PacWest, Dixie State host impromptu Sports Festival

Dixie State, PacWest hosting impromptu sports festival 

St. GEORGE, UT - Every few years the NCAA rolls out its Division II Sports Festival program bringing the best student-athletes and teams from around the nation to one Olympic-like location to decide its national championships.

In St. George, Utah, this week, Dixie State College and the Pacific West Conference are giving a preview of what the next spring version could look like.

At 11: 06 a.m. on Wednesday morning, the first pitch was thrown at Bruce Hurst Stadium kicking off a nearly-week long athletic celebration that starts with Grand Canyon University and the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez playing the first game of the PacWest Little World Series.

The four-day tournament will run through Saturday night, May 9, and is featuring six NCAA Division II teams stretching from Hawaii to Puerto Rico.

The six teams also include Puerto Rico Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico Bayamon, Dixie State and Hawaii Pacific.

On Thursday, May 7, four NCAA Division II softball teams arrive in St. George to compete in one of two West Region Pods as the chase for the national championship begins. The three-day tournament will run May 8-10.

The two events will feature more than 150 student-athletes competing for championships in facilities that are just a foul ball apart.

In May of 2004, the NCAA began its Division II Sports Festival concept in Orlando, Fla., by brining together championships for most of its spring sports - golf, tennis, softball, and women's lacrosse - to one location.

The festival concept resurfaced again in the fall of 2006 in Pensacola, Fla., with the sports of soccer, volleyball and field hockey. The NCAA also held a spring sports festival in 2008 and a winter sports festival in 2009.

The success of the Dixie State softball team in 2009 has created the impromptu sports festival in St. George this week.

The Red Storm, runners-up in the Pacific West Conference, received a bid to host the NCAA Division II West Regional tournament, a prelude to the NCAA Division II Super Regional scheduled for mid-May.

No. 3 seeded Dixie State (36-10) will play on Friday at 3:30 p.m. (MST) against California Collegiate Athletic Association tournament champion No. 6 Cal State Monterey Bay (36-25). No. 2 Hawaii Pacific (35-9) will open up at 1 p.m. against No. 7 UC San Diego (29-21).

Humboldt State University (34-17) awarded as the No. 1 seed and the other West Region host. Hawaii Pacific moved up to No. 2 in the West with Cal State Stanislaus coming in as the No. 4 seed. Montana State Billings, Cal State Monterey Bay, UC San Diego and Sonoma State round out the final eight spots awarded. 

Each regional will feature two four-team pods playing double-elimination with the winners advancing to the Super Regional's for a best-of-three series.

Last year Humboldt State, Calif., came out of the West Region to win the national championship.

Dixie State is in its third year of membership in NCAA Division II and in its first year of eligibility for postseason play. The softball team is the first to host and the second team in school history, just a week behind the golf team, to receive an invitation to NCAA postseason play.