NCAA Division II member Northwood University located in Midland announced Thursday that it is changing conference affiliations.
The Timberwolves have been part of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) since 1992, but will leave that league and bring 18 varsity sports to the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) on July 1, 2022.
“The GMAC gives our student-athletes the opportunity to compete in a small private school conference with institutions of similar size, shared values, independent philosophy, levels of scholarship and focus on a high-quality academic experience. It's a great fit for us,” Northwood said. President Kent MacDonald said in a statement.
GMAC started in 2011 and has 12 other schools: Ashland (Ohio), Cedarville (Ohio), Findlay (Ohio), Hillsdale College, Kentucky Wesleyan, Lake Erie College (Ohio), Malone (Ohio), Ohio Dominican (Ohio), Tiffin (Ohio), Trevecca Nazarene (Tennessee), Ursuline (Ohio) and Walsh (Ohio).
Northwood has about 1,250 students.
Athletic director Dave Marsh said in the statement, released by the school Thursday, that Northwood has been considering that switch for “some time.”
“It was a very careful decision, but as we continued to weigh the pros and cons, we felt this was the right time in our university's history to make this move,” Marsh said.
Last year, Northwood's athletic facilities, including the basketball gymnasium and soccer field, were damaged in the historic Midland floods, resulting in $4.2 million in damages.
Contact Kirkland Crawford: kcrawford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @HiKirkHere.
