Great Western Lacrosse League

The Great Western Lacrosse League, also known as the GWLL, was an NCAA Division I men's college lacrosse athletic conference that existed from 1994 to 2009. The conference was created when the NCAA instituted automatic qualifiers to the NCAA championship tournament; in so doing, it eliminated the "western region" bid.

Great Western Lacrosse League

The GWLL ceased operations in 2010, as a result of Notre Dame's 2008 decision to leave the conference for the newly established Big East lacrosse conference in 2010; the remaining GWLL schools, including the Air Force Academy, University of Denver, The Ohio State University, Quinnipiac University, and Bellarmine University, joined the ECAC, as a five-team GWLL would no longer have been eligible to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA championship tournament under the rule requiring conferences to have at least six members to qualify for the bid.

History

The GWLL was established in 1994. The original members were Air Force, Butler, Denver, Michigan State, Notre Dame, and Ohio State. Just prior to the 1997 season, Michigan State left the conference after the school dropped varsity lacrosse, leaving the league with five clubs. The NCAA requires a conference to have six members in order to be eligible for an automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament. As a result, Fairfield was added as a sixth member. Fairfield later left the conference to join the ECAC and was replaced by Quinnipiac. Later, Butler left the GWLL when its athletic department dropped several sports programs including men's lacrosse in January 2007.[1] Bellarmine was added to the conference in 2007 after the school began competing in Division I men's lacrosse in 2005.

In 2008, the GWLL held its first championship tournament. Previously, the GWLL champion was determined by regular-season results. Notre Dame won the championship with a 9-2 victory over Ohio State, earning an automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship.[2] In addition to Notre Dame's automatic bid, Ohio State and Denver also received "at-large" bids to the NCAA tournament, giving the GWLL three teams in the tournament.[3] The following year, in 2009, Notre Dame again won the GWLL championship, defeating Ohio State 16-7 in the conference's last tournament.[4]

Former members
InstitutionNicknameLocationHead CoachFieldCurrent Lacrosse League
United States Air Force AcademyFalconsColorado Springs, COEric SeremetCadet Lacrosse StadiumSouthern Conference
Bellarmine UniversityKnightsLouisville, KYKevin BurnsOwsley B. Frazier StadiumSouthern Conference
Butler UniversityBulldogsIndianapolis, INCentral Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA)
University of DenverPioneersDenver, COBill TierneyPeter Barton Lacrosse StadiumBig East Conference
Fairfield UniversityStagsFairfield, CTAndrew CopelanLessing FieldColonial Athletic Association
Michigan State UniversitySpartansEast Lansing, MICentral Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA)
University of Notre DameFighting IrishSouth Bend, INKevin CorriganArlotta StadiumAtlantic Coast Conference
The Ohio State UniversityBuckeyesColumbus, OHNick MyersJesse Owens Memorial StadiumBig Ten Conference
Quinnipiac UniversityBobcatsHamden, CTEric FeketeQU Lacrosse FieldMetro Atlantic Athletic Conference

Champions

Regular Season Champions
YearChampion(s)ConferenceOverall
2009Notre Dame5–012–0
2008Denver
Notre Dame
Ohio State		4–1
4–1
4–1		10–7
14–3
11–6
2007Notre Dame5–011–3
2006Denver5–012–5
2005Denver
Fairfield		4–1
4–1		9–5
11–5
2004Ohio State5–012–4
2003Denver
Notre Dame
Ohio State		4–1
4–1
4–1		9–5
9–5
9–5
2002Fairfield
Notre Dame		4–1
4–1		7–6
5–8
2001Notre Dame5–014–2
2000Notre Dame5–010–4
1999Butler
Notre Dame
1998Ohio State
1997Notre Dame
1996Notre Dame
1995Notre Dame
1994Notre Dame

Playoff Champions
YearChampionTitle Game OpponentScore
2009Notre DameOhio State16-7
2008Notre DameOhio State9-2

Annual Awards

Player of the Year

YearPlayerTeam
2008 Kevin BuchananOhio State University[5]
2009 Scott RodgersUniversity of Notre Dame[6]

Newcomer of the Year

YearPlayerTeam
2008 Jamie LincolnUniversity of Denver[5]
2009 Dayton GilbreathAir Force Academy[6]

Coach of the Year

YearPlayerTeam
2008 Eric FeketeQuinnipiac University[5]
2009 Kevin CorriganUniversity of Notre Dame[6]
gollark: I should start using zero-width-space steganography to encode Rust in all my messages.
gollark: ¶↓ßŧ
gollark: ←ŧ¶e@ßðđæŋ{[]}[][¾³€¾³€¾
gollark: →↓←ŧþ
gollark: Python's does.

References
  1. "Butler University Announces Changes to Athletic Program". ButlerSports.com. January 26, 2007. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
  2. "Notre Dame plays outstanding defense in 9-2 GWLL finals win over Ohio State". InsideLacrosse.com. May 4, 2008. Archived from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved May 5, 2008.
  3. "D-I Men's Lacrosse Selections Announced". NCAA.com. May 4, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
  4. "Notre Dame Captures GWLL Title With 16-7 Triumph Of Ohio State". UND.com. May 3, 2009. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
  5. "2008 GWLL All-League Selections and Annual Awards" (.pdf). GWLL.com. May 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
  6. "2009 GWLL All-League Selections and Annual Awards" (.pdf). GWLL.com. April 30, 2009. Retrieved 2010-04-01.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.