- October 2nd, 2006, 7:17 pm
#32829
RMLC Adds Three New Teams
The Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference introduces three new Division B teams: New Mexico, Northern Arizona, and Westminster College.
Boulder, CO - The Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference (RMLC) held their annual fall meeting Saturday October 23 on the University of Colorado campus, adding three new Division B teams, forming two Division B regions, expanding the Division B playoffs, and changing the format of the annual All-Star game to a "Senior Showcase" game.
With the admittance of the University of New Mexico, Northern Arizona University, and Westminster College, the RMLC will now include twelve Division B teams, and five Division A teams spread out over six states.
The University of New Mexico, located in Albuquerque, NM, has had a men’s club team since the early 80’s, but has not successfully fielded a college only team. That is all changing with the 2007 season.
Coach John Westfall is back at the school he started coaching at in the early 90’s, and is making this transition. Westfall previously coached in the RMLC in 2000 when he won coach of the year honors at Colorado School of Mines. Westfall also coached at South Carolina, Winthrop, and Liberty University.
The Lobos, technically a MCLA Division A team, will compete in the RMLC B Division, with hopes of making the jump to Division A in a few years.
The Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks, located in Flagstaff, AZ, are making their second appearance in the RMLC. The Lumberjacks were a competitive member of the conference from 1999-2001. But due to low turnout and a lack of leadership, the team was disbanded.
With new found enthusiasm highlighted by Team President Troy Elliott and an influx of students with lacrosse experience, NAU is looking to rejoin the RMLC and begin competing for a Division B title.
"The team is really excited that they finally get to compete for something and show that the NAU Lacrosse Program is finally turning around," noted Elliott.
The third new team admitted to the RMLC this fall is Westminster College, a small private liberal arts school out of Salt Lake City. The Griffins will be coached by former Utah University coach and Air Force Academy player Mason Goodhand.
Westminster, who has aspirations of possibly becoming a varsity program in a few years, gave consideration to joining the RMLC Division A, but decided that Division B would be a better fit for their first year as a team.
With the addition of Westminster, this now gives the RMLC two Division B teams in Utah.
"I am very excited to be a part of the strongest conference in the MCLA," said Coach Goodhand. "The passion that the existing RMLC teams have for the sport and the conference will be a great example for our new team."
With twelve Division B teams competing in 2007 over a rather large geographic area, the RMLC has split into two regions.
The West region will consist of Westminster College, Utah Valley State (Defending RMLC Div. B Champions), Fort Lewis College, Western State College, Northern Arizona, and New Mexico. The East Region will be comprised of Montana State, Wyoming, Northern Colorado, Colorado School of Mines, Regis University, and Colorado State University-Pueblo.
To be eligible for the RMLC Division B Playoffs, each team is required to play all teams in their region, and must play two teams from the opposite region, for a total of seven conference games. This will cut down on the amount of travel required and will hopefully encourage RMLC Division B teams to play more out of conference games.
The Division B playoffs will also be expanded this year from six to eight teams this Spring. The top four in each region will make the end of year championship tournament, which is going to be played in Boulder, Colorado the weekend of April 26-28. The RMLC A Division will stay with their final four format.
Another new change this year at the playoffs will be the change from the RMLC All Star game to a RMLC Senior Showcase. For the past ten years, the RMLC has held an "All-Star" game during the playoff weekend, but it was never truly an All Star game since the top two teams in each Division were unable to play.
For 2007 the conference will hold a Senior Showcase game instead, where all seniors on every team will be invited to play one last game.
For more information on the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference, please visit:
http://www.rmlax.com.
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I thought you may want to see this. We are on the move in Lobo land!
All the best,
The Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference introduces three new Division B teams: New Mexico, Northern Arizona, and Westminster College.
Boulder, CO - The Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference (RMLC) held their annual fall meeting Saturday October 23 on the University of Colorado campus, adding three new Division B teams, forming two Division B regions, expanding the Division B playoffs, and changing the format of the annual All-Star game to a "Senior Showcase" game.
With the admittance of the University of New Mexico, Northern Arizona University, and Westminster College, the RMLC will now include twelve Division B teams, and five Division A teams spread out over six states.
The University of New Mexico, located in Albuquerque, NM, has had a men’s club team since the early 80’s, but has not successfully fielded a college only team. That is all changing with the 2007 season.
Coach John Westfall is back at the school he started coaching at in the early 90’s, and is making this transition. Westfall previously coached in the RMLC in 2000 when he won coach of the year honors at Colorado School of Mines. Westfall also coached at South Carolina, Winthrop, and Liberty University.
The Lobos, technically a MCLA Division A team, will compete in the RMLC B Division, with hopes of making the jump to Division A in a few years.
The Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks, located in Flagstaff, AZ, are making their second appearance in the RMLC. The Lumberjacks were a competitive member of the conference from 1999-2001. But due to low turnout and a lack of leadership, the team was disbanded.
With new found enthusiasm highlighted by Team President Troy Elliott and an influx of students with lacrosse experience, NAU is looking to rejoin the RMLC and begin competing for a Division B title.
"The team is really excited that they finally get to compete for something and show that the NAU Lacrosse Program is finally turning around," noted Elliott.
The third new team admitted to the RMLC this fall is Westminster College, a small private liberal arts school out of Salt Lake City. The Griffins will be coached by former Utah University coach and Air Force Academy player Mason Goodhand.
Westminster, who has aspirations of possibly becoming a varsity program in a few years, gave consideration to joining the RMLC Division A, but decided that Division B would be a better fit for their first year as a team.
With the addition of Westminster, this now gives the RMLC two Division B teams in Utah.
"I am very excited to be a part of the strongest conference in the MCLA," said Coach Goodhand. "The passion that the existing RMLC teams have for the sport and the conference will be a great example for our new team."
With twelve Division B teams competing in 2007 over a rather large geographic area, the RMLC has split into two regions.
The West region will consist of Westminster College, Utah Valley State (Defending RMLC Div. B Champions), Fort Lewis College, Western State College, Northern Arizona, and New Mexico. The East Region will be comprised of Montana State, Wyoming, Northern Colorado, Colorado School of Mines, Regis University, and Colorado State University-Pueblo.
To be eligible for the RMLC Division B Playoffs, each team is required to play all teams in their region, and must play two teams from the opposite region, for a total of seven conference games. This will cut down on the amount of travel required and will hopefully encourage RMLC Division B teams to play more out of conference games.
The Division B playoffs will also be expanded this year from six to eight teams this Spring. The top four in each region will make the end of year championship tournament, which is going to be played in Boulder, Colorado the weekend of April 26-28. The RMLC A Division will stay with their final four format.
Another new change this year at the playoffs will be the change from the RMLC All Star game to a RMLC Senior Showcase. For the past ten years, the RMLC has held an "All-Star" game during the playoff weekend, but it was never truly an All Star game since the top two teams in each Division were unable to play.
For 2007 the conference will hold a Senior Showcase game instead, where all seniors on every team will be invited to play one last game.
For more information on the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference, please visit:
http://www.rmlax.com.
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I thought you may want to see this. We are on the move in Lobo land!
All the best,
- By JK37
- By Purple Haize