The Crossroads League (formerly the Mid-Central College Conference) is a

college athletic conference In college athletics in the United States, institutions typically join in conferences for regular play under different governing bodies. Varsity sports There are several national and regional associations governing the varsity teams of colleges ...

affiliated with the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA). Its members are private Christian colleges in

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, and

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. The current conference commissioner is Larry DeSimpelare.

History

In June 2012, the conference voted to change its name to the Crossroads League, a name to better reflect the conference having grown beyond its

Central Indiana The geography of Indiana comprises the physical features of the land and relative location of U.S. State of Indiana. Indiana is in the north-central United States and borders on Lake Michigan. Surrounding states are Michigan to the north and nor ...

roots.

Chronological timeline

* 1959 - On June 1, 1959, the Crossroad League was founded as the Mid-Central College Conference (MCCC). Charter members included

Concordia Senior College Concordia Senior College was a liberal arts college located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and affiliated with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). It was founded in 1957 and closed in 1977. The senior college was a new type of institution for th ...

Grace College Grace College & Seminary is a private evangelical Christian college in Winona Lake, Indiana. It has six schools: The School of Arts and Sciences, The School of Behavioral Sciences, The School of Business, The School of Education, The School of ...

(now Grace College & Seminary), Huntington College,

Indiana Institute of Technology Indiana Institute of Technology (Indiana Tech) is a private university in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was founded in 1930 as Indiana Technical College by John A. Kalbfleisch, who was also the school's first president. The university today is organi ...

(Indiana Tech) and

Tri-State College Trine University is a private university in Angola, Indiana. It was founded in 1884 and offers degrees in the arts and sciences, business, education, and engineering. Trine University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. History Tri ...

(now Trine University), effective beginning the 1959–60 academic year. * 1963 - On September 17, 1963, the MCCC joined the

(NAIA) as a sponsored athletic conference. * 1966 -

Saint Francis College , mottoeng = My God, My All , established = , type = Private college , chancellor = , president = Miguel Martinez-Saenz , provost = Jennifer Lancas ...

(now the University of Saint Francis of Indiana) joined the MCCC, effective in the 1966–67 academic year. * 1969 - On Nov. 6, 1969,

Goshen College Goshen College is a Private college, private Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Goshen, Indiana. It was founded in 1894 as the Elkhart Institute of Science, Industry and the Arts, ...

joined the MCCC, effective beginning the 1970–71 academic year. * 1972 - Concordia Senior College left the MCCC, effective after the 1971–72 academic year. * 1973 - Marion College (now Indiana Wesleyan University) joined the MCCC, effective in the 1973–74 academic year. * 1978 - Indiana Tech left the MCCC, effective after the 1977–78 academic year. * 1979 - Grace left the MCCC, effective after the 1978–79 academic year. * 1980 - Tri-State announced that it would leave the MCCC on May 8, and Saint Francis (Ind.) announced the same on May 12, both effective after the 1980–81 academic year. * 1980 - On November 5, 1980, Bethel College (now Bethel University) joined the MCCC, with Grace re-joining back as well, both effective beginning the 1981–82 academic year. * 1986 - Bethel initially withdrew from the MCCC, effective after the 1985–86 academic year. However on August 25, 1986, Bethel was re-instated into the conference, effective in the 1986–87 academic year. * 1986 - Women's sports were introduced in the MCCC, effective in the 1986–87 academic year. * 1987 - On September 14, 1987, Marian College (now Marian University) joined the MCCC, effective in the 1987–88 academic year. * 1994 -

Taylor University Taylor University is a private, interdenominational, evangelical Christian university in Upland, Indiana. Founded in 1846, it is one of the oldest evangelical Christian universities in the country. The university is named after Bishop William ...

joined the MCCC, with Saint Francis (Ind.) re-joining back, both effective beginning the 1994–95 academic year. * 2004 -

Spring Arbor University Spring Arbor University (SAU) is a private Free Methodist university in Spring Arbor, Michigan. Developing from an earlier academy and junior college, in 1963 it began offering bachelor's degrees. Attaining university status in 1994, it is the ...

joined the MCCC, effective in the 2004–05 academic year. * 2010 - On November 30, 2010,

Mount Vernon Nazarene University Mount Vernon Nazarene University (MVNU) is a private Christian university in Mount Vernon, Ohio, with satellite locations in the surrounding area. It was founded in 1968 by the Church of the Nazarene and offers a variety of Bachelor's and Master ...

joined the MCCC, effective in the 2010–11 academic year. * 2012 - On June 27, 2012, the MCCC was rebranded as the Crossroads League, effective in the 2012–13 academic year.

