2005) and five wins in the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship in the past four seasons, including Milwaukee's victory over the University of Oklahoma this past March.
In other sports, Horizon League teams have won at least one game in their respective NCAA Championships each of the last four seasons in both men's soccer (UW-Milwaukee 2002-05) and softball (UIC 2002, 2004; Wright State 2003; UW-Green Bay 2005) and the last two in women's soccer (Detroit 2004, UW-Milwaukee 2005). Butler's Victoria Mitchell became the League's first NCAA individual champion when she won the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Horizon League student-athletes also excel in the classroom as 505 were named to the Academic Honor Roll in the spring of 2005 and 514 in the fall for carrying a grade-point average of 3.0 or better. Sixteen student-athletes were CoSIDA Academic All-District picks this past fall, and 11 have earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors since the spring of 2005.
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Transactions Horizon League --- Announced that Valparaiso University will join the conference effective July 1, 2007.
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