The Western Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (WILA) was a
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
(NCAA)
Division II lacrosse-only college athletic conference
An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. Confe ...
composed of schools located in the
Western United States
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...
. All schools are members of other conferences in other sports. WILA was formed at the beginning of the 2010–2011 academic year in order to name a champion (which does not involve a tournament), players of the week, and an all-league team at the end of the season. With no automatic qualifiers (AQ) currently in NCAA Division II men's lacrosse, conferences play a different role than in Division III.
The WILA is a loose confederation that not only assures games for its members, but also hopes to act as a catalyst for other NCAA Division II institutions looking to make a move to varsity lacrosse and eyeing stability. "It's what you need to do in non-traditional areas," said Notre Dame de Namur men's lacrosse coach Steve Dini. The WILA schedule features home-and-home contests with all schools. The 2010–2011 season included Adams State, Fort Lewis, Colorado Mesa and Regis competing in women's lacrosse, while Adams State, Dominican, Grand Canyon, Colorado Mesa and Notre Dame de Namur competed in men's lacrosse.
Lindenwood University
Lindenwood University is a private university in St. Charles, Missouri. Founded in 1827 by George Champlin Sibley and Mary Easton Sibley as The Lindenwood School for Girls, it is the second-oldest higher-education institution west of the Missis ...
joins the conference beginning with the 2011–2012 academic year with both men's and women's teams. They replaced
Grand Canyon University
Grand Canyon University (GCU) is a private for-profit Christian university in Phoenix, Arizona. Based on student enrollment, Grand Canyon University was the largest Christian university in the world in 2018, with 20,000 attending students on ...
, which left the conference at the end of the 2010–2011 season, after the university announced that their program would compete at the club level in the
Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association
The Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) is a national organization of non-NCAA men's college lacrosse programs. The MCLA oversees game play and conducts national championships for over 200 teams in ten conferences throughout the United S ...
. The WILA concluded its second season in April 2012. Colorado Mesa won the association's men's championship with a conference record of 6-2; the championship was the first for Colorado Mesa in the program's second year of NCAA lacrosse competition. On the women's side, Lindenwood won the 2012 WILA women's lacrosse championship in the program's first season of NCAA competition. The Lady Lions recorded an 8-0 conference record en route to the title. The season saw additional membership changes when Lindenwood announced its men's program would join the new
ECAC Division II Lacrosse League
The Eastern College Athletic Conference Division II Lacrosse League, also known as the ECAC Division II Lacrosse League, was an American NCAA Division II college athletic conference and part of the Eastern College Athletic Conference that only sp ...
starting in the 2012–2013 academic year. The announcement was followed a week later by the addition of
McKendree University
McKendree University (McK) is a private university in Lebanon, Illinois. Founded in 1828 as the Lebanon Seminary, it is the oldest college or university in Illinois. McKendree enrolls approximately 2,300 undergraduates and nearly 700 graduate ...
's new women's lacrosse program starting in the 2012–2013 academic year.
Men's lacrosse was added as an official
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (N ...
sport starting in the 2015–2016 school year, essentially absorbing the WILA. Adams State, Colorado Mesa, and Colorado State–Pueblo are full members of the RMAC and is joined by Rockhurst as an affiliate member.
Member schools
Final membership
Former men's members
Former women's members
Membership timeline
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bar:1 color:both from:2010 till:2013 text:Adams State
Adams State University is a public university in Alamosa, Colorado. The university's Adams State Grizzlies athletic teams compete in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
History
Adams State was founded in 1921 as a normal school, teacher's co ...
(2010–15)
bar:1 color:men from:2013 till:end text:
bar:2 color:both from:2010 till:2013 text: Colorado Mesa (2010–15)
bar:2 color:men from:2013 till:end text:
bar:3 color:men from:2010 till:2014 text: Dominican (2010–14)
bar:4 color:women from:2010 till:2013 text: Fort Lewis (2010–13)
bar:5 color:men from:2010 till:2014 text:Notre Dame de Namur
Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) is a private Catholic university in Belmont, California. It is the third oldest college in California and the first college in the state authorized to grant the baccalaureate degree to women. In 2021, the u ...
(2010–14)
bar:6 color:women from:2010 till:2013 text:Regis
Regis or Régis may refer to:
People
* Regis (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
* Regis (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
* Regis (musician), full name Karl O'Connor, an English ...
(2010–13)
bar:7 color:both from:2011 till:2012 text:Lindenwood Lindenwood may refer to a place in the United States:
*Lindenwood, Illinois
*Lindenwood, Queens, New York
*Lindenwood Cemetery, Fort Wayne, Indiana
In education:
* Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri
* Lindenwood University – Bellevil ...
(2011–13)
bar:7 color:women from:2012 till:2013 text:
bar:8 color:women from:2012 till:2013 text: McKendree (2012–13)
bar:9 color:men from:2014 till:2015 text:CSU Pueblo
Colorado State University Pueblo (CSU Pueblo) is a public university in Pueblo, Colorado. It is a member of the Colorado State University System (CSU System) and a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI).
History 1933 to 1959
The idea for startin ...
(2014–15)
bar:10 color:men from:2014 till:2015 text: Rockhurst (2014–15)
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Champions
;Men's
*2011: Notre Dame de Namur
*2012: Colorado Mesa
*2013: Dominican
*2014: Dominican
*2015: Colorado Mesa
;Women's
*2011: Regis
*2012: Lindenwood
*2013: Lindenwood
External links
Official site
References
{{Reflist
NCAA Division II conferences
College lacrosse leagues in the United States
College sports in Arizona
College sports in California
College sports in Colorado