Member schools

Current members

The Crossroads League currently has ten full members; all are

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

schools: ;Notes

Former members

The Crossroads had three former full members, all were

schools: ;Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1959 till:2029 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.7,0.9,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:FullxW value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for women's sports id:AssocF value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.8,0.9,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for another sport only id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference when the other color has already been used PlotData= width:16 shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:FullxW from:1959 till:1972 text: Concordia (1959–1972) bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1972 till:1977 text:Independent; closed 1977 bar:2 color:FullxW from:1959 till:1979 text:

Grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...

(1959–1979) bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1981 bar:2 color:FullxW from:1981 till:1986 text: (1981-present) bar:2 color:FullxF from:1986 till:end bar:3 color:FullxW from:1959 till:1986 text: Huntington (1959–present) bar:3 color:FullxF from:1986 till:end bar:4 color:FullxW from:1959 till:1978 text:

Indiana Tech Indiana Institute of Technology (Indiana Tech) is a private university in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was founded in 1930 as Indiana Technical College by John A. Kalbfleisch, who was also the school's first president. The university today is organi ...

(1959–1978) bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1978 till:1998 text:Independent bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:1998 till:end text: WHAC (1998–present) bar:5 color:FullxW from:1959 till:1981 text: Tri-State (1959–1981) bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:1992 text:Independent bar:5 color:OtherC2 from:1992 till:2003 text: WHAC (1992–2003) bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:2003 till:2004 text: bar:5 color:OtherC2 from:2004 till:end text: MIAA (2004–present; Trine since 2008) bar:6 color:FullxW from:1966 till:1981 text:

Saint Francis St. Francis or Saint Francis may refer to: Roman Catholic saints *Francis of Assisi (1181–1226), Italian founder of the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) *Francis of Paola (1416–1507), Italian (Calabrian) founder of the Order of the Minims * ...

(1966–1981) bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:1994 text:Independent bar:6 color:FullxF from:1994 till:end text:(1994-present) bar:7 color:FullxW from:1970 till:1992 text: Goshen (1970–present) bar:7 color:FullxF from:1992 till:end bar:8 color:FullxW from:1973 till:end text:

Marion Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mari ...

(1973–present) bar:8 color:FullxF from:1986 till:1988 bar:8 color:FullxF from:1988 till:end text:(Indiana Wesleyan since 1988) bar:9 color:FullxW from:1981 till:1986 text:

Bethel Bethel ( he, בֵּית אֵל, translit=Bēṯ 'Ēl, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; el, Βαιθήλ; la, Bethel) was an ancient Israelite sanct ...

(1981–present) bar:9 color:FullxF from:1986 till:end bar:10 color:FullxF from:1987 till:end text:

Marian Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places * Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queenslan ...

(1987–present) bar:11 color:FullxF from:1994 till:end text:

Taylor Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) **List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) Plac ...

(1994–present) bar:12 color:FullxF from:2004 till:end text:

Spring Arbor Spring Arbor is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population of the CDP was 2,881 at the 2010 census, up from 2,188 at the 2000 census. The CDP is located withi ...

(2004–present) bar:13 color:FullxF from:2011 till:end text: Mount Vernon Nazarene (2011-–present) bar:N color:skyblue from:1959 till:2012 text:Mid-Central College Conference bar:N color:blue from:2012 till:end text:Crossroads League ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1960 TextData = fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:^"Crossroads League membership history" #> If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#

Sports

Commissioners Cup

Each year, the member institution with the most points based on final rankings in each sport, is awarded the Commissioners Cup (formerly known as the All Sports Trophy). The current holder is Indiana Wesleyan University, which has won the last twelve cups in a row and holds the record for cups won, with eighteen.

Notable athletes

Stevimir Ercegovac Stevimir Ercegovac (born 20 January 1974 in Zagreb, Socialist Republic of Croatia, Yugoslavia) is a former Croatian shot putter, who represented his native country at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. His personal best is 20.28 ...

(

) 4-time national shot put champ, Olympian *Steve Platt ( Huntington University) Professional basketball player *Steve Smith (

University of St. Francis The University of St. Francis is a private Franciscan university with its main campus in Joliet, Illinois. It enrolls more than 3,900 students at locations throughout the country with about 1,300 students at its main campus. History The Unive ...

) College Slam Dunk Champion *

Eric Stults Eric William Stults (born December 9, 1979) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves in Major League Baseball, and for ...

, ( Bethel College) pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers *

Justin Masterson Justin Daniel Masterson (born March 22, 1985) is an Americans, American former professional baseball starting pitcher. Drafted by the Red Sox in the second round of the 2006 Major League Baseball draft, 2006 MLB draft from San Diego State Aztecs ...

( Bethel College), pitcher with the Boston Red Sox *

Katie Sowers Katie Sowers (born August 7, 1986) is an American football coach in the National Football League. She was the first openly gay and first female coach in Super Bowl history. Sowers began her American football career playing in the Women's Footbal ...

(

), first female and first openly gay coach to coach in a Super Bowl

References

External links

* {{NAIA conference navbox 1959 establishments in Indiana Sports leagues established in 1959