35|35 #3: Ten Years, Ten Members
GLVC Welcomes IPFW, Northern Kentucky and Kentucky State in Last Week of September
Jeff Smith, Assistant Commissioner
35|35 Anniversary Website
This is the third installment of a series of 35 moments, milestones, and facts that will be featured throughout the 2013-14 academic year to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
In the 35-year history of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, 21 NCAA Division II institutions have been active members of the league, although there have never been more than 17 at one time. Over the first 10 seasons, this particular week had been a significant timeframe for conference membership, as three schools were admitted to the league during the last week of September.
On Sept. 29, 1983, Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne, now commonly referred to as IPFW, entered the GLVC as the eighth official member and began first competing in the league in the 1984-85 season.
The following year, Northern Kentucky University became the ninth conference member on Sept. 27, 1984.
The GLVC then reached double-digits in terms of member schools on Sept. 30, 1988 as Kentucky State University was admitted to the league for competition beginning in 1989-90.
In just 10 years of existence, the GLVC had now grown to 10 active members.
All three schools have since left the GLVC, with Kentucky State having served the shortest tenure as a conference member, while Northern Kentucky held the longest term for a now-former member up until charter member Kentucky Wesleyan College resigned from the GLVC this past summer.
Kentucky State remained in the conference until 1994 when it departed with charter member Ashland University for another Division II conference. The Thorobreds, who had long been a historically black, liberal arts land-grant university, left prior to winning any GLVC team or individual championships to join the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – a prominent Division II HBCU (historically black college and university) league. Ashland resigned from the league to join the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
IPFW stayed in the GLVC until 2001, when it had positioned itself to reclassify as a Division I member of the Summit League. At the time of their departure, the Mastodons had garnered 10 conference championships, eight of which came in the sport of volleyball. The other two were captured in men’s soccer (1999) and men’s basketball (1992-93), when GLVC Player of the Year Sean Gibson led IPFW to its highest national ranking (No. 4) in its Division II history. During the 1999 soccer season, first-team All-American and GLVC Player of the Year Matt Hein guided the ‘Dons to their lone league title and the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division II Championship, which included a win over current GLVC member Truman State.
The Mastodons have continued to leave a mark on the GLVC as their eight conference volleyball titles are tied with Lewis University for the most in league history. IPFW established quite the dynasty in the mid-1980s as the ‘Dons claimed the 1984, 1986, 1987, and 1988 GLVC Championships. They would go on to win the 1990, 1993, 1994 and 1996 league titles as well. IPFW was represented by four GLVC Player of the Year selections in Judy Yagodinski (1986, 1987), Dottie Porch (1997) and Laura Douglas (2000). Three head coaches also combined for five GLVC Coach of the Year honors, including Arnie Ball (1986, 1987), Lisa Sheehan (co-1992), and Tim Heffron (1996, 1998).
In addition, Lisa Miller was named the 1991-92 Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award winner as the GLVC Female Athlete of the Year after being selected as the conference’s women’s basketball Player of the Year and Kodak Division II All-American.
Northern Kentucky owns one of the most storied tenures in the GLVC despite leaving after the 2011-12 season to reclassify as a Division I member of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
The Norse were responsible for one-quarter of the GLVC’s 12 NCAA Championships, having claimed the 2000 and 2008 NCAA titles in women’s basketball and the 2010 NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship. They rank fourth all-time in league history with 58 GLVC Championships, including 33 women’s titles, which ranks second overall, and 25 men’s crowns.
In terms of sport success among the 58 total conference championships, NKU captured eight women’s basketball crowns, seven women’s soccer and seven volleyball titles, six women’s tennis and six men’s golf trophies, and collected the hardware five times each in men’s soccer and men’s tennis.
Remarkably, the Norse captured at least one conference title in every sport it competed in with exception of cross country and track and field. That across-the-board success led to seven GLVC All-Sports Trophies and a conference-record eight Commissioner’s Cups, which is awarded to the institution that demonstrates the best all-around performance in the league’s seven core sports.
In addition to its team performance awards, Northern Kentucky boasts nine GLVC Hall of Fame inductees, seven Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award winners, three Dr. Charles Bertram Alumni of Distinction Award recipients, and one honoree of the Dr. Thomas Kearns Service Award, which is named for the longtime NKU faculty athletic representative and GLVC treasurer and president, who also spearheaded the league’s first major expansion.