The University of Illinois Springfield released the following news release on Tuesday, announcing the addition of men's and women's cross country and track and field programs:
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – University of Illinois Springfield Director of Athletics Kim Pate has announced the addition of men’s & women’s cross country and men’s and women’s track & field as new intercollegiate sponsored sports for the Prairie Star athletic programs.
The teams are slated to begin competition in the fall of 2015.
“I am very excited to announce the addition of men’s and women’s cross country and track and field. After much discussion, research, and considerable dialogue, it was obvious that a cross country and distance-focused track & field program would be a great fit for our campus and the Springfield community. We have a talented pool of prospective student-athletes throughout central Illinois and across the region as well as ample space on campus to support program growth and a strong running community to back the program.”
UIS will begin its search for a head coach immediately, with a timeline for having a coach in place by January 31, 2015. The head coach will spend the remainder of the spring and summer recruiting and building teams to compete in the fall as well as developing a first-year schedule of competitive meets.
Currently, there are 295 NCAA DII institutions that sponsor women’s cross country and 202 that sponsor women’s outdoor track and field. As the only NCAA Division II public University in Illinois, UIS will now offer the opportunity for Illinois student-athletes to pursue a University of Illinois degree while participating in cross country and track and field. UIS will become just the third NCAA Division II institution in Illinois to offer both cross country and track and field. Bordering states of Missouri and Indiana represent 11 and four NCAA DII member institutions that sponsor both sports, respectively.
According to the 2012-13 High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), track and field ranked as the second most popular sport in interscholastic athletics and cross country ranked in the top five for both boys and girls. Approximately 463,569 high school boys and girls participated in cross country during the 2012-13 academic year and 1,053,611 boys and girls participated in track and field which is the second highest participated interscholastic sport just behind football.
According to the Illinois High School Association, in 2012-13, 499 high schools sponsored cross country, and 11,319 boys participated and 10,469 girls participated. In the sport of track and field, 617 schools sponsored boys programs and 597 sponsored girls programs with 24,804 boys and 19,926 girls participating in total.
The Prairie Stars will compete in the Great Lakes Valley Conference for championship opportunities in these sports. Currently 14 of 16 institutions sponsor women’s cross country, 13 sponsor men’s cross country, and 12 sponsor both indoor and outdoor track and field. All sponsoring institutions are invited to participate in the annual GLVC Conference Tournament Championship for cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field.
In year one, UIS plans to field a women’s and men’s cross country team as well as a women’s track & field team that will focus mainly on distance events. In year two, men’s track & field will be added with the same emphasis placed on distance.
The University of Illinois Springfield currently offers 11 sports (five men and six women). The last sport added at UIS was baseball in 2010 as the Prairie Stars began its Division II status. The addition of these sports will bring the total number of sports sponsored to 15 (six men and nine women) by next year with the potential to expand to 17 (eight men and nine women) once the men’s indoor and outdoor track and field programs are developed.
Additional information on the UIS cross country and track & field programs will be announced as it becomes available.
