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Cal Baptist becomes 10th member of the PacWest
RIVERSIDE, CA - California Baptist University has been accepted as the 10th member of the Pacific West Conference and will begin competition with the 2011-12 athletic season.
"The PacWest is thrilled to welcome Cal Baptist to our growing list of prestigious schools in the West," PacWest Commissioner Bob Hogue said. “The PacWest has come a long way in a few short years and the acceptance of Cal Baptist is a major milestone for the conference. Not only is Cal Baptist the 10th school in the PacWest, but it also brings the PacWest into Southern California.”
Cal Baptist and the PacWest made the joint announcement on Friday, Oct. 15. The presidents, chancellors and chief executive officers of the PacWest unanimously approved the invitation to Cal Baptist that was officially extended on Oct. 12.
“The Lancers have a proud athletic tradition and will become immediately eligible for PacWest Championships beginning in the fall of 2011,” Hogue said. “We look forward to Cal Baptist competing against our other outstanding athletic programs in the PacWest.”
Dr. Ronald L. Ellis, president of California Baptist University located in Riverside, CA, formally accepted the invitation on behalf of the institution.
"This unanimous invitation from the Pacific West Conference is a tremendous affirmation of the high caliber, nationally competitive athletic programs at California Baptist University," Ellis stated. "More importantly for CBU, it represents another significant step forward in our 15-plus years' effort to put in place the building blocks to create a university committed to the Great Commission with a global impact."
Dr. Micah Parker, CBU director of athletics, responded enthusiastically to the PacWest invitation.
"Our coaches and staff are pleased to know that we have a home for Division II competition, and we feel like the PacWest is a good fit for our institution in many ways," Parker said. "I've felt welcomed and encouraged by the other athletic directors in the PacWest as we have gone through this transition process. We are confident we can continue to honor Christ through excellence in athletics in our new conference home just like we did for 25 years in the GSAC."
The Lancers will play a PacWest schedule beginning in 2011-12 and be immediately eligible for conference championships and awards.
Cal Baptist becomes the first Southern California school in the PacWest. The remaining nine schools are comprised of four in Hawai‘i, three in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, and one each in Arizona and Utah: Academy of Art University (San Francisco, CA), Brigham Young University Hawaii (Laie, HI), Chaminade University of Honolulu, Dixie State College of Utah (St. George, UT), Dominican University of California (San Rafael, CA), Grand Canyon University (Phoenix, AZ), Hawai‘i Pacific University (Honolulu, HI), the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, and Notre Dame de Namur University (Belmont, CA).
For more information about Cal Baptist athletics, please visit their website at http://cbulancers.com/.
For more information on the PacWest, visit the conference’s website at www.thepacwest.com.
