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DATE: Jan. 16, 2001
CONTACT: Brian Logue, blogue@lacrosse.org
US Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates Championships Expand
Men's tourney grows to 16 teams, inaugural women's field will
feature eight teams
Baltimore - The US Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates championships
will be expanded this year with 16 men's teams and eight women's
teams competing for national championships. The tournaments will
take place in St. Louis from May 8-13. This event is the only national
championship endorsed, sponsored and sanctioned by US Lacrosse.
The US Lacrosse Men's Division Intercollegiate Associates National
Championship will begin play on May 8. The quarterfinal round of
games will be played on May 9. Teams in the winners bracket will
have off on Thursday before the semifinal and final rounds are contested
on Friday and Saturday, May 11 and 12. The field will consist of
the eight conference champions and eight at-large teams as determined
by the bimonthly US Lacrosse Men's Intercollegiate Associates national
poll. Tournament invitations will be extended the week of April
30.
The Women's Division Intercollegiate Associates National Championship
will be held from May 12-13. Champions from six women's leagues
will receive bids to the inaugural tournament along with two at-large
teams. These teams compete outside of the NCAA and college varsity
program and voluntarily comply with and enforce NCAA rules and guidelines
for competition within the leagues that comprise the Intercollegiate
Associates.
At the US Lacrosse Men's Division Convention in Philadelphia, Pa.,
in January, the Men's Division Intercollegiate Associates Board
of Directors voted to expand the field for the national championship
tournament from 12 to 16 teams, pending successful negotiations
with the Anheuser-Busch Conference and Sports Centre in St. Louis,
the host venue, and with US Lacrosse's St. Louis regional chapter.
Doug Horn, 3rd vice-president of the Men's Division Intercollegiate
Associates and tournament director, announced this week that those
negotiations were complete.
"Anheuser-Busch was very accommodating in providing fields
and times to add the additional games required to expand our tournament,"
said Horn. "We were also successful in building in a 'rest
day' into the tournament to allow the men's teams the opportunity
to recoup midway through the event. As each participating team will
now play four games during the event, it was felt that a day off
was in order to allow the teams to perform at their best."
"The (Men's Intercollegiate Associates Executive) Board felt,
that given the growth of our association, that a field of 16 teams
is more appropriate and we're confident that it'll be a very competitive
championship from the first day through the last," said Horn.
"Additionally, the inaugural US Lacrosse Women's Division Intercollegiate
Associates Championship will be contested in conjunction with the
men's championship. This combination will help solidify the US Lacrosse
Intercollegiate Associates Championships as a 'mark-your-calendar'
annual event."
The US Lacrosse men's championship tournament has been contested
since 1997. Brigham Young University captured the 2000 crown, defeating
Colorado State University 17-13. These two teams sit atop the preseason
poll as play gets underway for the 2001 season.
For more information, visit the US Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates
Men's Division website at www.uslia.com
or visit the US Lacrosse web site at www.lacrosse.org.
You may also contact Sonny Pieper, vice president of US Lacrosse's
Men's Division Intercollegiate Associates at sonny@selc.org
or (770) 925-1097. Companies interested in sponsorship of this year's
national championship tournament should contact Suzanne Gedney at
sgedney@lacrosse.org or
(410) 235-6882, x103.
US Lacrosse, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization, is the national
governing body of men's and women's lacrosse.
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