Crossroads League
{{short description|College athletics body in the U.S. Midwest}}
{{Infobox sports league
| name = Crossroads League
| logo = Crossroads League Logo.jpg
| logo_size = 200
| founded = {{start date and age|1959}}
| association = NAIA
| teams = 10
| sports = 15
| mens = 7
| womens = 8
| region = Midwestern United States
Region VIII
| formerly = Mid-Central College Conference (1959–2012)
| commissioner = Larry DeSimpelare
| website = {{url|https://www.crossroadsleague.com/landing/index| crossroadsleague.com}}
| map = MCCC conference map.png
| map_size = 250
| color = #007DB3; border: 2px solid black
| font_color = white
}}
The Crossroads League (formerly the Mid-Central College Conference) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Its members are private Christian colleges in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. The current conference commissioner is Larry DeSimpelare.
History
{{OSM Location map
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| nolabels = 1
| title = Crossroads League
| mark-coord = {{coord|40.8975| -85.495833}} |mark-size=10 |label=Huntington |label-pos= left |mark= Blue 0080ff pog.svg
| mark-coord1 = {{coord|41.225861| -85.815915}} |mark-size1=10 |label1=Grace |label-pos1= left |mark1= Blue 0080ff pog.svg
| mark-coord2 = {{coord|41.087292| -85.176122}} |mark-size2=10 |label2=Saint Francis |label-pos2= right |mark2= Blue 0080ff pog.svg
| mark-coord3 = {{coord|41.5637| -85.8272}} |mark-size3=10 |label3=Goshen |label-pos3= right |mark3= Blue 0080ff pog.svg
| mark-coord4 = {{coord|40.519| -85.665}} |mark-size4=10 |label4=Indiana Wesleyan |label-pos4= left |mark4= Blue 0080ff pog.svg
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| mark-coord8 = {{coord|42.205833| -84.554722}} |mark-size8=10 |label8=Spring Arbor |label-pos8= top |mark8= Blue 0080ff pog.svg
| mark-coord9 = {{coord|40.3737| -82.4748}} |mark-size9=10 |label9=Mount Vernon Nazarene |label-pos9= left |mark9= Blue 0080ff pog.svg
| zoom = 7
| caption = Location of Crossroads members: 10px current
}}
In June 2012, the conference voted to change its name to the Crossroads League, a name to better reflect the conference having grown beyond its Central Indiana roots.{{cite web |title=MCC Becomes Crossroads League |url=http://www.indwes.edu/News/2012/MCC-Becomes-Crossroads-League/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121212051854/http://www.indwes.edu/News/2012/MCC-Becomes-Crossroads-League/ |archive-date=2012-12-12 |access-date=2012-08-01 |website=Indiana Wesleyan University}}
=Chronological timeline=
- 1959 – On June 1, 1959, the Crossroad League was founded as the Mid-Central College Conference (MCCC). Charter members included Concordia Senior College, Grace College (now Grace College & Seminary), Huntington College, Indiana Institute of Technology (Indiana Tech) and Tri-State College (now Trine University), beginning the 1959–60 academic year.
- 1963 – On September 17, 1963, the MCCC joined the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) as a sponsored athletic conference, beginning the 1963–64 academic year.
- 1966 – Saint Francis College (now the University of Saint Francis of Indiana) joined the MCCC in the 1966–67 academic year.
- 1969 – On Nov. 6, 1969, Goshen College joined the MCCC, beginning the 1970–71 academic year.
- 1972 – Concordia Senior College left the MCCC after the 1971–72 academic year.
- 1973 – Marion College (now Indiana Wesleyan University) joined the MCCC in the 1973–74 academic year.
- 1978 – Indiana Tech left the MCCC after the 1977–78 academic year.
- 1979 – Grace left the MCCC after the 1978–79 academic year.
- 1980 – Tri-State announced that it would leave the MCCC on May 8, and Saint Francis (Ind.) announced the same on May 12, both effective after the 1980–81 academic year.
