The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association has announced that Lincoln (Missouri) will rejoin the league beginning with the 2010-11 academic year.

Currently a member of the Heartland Conference (and the Great Lakes Football Conference), Lincoln had been a member of the MIAA from 1970-99, forfeiting membership when it appeared the school would not be prepared to field a varsity football program by the 2000-01 academic year. It had dropped the sport after the 1989 season and remained a conference member until the MIAA passed legislation in 1997 requiring all members to sponsor football by 2000-01.

Lincoln now fields teams in football and 10 other sports – men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s track and field, baseball, softball, women’s tennis, and women’s cross country. The Blue Tigers are particularly strong in women’s track and field, having won five straight Division II outdoor championships from 2003-07, and indoor titles in 2004 and 2006.

The new administration at Lincoln, led by university President Carolyn R. Mahoney and AD Paula Jackson, sought to return to the MIAA and rejoin other Missouri public institutions that are NCAA Division II members, including Central Missouri, Missouri Southern State, Missouri Western State, Northwest Missouri State and Truman.