Sunrise Athletic Conference
Association | NAIA |
---|---|
Ceased | 2011 |
Commissioner | Dr. Royal Goheen |
Sports fielded |
|
Division | Division II |
Region | Region X of the NAIA Northeastern United States |
Official website | http://www.sunriseconference.com |
Locations | |
The Sunrise Athletic Conference was a college athletic conference founded in 2002 and affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Its member institutions were in Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont.
History
The SAC was founded when both the Maine Athletic Conference and the Mayflower Conference disbanded in the spring of 2002. Both of these conferences were NAIA conferences of long standing.[1] The conference formed with eight inaugural members: the College of St. Joseph, Fisher College, Lyndon State College, University of Maine at Fort Kent, University of Maine at Machias, University of Maine at Presque Isle, Paul Smith's College, Vermont Technical College. Royal Goheen became the commissioner of the Sunrise Conference and continued to serve as the only commissioner in the history of the SAC until it disbanded. In 1997, Goheen took on the role as the commissioner of the Maine Athletic Conference before its disbandment. In 2010 he was elected to the NAIA Hall of Fame.[2]
In 2004, the Sunrise Conference added State University of New York at Canton after the university joined the NAIA as part of a transition from two-year to four-year institution. The conference held steady with nine members until Paul Smith's College and Lyndon State College left in 2010, dropping SAC membership to seven.
The conference disbanded in 2011 when the College of St. Joseph, Vermont Technical College and University of Maine at Machias left the conference and NAIA for the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) and the Yankee Small College Conference.[3][4] The University of Maine at Fort Kent, University of Maine at Presque Isle, and SUNY-Canton then left with no regional NAIA competition to become independents in the USCAA.[4] In addition, UM-Presque Isle is transitioning to an independent member of NCAA Division III, while SUNY Canton was accepted into the transition process to move from NAIA to NCAA DIII.[5] Fisher College joined the American Mideast Conference.[4]
Former members
Membership timeline
Conference sports
Sport | Men's | Women's |
---|---|---|
Baseball | ||
Basketball | ||
Cross Country | ||
Golf | ||
Soccer | ||
Softball | ||
Volleyball |
Conference championships
Template:Multicol Women Volleyball
- 2010 UMaine Fort Kent
- 2009 UMaine Presque Isle
- 2008 UMaine Presque Isle
- 2007 SUNY Canton
- 2006 UMaine Machias
- 2005 UMaine Machias
Men Cross Country
- 2010 SUNY Canton
Women Cross Country
- 2010 UMaine Presque Isle
Men Soccer
- 2010 UMaine Fort Kent
- 2009 UMaine Fort Kent
- 2008 UMaine Fort Kent
- 2007 UMaine Fort Kent
- 2006 UMaine Fort Kent
Template:Multicol-break Women Soccer
- 2010 UMaine Fort Kent
- 2009 UMaine Fort Kent
- 2008 UMaine Fort Kent
- 2007 SUNY Canton
- 2006 UMaine Fort Kent
Men Basketball
- 2011 Fisher College
- 2010 UMaine Fort Kent
- 2009 Fisher College
- 2008 College of St. Joseph
- 2007 Fisher College
- 2006 Fisher College
Women Basketball
- 2011 UMain Machias
- 2010 UMaine Fort Kent
- 2009 UMaine Fort Kent
- 2008 UMaine Fort Kent
- 2007 College of St. Joseph
- 2006 UMaine Fort Kent
Men Golf
- 2010 UMaine Presque Isle
- 2008 UMaine Presque Isle
Baseball
- 2011 Fisher College
- 2010 Fisher College
- 2009 Fisher College
- 2008 Fisher College
- 2007 Fisher College
- 2006 Fisher College
Softball
- 2011 SUNY Canton
- 2010 SUNY Canton
- 2009 UMaine Presque Isle
- 2008 College of St. Joseph
- 2007 College of St. Joseph
References
- ^ http://naia.cstv.com/member-services/conferences/profiles/NAIA_ConferenceProfile_Sunrise.pdf
- ^ Staff (Aug 24, 2010). "NAIA Announces 2010-11 Hall of Fame Class". Victory Sports Network. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
- ^ Hawkins, Gary (June 30, 2011). "COLLEGE: UMA adds 3 sports". Kennebec Journal. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
- ^ a b c Mahoney, Larry (June 17, 2011). "UMFK, UMPI, UMM leave NAIA for new association". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
- ^ Brown, Gary (June 30, 2011). "DIII Membership Committee recommends four new active members". NCAA. Retrieved July 2, 2011.