- 1980 – On November 5, 1980, Bethel College (now Bethel University) joined the MCCC, with Grace re-joining as well, both effective beginning the 1981–82 academic year.
- 1986 – Bethel initially withdrew from the MCCC after the 1985–86 academic year. However on August 25, 1986, Bethel was re-instated into the conference for the 1986–87 academic year.
- 1986 – Women's sports were introduced in the MCCC, beginning the 1986–87 academic year.
- 1987 – On September 14, 1987, Marian College (now Marian University) joined the MCCC in the 1987–88 academic year.
- 1994 – Taylor University joined the MCCC, with Saint Francis (Ind.) re-joining, both effective beginning the 1994–95 academic year.
- 2004 – Spring Arbor University joined the MCCC in the 2004–05 academic year.
- 2010 – On November 30, 2010, Mount Vernon Nazarene University joined the MCCC in the 2010–11 academic year.
- 2012 – On June 27, 2012, the MCCC was rebranded as the Crossroads League, beginning the 2012–13 academic year.
{{clear}}
Member schools
=Current members=
The Crossroads League currently has ten full members; all are private, Christian schools:
class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! Institution ! Location ! Founded ! Affiliation ! Enrollment ! Nickname ! Joined{{efn|group=full|Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.}} |
Bethel University
| 1947 | 1,964 | Pilots | 1981 |
Goshen College
| 1894 | 971 | 1970 |
Grace College & Seminary
| 1948 | 1,308 | Lancers | 1959; |
Huntington University
| 1897 | 1,089 | 1959 |
Indiana Wesleyan University
| 1920 | 2,969 | Wildcats | 1973 |
Marian University
| 1851 | 3,595 | Knights | 1987 |
Mount Vernon Nazarene University
| 1964 | Nazarene | 2,622 | Cougars | 2011 |
{{sort|Saint Francis|University of Saint Francis}}
| 1890 | Catholic | 1,883 | Cougars | 1966; |
Spring Arbor University
| 1873 | 2,600 | Cougars | 2004 |
Taylor University
| 1846 | 1,887 | Trojans | 1994 |
;Notes
{{notelist|group=full}}
=Former members=
The Crossroads had three former full members, all were private schools:
class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! Institution ! Location ! Founded ! Affiliation ! Enrollment ! Nickname ! Joined{{efn|group=former|Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.}} ! Left{{efn|group=former|Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.}} ! Subsequent ! Current |
Concordia Senior College
| 1957 | N/A | Cadets | 1959 | 1972 | NAIA Independent | Closed in 1977 |
Indiana Institute of Technology
| 1930 | Nonsectarian | 7,000 | Warriors | 1959 | 1978 | Chicagoland (CCAC) | Wolverine–Hoosier (WHAC) |
Trine University
| 1884 | Nonsectarian | 4,104 | Thunder | 1959 | 1981 | various{{efn|group=former|Trine had the following conference affiliations: an NAIA Independent from 1981–82 to 1991–92; the Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) from 1992–93 to 2002–03; and an NCAA D-III Independent during the 2003–04 school year.}} | Michigan (MIAA){{efn|group=former|name=D3|Currently an NCAA Division III athletic conference.}} |
;Notes:
{{notelist|group=former}}
=Membership timeline=
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1959 till:2029
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#
Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7)
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb(0.7,0.9,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:FullxW value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for women's sports
id:AssocF value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.8,0.9,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for another sport only
id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference when the other color has already been used
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:FullxW from:1959 till:1972 text:Concordia (1959–1972)
bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1972 till:1977 text:Independent; closed 1977
bar:2 color:FullxW from:1959 till:1979 text:Grace (1959–1979)
bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1981
bar:2 color:FullxW from:1981 till:1986 text: (1981-present)
bar:2 color:FullxF from:1986 till:end
bar:3 color:FullxW from:1959 till:1986 text:Huntington (1959–present)
