Lincoln University Officially Returns to MIAA

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – As of July 1, Lincoln University is again officially a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. The Blue Tigers will begin MIAA competition in the 2010-11 academic year in baseball, men's and women's basketball, women's cross country, men's and women's golf, softball, women's tennis, and men's and women's track & field.

Located in Jefferson City, LU fields teams in 11 sports – the above listed as well as football. The Blue Tigers will begin MIAA football competition for the 2011 season.

Lincoln is a historically black, 1890 land-grant, public, comprehensive institution that provides excellent educational opportunities including theoretical and applied learning experiences to a diverse population within a nurturing, student-centered environment.

The Blue Tigers have grown to become a power in women's track & field. Lincoln won five straight NCAA Division II outdoor championships from 2003-07, and indoor titles in 2004 and 2006.

LU 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 participate in the sport of football by 2000-01.

Lincoln desired to return to the MIAA after 11 years in the Heartland Conference and rejoin other Missouri public institutions that are NCAA Division II members. Those include the University of Central Missouri, Missouri Southern State University, Missouri Western State University, Northwest Missouri State University and Truman State University.

During their first stint in the MIAA, the Blue Tigers won conference championships in football (1972), men's basketball (1972, '75, '77, '81) and women's tennis (1983-86, '89-90).

The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association is now made up of 12 NCAA Division II institutions in Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska. The schools include Central Missouri, Emporia State, Fort Hays State, Lincoln, Missouri Southern, Missouri Western, Nebraska-Omaha, Northwest Missouri, Pittsburg State, Southwest Baptist, Truman and Washburn.

The league was first organized in 1912 as the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association, and reorganized in 1924.

A member of the NCAA since 1957, the conference changed its name to the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association in 1992 after Emporia State became the third non-Missouri school to join the circuit.

The MIAA has gained the reputation of being one of the top NCAA Division II conferences in the nation. MIAA student-athletes have won 15 national team championships, including two during the 2009-10 season (football and women's basketball), and more than 150 individual national titles since 1964.

The conference also leads in the classroom. MIAA schools have placed more student-athletes on the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Team since January 2000 than any other NCAA Division II conference.

The MIAA conducts championships in eight men's and nine women's sports -- football, basketball, cross country, indoor and outdoor track & field, baseball, tennis and golf for men and volleyball, soccer, cross country, basketball, indoor and outdoor track and field, softball, tennis and golf for women.