New RMLC Teams?

[LaxTV_Admin]

They also did that with mostly freshman. That is why I think they will ramp up quickly.

Great point! They can only go up. Remember that 2007 was their first season and they played in the B national championship. They have to continue to prove themselves with better, tougher competition to get the school on board with future plans.

Edit: I am an idiot. I misread that. They did compete in the B National Championship, just not the national championship game. Sorry.

The team had a great season, but for clarification did not make it to the B National Championship Game. They lost to eventual champions (Montana) in the semi-finals. The championship was Montana (PNCLL) and St. Johns (UMLL).

Westminister certainly was right on par with the top teams in the B division though, and this is not to take anything away from their season. Just clarifying.

[Chris Larson]

Agreed, the tie to football is inherently flawed - apples and oranges ... Look at St. Mary's in the WCLL A or St. Cloud in the UMLL A. They don't have a D1 programs and they aren't near the caliber of SSU, UCSB or UMD, but there they are in A. Is it to fill space? Is it to put the coals under the fire of a smaller program? Perhaps it satisfies some conference requirement...

The UMLL has, in addition to the national standard, an undergraduate student population criteria for A Division classification. I don't have the number right in front of me but it was in the area of 12000-15000. We agreed upon this when we first discussed and A/B split as it led to clearer classification and it fit natural breaks in the population sizes of our schools. Schools that fell under our dual criteria for A were required to make a presentation to the league and their request to play in A was apporoved or disapproved by a league vote.

I can't speak for St Mary's, but the biggest difference between, St Clousd and the teams you mentioned, is the presence of a stable coach. St Cloud has for the first time in it's history, has a coach that will be there for a third consecutive season. This consistencey, combined with their willingness to get out of conference to play games, is helping this team make great strides forward.

[Phantanimal]

I can't speak for St Mary's, but the biggest difference between, St Cloud and the teams you mentioned, is the presence of a stable coach. St Cloud has for the first time in it's history, has a coach that will be there for a third consecutive season. This consistencey, combined with their willingness to get out of conference to play games, is helping this team make great strides forward.

Best of Luck to the coach and the team at St. Cloud in their progress... I am using St. Cloud as an example of a non-D1 school with membership in the A division from a conference east of the RMLC... not placing value on any team's efforts. I think it's great that lacrosse can put any school on the map and the fact that the MCLA is set up to to allow those teams to advance into the top levels of this Association is what makes this a great college game.

[Phantanimal]

Idaho State in Pocatello is another school that could potentially join the RMLC. They are closer to Utah, and have already hosted HS lacrosse events that have sparked interested in the community... I don't think they would go PNCLL.


https://secure.pocatelloshops.com/photo ... rosse3.jpg

http://www.idahostatejournal.com/articl ... orts03.txt

[John Westfall]

New Mexico State does have a pulse. It is going to take a year or two for them to get organized but don't look for them to join the RMLC. I think the LSA Conference may be more in their range as far as distance and Las Cruces is a lot closer to Texas then Colorado or Utah. I don't see them trekking to Utah, Idaho, Montana or Wyoming.