The Sun Conference Adds Three New Members
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Sun Conference commissioner Rob Miller, has announced the addition of three league members that will begin competition in the 2009-10 season. The new full members include Johnson & Wales (Fla.) and Southeastern, and Ave Maria will join as an associate member.
All three institutions have been accepted in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), as Johnson & Wales joined in 2001, while both Southeastern and Ave Maria were named members during spring 2008.
“The Sun Conference is excited about the addition of all three institutions into our league,” Miller said. “We feel they will provide many positives to the conference.”
Located in Miami, Fla., Johnson & Wales (Fla.), the Wildcats have been competing in the United States Collegiate Athletics Association since 1998. During their tenure in the USCAA the men’s golf team has won six regional titles and claimed the 2005 national title, while their men’s basketball team won a national title in 2003. In the 2009-10 season JWU will sponsor both men’s and women’s soccer, basketball, cross country, track and golf.
The Southeastern Fire athletics department, located in Lakeland, Fla., has competed in intercollegiate athletics since the 2001 fall season within the National Collegiate Christian Athletic Association. During the school’s tenure in the NCCAA the Fire have captured 21 South Region Titles, made 28 National NCCAA II tournament appearances and have captured 10 NCCAA II National Championships. SEU was named the 2005 and 2007 NCCAA II President’s Cup award recipient. During the 2009-10 season SEU will sponsor men’s and women’s basketball and soccer, men’s golf, women’s tennis, baseball and volleyball.
Ave Maria, located in Ave Maria, Fla., will join the conference as an associate member during the 2009-10 season and will obtain full membership upon receiving SACS accreditation. The two-year old Gyrene’s athletics program sponsors men’s and women’s soccer and basketball, volleyball and men’s golf.
“The Sun Conference is striving to grow as an intercollegiate athletic conference, not only in member numbers but also to get to a point that we are viewed as a top conference in the nation,” Miller commented. “We think these additions will help us move forward.”