bar:3 color:FullxF from:1986 till:end
bar:4 color:FullxW from:1959 till:1978 text:Indiana Tech (1959–1978)
bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1978 till:1998 text:Independent
bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:1998 till:end text:WHAC (1998–present)
bar:5 color:FullxW from:1959 till:1981 text:Trine (1959–1981)
bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:1992 text:Independent
bar:5 color:OtherC2 from:1992 till:2003 text:WHAC (1992–2003)
bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:2003 till:2004 text:
bar:5 color:OtherC2 from:2004 till:end text:MIAA (2004–present; Trine since 2008)
bar:6 color:FullxW from:1966 till:1981 text:Saint Francis (1966–1981)
bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:1994 text:Independent
bar:6 color:FullxF from:1994 till:end text:(1994-present)
bar:7 color:FullxW from:1970 till:1992 text:Goshen (1970–present)
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1992 till:end
bar:8 color:FullxW from:1973 till:end text:Marion (1973–present)
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1986 till:1988
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1988 till:end text:(Indiana Wesleyan since 1988)
bar:9 color:FullxW from:1981 till:1986 text:Bethel (1981–present)
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1986 till:end
bar:10 color:FullxF from:1987 till:end text:Marian (1987–present)
bar:11 color:FullxF from:1994 till:end text:Taylor (1994–present)
bar:12 color:FullxF from:2004 till:end text:Spring Arbor (2004–present)
bar:13 color:FullxF from:2011 till:end text:Mount Vernon Nazarene (2011–present)
bar:N color:skyblue from:1959 till:2012 text:Mid-Central College Conference
bar:N color:blue from:2012 till:end text:Crossroads League
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1960
TextData =
fontsize:M
textcolor:black
pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center)
text:^"Crossroads League membership history"
- > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. {{Font color||{{RGB|190|186|218}}|Full members (men only)}} {{Font color||{{RGB|141|211|199}}|Full members (men and women)}} {{Font color||{{RGB|255|255|179}}|Other Conference}} {{Font color||{{RGB|253|180|98}}|Other Conference}} <#
{{Font color||{{RGB|229|204|178}}|Full member (non-football)}}
{{Font color||{{RGB|141|211|199}}|Full members (men only)}}
{{Font color||{{RGB|255|255|179}}|Other Conference}}
{{Font color||{{RGB|253|180|98}}|Other Conference}}
Sports
class="wikitable" style="margin:auto; text-align:center"
|+ Conference sports !Sport | Men's | Women's |
{{left}}Baseball | {{Y}} | |
{{left}}Basketball | {{Y}} | {{Y}} |
{{left}}Cross Country | {{Y}} | {{Y}} |
{{left}}Golf | {{Y}} | {{Y}} |
{{left}}Soccer | {{Y}} | {{Y}} |
{{left}}Softball | {{Y}} | |
{{left}}Tennis | {{Y}} | {{Y}} |
{{left}}Track & Field Outdoor | {{Y}} | {{Y}} |
{{left}}Volleyball | {{Y}} |
Commissioners Cup
Each year, the member institution with the most points based on final rankings in each sport, is awarded the Commissioners Cup (formerly known as the All Sports Trophy). The current holder is Indiana Wesleyan University, which has won the last twelve cups in a row and holds the record for cups won, with eighteen.{{Cite web |url=http://www.mid-centralconf.org/allSportChampionship.php?seasonID=5 |title=2007-08 All Sport Points Standings |access-date=2009-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716113658/http://www.mid-centralconf.org/allSportChampionship.php?seasonID=5 |archive-date=2011-07-16 |url-status=dead }}
Notable athletes
- Stevimir Ercegovac (Taylor University), 4-time national shot put champion, Olympian
- Steve Platt (Huntington University), professional basketball player
- Steve Smith (University of St. Francis), College Slam Dunk Champion
- Eric Stults (Bethel College), pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers
- Justin Masterson (Bethel College), pitcher with the Boston Red Sox
- Katie Sowers (Goshen College), first female and first openly gay coach to coach in a Super Bowl
- Addison Wiley (Huntington University), professional distance runner
References
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
- {{oweb}}
{{Crossroads League navbox}}
{{NAIA conference navbox}}