Saint Joseph's (Maine) Adds Men's and Women's Lacrosse

[Sonny]

Saint Joseph's (Me.) Adds Men's and Women's Lacrosse

Standish, Maine - Saint Joseph's College has accepted membership into the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) and announces the addition of three new sports in swimming and men's and women's lacrosse. Teams will begin competing in the GNAC in the 2007-08 academic year. The GNAC is an NCAA Division III conference and Saint Joseph's membership is its first full NCAA conference affiliation.

"Saint Joseph's College is proud to accept admission into the Great Northeast Athletic Conference. It is important for our teams to have a home," said Saint Joseph's President Dr. David House. "Our entry into the GNAC and the addition of three new sports are important milestones in the history of our athletic program. With our record-high enrollments, notable academic quality and ambitious plans for steady growth over the next several years, our membership in the GNAC comes at a particularly exciting time."

Saint Joseph's currently sponsors 11 teams; men's and women's soccer, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, baseball, softball, field hockey, women's volleyball and men's golf. The three new sports will begin competing as full Division III/GNAC members in Fall 2007.

The GNAC sponsors championships in 12 sports for men and women and consists of 14 institutions: Albertus Magnus College (New Haven, CT), Daniel Webster College (Nashua, NH), Emerson College (Boston, MA), Emmanuel College (Boston, MA), Johnson & Wales University (Providence, RI), Lasell College (Newton, MA), Mount Ida College (Newton, MA), Norwich University (Northfield, VT), Pine Manor College (Chestnut Hill, MA), Rivier College (Nashua, NH), Saint Joseph's College (Standish, ME), St. Joseph College (West Hartford, CT), Simmons College (Boston, MA) and Suffolk University (Boston, MA).

"The schools in the GNAC will offer a strong competitive experience for our student-athletes and will build more rivalries and more excitement on our campus," said newly appointed Athletic Director Brian Curtin. "Being affiliated with the GNAC, its history and its championships is something the College has worked toward for some time. We are confident that both Saint Joseph's College and the GNAC will benefit from this partnership."

For the past four years, all teams at Saint Joseph's have been competing as NCAA independents, except for baseball. As an associate member of the Northeast Athletic Conference for two years, the baseball team won the conference championship twice and reached the NCAA Tournament this past season. The women's basketball and women's soccer teams won Regional Independent Championships in 2004-05 and 2005-06. The cross country teams won the title in 2005 and softball won in 2006.

Saint Joseph's College is a Catholic liberal arts college with 1,050 undergraduate students on a 350-acre campus in Standish, Maine, located 15 miles west of Portland and two hours from Boston.