Northwood University leaving the GLIAC for Great Midwest Athletic Conference
Northwood University, and Division II NCAA member in Midland, announced on Thursday that it is switching conference affiliations.
The Timberwolves have been a part of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) since 1992, but they will leave that league and bring its 18 varsity sports to the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) on July 1, 2022.
"The GMAC gives our student athletes the chance to compete in a small private school conference with institutions of similar size, shared values, independent philosophy, scholarship levels and focus on a high quality academic experience. It is a great fit for us," Northwood president Kent MacDonald said in a released statement.
The GMAC started in 2011 and has 12 other schools: Ashland (Ohio), Cedarville (Ohio), Findlay (Ohio), Hillsdale College, Kentucky Wesleyan, Lake Erie College (Ohio), Malone (Ohio), Ohio Dominican (Ohio), Tiffin (Ohio), Trevecca Nazarene (Tennessee), Ursuline (Ohio) and Walsh (Ohio).
Northwood has about 1,250 students.
Athletic director Dave Marsh said in the statement, released by the school on Thursday, that Northwood has been looking at this switch for "quite some time."
"It has been a very thoughtful decision, but as we continued to weigh the pros and cons we felt this was the right time in our University's history to make the move," Marsh said.
Last year, Northwood's athletic facilities, including its basketball gymnasium and football field, were damaged in the historic Midland floods, resulting in $4.2 million in damages.
Contact Kirkland Crawford: kcrawford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @HiKirkHere.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Northwood University leaving GLIAC for Great Midwest Athletic Conference
