Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC)
Established	1913
Association	NCAA
Division	Division III
Members	9
Sports fielded	21 (men's: 10; women's: 11)
Region	Wisconsin
Headquarters	Madison, Wisconsin
Commissioner	Dr. Gary Karner (since July, 1996)
Website	wiacsports.com
Locations

The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) is a college athletic conference that competes in the NCAA's Division III. As the name implies, member teams are located in the state of Wisconsin, although there are three associate members from Minnesota and one from Michigan. All full members are part of the University of Wisconsin System.

History

In 1913, representatives from Wisconsin's eight normal schools--Superior Normal School (now the University of Wisconsin-Superior), River Falls State Normal School (now the University of Wisconsin-River Falls), Stevens Point Normal School (now the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point), La Crosse State Normal School (now the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse), Oshkosh State Normal School (now the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh), Whitewater Normal School (now the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater), Milwaukee State Normal School (now the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) and Platteville Normal School (now the University of Wisconsin-Platteville)--met in Madison to organize the Wisconsin State Normal Conference. The Stout Institute (now the University of Wisconsin-Stout) joined in 1914, followed by Eau Claire State Normal School (now the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire) in 1917.

The conference evolved with the growing educational mission of its member schools. It changed its name to the Wisconsin State Teachers College Conference in 1926, and the Wisconsin State College Conference in 1951. Finally, in 1964, it became the Wisconsin State University Conference. The conference remained unusually stable over the years; the only change in membership being UW-Milwaukee's departure in 1964.

In 1971, the member schools of the WSUC joined with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Parkside and Carthage College to form the Wisconsin Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. By 1975, UW-Milwaukee, Carroll College, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and Marquette University had also joined. With the dissolution of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women in 1982, the member schools joined their male counterparts in either the NCAA or NAIA. By 1993, the non-NCAA Division III members had all dropped out, resulting in the WWIAC having the same membership as the WSUC. Under the circumstances, a merger was inevitable. In 1996, Gary Karner was named commissioner of both the WSUC and the WWIAC. The two conferences formally merged in 1997 to form the current WIAC.

Centennial Celebration

The ninth oldest conference in the nation, the WIAC will celebrate its Centennial year during the 2012-13 academic year [1]. Additionally, the WIAC is the most successful NCAA Division III conference in history, boasting NCAA National Championships in 15 different sports [2]. At the beginning of the 2011-12 academic year, the conference had claimed a nation-leading 92 NCAA National Championships [3].

To celebrate its Centennial, the conference will be naming All-Time Teams in each sport that is currently or was previously recognized as a "championship" sport within the conference [4]. Furthermore, the WIAC commissioned a commemorative work of art, created by Tim Cortes [5], and has also created a 2-year calendar in celebration of its Centennial [6].

The Centennial Celebration is headlined by its Centennial Banquet to be held on August 4, 2012 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis. Among the honorees at this event will be the All-Time Team members and the inaugural class to the WIAC Hall of Fame.

Member schools

Institution	Nickname	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Total Enrollment
Wisconsin–Eau Claire	Blugolds	Eau Claire, Wisconsin	1916	Public	11,140
Wisconsin–La Crosse	Eagles	La Crosse, Wisconsin	1909	Public	10,074
Wisconsin–Oshkosh	Titans	Oshkosh, Wisconsin	1871	Public	12,753
Wisconsin–Platteville	Pioneers	Platteville, Wisconsin	1866	Public	7,512
Wisconsin–River Falls	Falcons	River Falls, Wisconsin	1874	Public	6,555
Wisconsin–Stevens Point	Pointers	Stevens Point, Wisconsin	1894	Public	9,163
Wisconsin–Stout	Blue Devils	Menomonie, Wisconsin	1891	Public	9,017
Wisconsin–Superior	Yellowjackets	Superior, Wisconsin	1893	Public	2,689
Wisconsin–Whitewater	Warhawks	Whitewater, Wisconsin	1868	Public	10,962

Former members

Institution	Current Conference	Years
Wisconsin–Milwaukee	Horizon League	1913–1964

Additionally, Winona State University, Gustavus Adolphus College and Hamline University are gymnastics-only members. Finlandia University is an affiliate member for men's soccer.

Sports

Member institutions field men's and women's teams in cross country, basketball, track and field, swimming and diving, and soccer. Men's teams are fielded for baseball, football, ice hockey, and wrestling. Women's teams are fielded for golf, gymnastics, softball, tennis and volleyball.

Conference facilities

School	Football stadium	Capacity	Basketball arena	Capacity
UW–Eau Claire	Carson Park	6,500	W. L. Zorn Arena	2,450
UW–La Crosse	Veterans Memorial Stadium	10,000	Mitchell Hall	2,880
UW–Oshkosh	Titan Stadium	9,800	Kolf Sports Center	5,800
UW–Platteville	Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium	10,000	Williams Fieldhouse	2,300
UW–River Falls	Ramer Field	4,800	Karges Center	2,000
UW–Stevens Point	Goerke Field	4,000	Quandt Fieldhouse	3,281
UW–Stout	Don and Nona Williams Stadium	5,000	Johnson Fieldhouse	1,800
UW–Superior	Non-Football School	N/A	Mertz Morterelli Memorial Fieldhouse	2,500
UW–Whitewater	Forrest Perkins Stadium	13,200	Williams Center	3,000

External links

• Official website