Big South Conference accepts Longwood Lancers
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 8:38PM By David Thackham
thackhamd@mytjnow.com
Winthrop’s intra-conference competition will grow by one in the 2012-2013 academic year. The Big South Conference has added Longwood University as a full member, the conference announced Monday. Longwood’s addition increases the Big South membership to 12 institutions for the first time in League history.
“On behalf of all the Presidents and Chancellors of the Big South Conference, I am very pleased to welcome Longwood University as the newest member of our conference,” said Big South President Penelope W. Kyle. “Longwood will be a tremendous addition to our conference, both athletically and academically.”
Longwood will quickly become a big influence on the league. The Lancers sponsor 14 varsity sports at the Division I level, 13 of which are sponsored by the Big South: men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s tennis, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s golf, and women’s lacrosse. Only women’s field hockey (NorPac) will not compete in the Big South Conference.
Longwood University president Patrick Finnegan stated the reduced travel time would put more emphasis on the students, saying that the move would allow for more competition on the field of play and in the classroom.
With the addition of Longwood, the Big South Conference will now have four members based in Virginia (Liberty, Longwood, Radford, VMI), as well as four based in North Carolina (Campbell, Gardner-Webb, High Point, UNC Asheville) and South Carolina (Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, Presbyterian College, Winthrop).
LU is located in Farmville, Va., 248 miles (4 and a half hours) away from Rock Hill, S.C. The school was founded in 1839 and has an enrollment of 4,237 students. Troy Austin is the athletic director who is in charge of a program that has won two Atlantic Soccer Conference Championships in men’s soccer, two National Lacrosse Conference Championships in women’s lacrosse and one United Soccer Conference Championship in women’s soccer.
“Longwood University will be an outstanding member of the Big South Conference,” said Big South Commissioner Kyle Kallander. “Longwood features strong leadership, an outstanding academic reputation, a commitment to Division I athletic success, and values student-athlete well-being. We are excited to welcome the Longwood Lancers to the Big South family.”
Longwood is 77-73-8 (.513) in competition against current Big South Conference members since 2007. This includes winning records in men’s basketball (7-6), softball (19-11) and women’s soccer (14-8-3).
