National Collegiate Athletic Association

NCAA News Archive - 2010

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Aug 17, 2010 9:10:41 AM

The West Coast Conference announced on Monday that it is adding Creighton as an affiliate member in women's rowing, starting with the 2010-11 season.

"Creighton's institutional mission and profile is very well aligned with our schools both athletically and academically," Commissioner Jamie Zaninovich said. "We're pleased to add an affiliate member in a sport that continues to emerge at the collegiate level."

The West Coast Conference began sponsoring women's rowing in 1997 with five institutions – Gonzaga, Loyola Marymount, San Diego, St. Mary's (California) and Santa Clara – that still make up the conference's women's rowing sponsorship today. San Diego claimed its first WCC rowing title at the most recent championship in 2010, while Gonzaga has claimed 12 titles (1997-2005; 2007-09) and Loyola Marymount won the 2006 championship.

Creighton will be the conference's sixth member in women's rowing and will make its debut at the 2011 West Coast Conference Championships on Friday, April 29, 2011, at Lake Natoma in Gold River, California. The Bluejays will be the first affiliate member since Nevada competed as a member of the WCC in baseball through the 1991 season (1970-91).

Creighton has competed as an independent in women's rowing since the program began competition in the fall of 1994. Bluejays head coach Dan Chipps, a Sacramento native, is entering his 11th year with the program. Creighton, which is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference in all of its other varsity sports programs, has had 20 women selected to the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete Award team since 2007.