Heartland Conference
Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Infobox sports league
The Heartland Conference was a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division II level, which was founded in 1999. The majority of members were in Texas, with additional members in Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. The conference office was located in Waco, Texas.
HistoryEdit
The conference was formed in 1999 by founding members Drury University, University of the Incarnate Word, Lincoln University, Rockhurst University, St. Edward's University, St. Mary's University and Texas Wesleyan University. Oklahoma Panhandle State University and Dallas Baptist University joined in 2002. Founding members Drury and Rockhurst left the Heartland Conference to join the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) in 2005. Western New Mexico University and Montana State University - Billings joined in 2005. However, WNMU re-joined the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in 2006 and MSUB joined the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in 2007. Newman University, Texas A&M International University and the University of Texas of the Permian Basin joined the conference in 2006, making the transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The University of Arkansas – Fort Smith joined the conference in the Fall of 2009 after transitioning from the NJCAA.<ref>University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Accepts Invitation to Join Heartland Conference - arkansasbusiness.com - March 2, 2009</ref> In the fall of 2010, Lincoln left for the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association<ref>Lincoln returns to MIAA - St. Joseph News-Press - February 2, 2009</ref> and Incarnate Word left for the Lone Star Conference.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In July 2011, McMurry University announced that it had been accepted as candidate for D-II membership and would join the Heartland Conference in the fall of 2012.<ref name="McMurrayJoins">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In February 2012, Oklahoma Christian University announced its intention to seek membership in NCAA Division II.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In Spring 2012, Rogers State University, a member of the NAIA Sooner Athletic Conference, applied for membership.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The conference confirmed in July 2012 that Oklahoma Christian's teams would play full conference schedules starting in Fall 2012 and that Rogers State and Lubbock Christian University would begin conference play in 2013-14.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
On August 30, 2017, the Lone Star Conference announced that eight of the nine members of the Heartland Conference would join in fall 2019;<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> the remaining member, Newman, announced it would seek other affiliation at that time.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> On February 8, 2018, Newman announced that it would become an associate member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association beginning in the 2019–20 season.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> On October 18, 2018 Rogers State decided to join the MIAA instead of the Lone Star.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Chronological timelineEdit
- 1999 - The Heartland Conference was founded. Charter members included Drury College (now Drury University), the University of the Incarnate Word, Lincoln University of Missouri, Rockhurst College (now Rockhurst University), St. Edwards University, St. Mary's University and Texas Wesleyan University beginning the 1999-2000 academic year.
- 2002 - Dallas Baptist University and Oklahoma Panhandle State University joined the Heartland in the 2002-03 academic year.
- 2005 - Drury and Rockhurst to join the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) after the 2004-05 academic year.
- 2005 - Montana State University at Billings and Western New Mexico University joined the Heartland in the 2005-06 academic year.
- 2006 - Western New Mexico left the Heartland to join the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) after the 2005-06 academic year.
- 2006 - Newman University, the University of Texas of the Permian Basin (Texas–Permian Basin or UTPB) and Texas A&M International University (TAMIU)
- 2007 - Montana State–Billings left the Heartland to join the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) after the 2006-07 academic year.
- 2009 - The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith (Arkansas–Fort Smith or UAFS) joined the Heartland in the 2009-10 academic year.
- 2010 - Two institutions left the Heartland to join their respective new home primary conferences: Incarnate Word (UIW) to the Lone Star Conference (LSC), and Lincoln (Mo.) to return to the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA), both effective after the 2009-10 academic year.
- 2012 - McMurry University and Oklahoma Christian University joined the Heartland in the 2012-13 academic year.
- 2013 - Lubbock Christian University and Rogers State University joined the Heartland in the 2013-14 academic year.
- 2016 - Texas–Permian Basin (UTPB) left the Heartland to join the Lone Starly after the 2015-16 academic year. However, it would remain in the Heartland as an affiliate member for men's soccer beginning the 2016 fall season (2016-17 academic year).
- 2016 - Eastern New Mexico University, Midwestern State University and West Texas A&M University joined the Heartland as affiliate member for men's soccer in the 2016 fall season (2016-17 academic year).
- 2019 - The Heartland ceased operations as an athletic conference after the 2018-19 academic year; as many schools left to join their respective new home primary conferences beginning the 2019-20 academic year: Arkansas–Fort Smith (UAFS), Dallas Baptist, Lubbock Christian, Oklahoma Christian, St. Edward's (Tex.), St. Mary's (Tex.) and Texas A&M International (TAMIU) joined the Lone Star to renew their rivalries with Texas–Permian Basin and Western New Mexico; while Newman (Ks.) and Rogers State joined the MIAA to renew their rivalries with Lincoln (Mo.); and men's soccer affiliates Eastern New Mexico, Midwestern State, Texas–Permian Basin (UTPB) and West Texas A&M returned to their primary home conference once the Lone Star began to re-sponsor the sport.
Member schoolsEdit
Final membersEdit
The Heartland had nine final full members, all but three were private schools:
- Notes
Final affiliate membersEdit
The Heartland had four final affiliate members, all were public schools:
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | JoinedTemplate:Efn | LeftTemplate:Efn | Colors | Heartland sport(s) |
Primary conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern New Mexico University | Portales, New Mexico | 1934 | Public | 5,574 | Greyhounds | 2016 | 2019 | Template:College color boxes | men's soccer | Lone Star (LSC) (2019–present) |
| Midwestern State University | Wichita Falls, Texas | 1922 | 6,093 | Mustangs | Template:College color boxes | |||||
| Template:SortTemplate:Efn | Odessa, Texas | 1973 | 3,600 | Falcons | Template:College color boxes | |||||
| West Texas A&M University | Canyon, Texas | 1910 | 8,389 | Buffaloes | Template:College color boxes |
- Notes
Prior full membersEdit
The Heartland had ten former full members, half were public schools and another half were private schools:
- Notes
Membership timelineEdit
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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: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
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width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2005 text:Drury (1999–2005) bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:2005 till:end text:Great Lakes Valley
bar:2 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2010 text:Incarnate Word (1999–2010) bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:2010 till:2013 text:Lone Star bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:end text:Southland
bar:3 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2010 text:Lincoln (Mo). (1999–2010) bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:2010 till:end text:Mid-America
bar:4 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2005 text:Rockhurst (1999–2005) bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:2005 till:end text:Great Lakes Valley
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2019 text:St. Edward's (Tex.) (1999–2019) bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:2019 till:end text:Lone Star
bar:6 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2019 text:St. Mary's (Tex.) (1999–2019) bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:2019 till:end text:Lone Star
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2001 text:Texas Wesleyan (1999–2001) bar:7 shift:(60) color:OtherC1 from:2001 till:2013 text:Red River bar:7 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:end text:Sooner
bar:8 color:FullxF from:2002 till:2017 text:Oklahoma Panhandle State (2002–2017) bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:2017 till:end text:Sooner
bar:9 color:FullxF from:2002 till:2019 text:Dallas Baptist (2002–2019) bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:2019 till:end text:Lone Star
bar:10 color:FullxF from:2005 till:2006 text:Western New Mexico (2005–2006) bar:10 shift:(135) color:OtherC1 from:2006 till:2016 text:Rocky Mountain bar:10 color:OtherC2 from:2016 till:end text:Lone Star
bar:11 color:FullxF from:2005 till:2007 text:Montana State–Billings (2005–2007) bar:11 shift:(105) color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:end text:Great Northwest
bar:12 color:FullxF from:2006 till:2019 text:Newman (2006–2019) bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:2019 till:end text:Mid-America
bar:13 color:FullxF from:2006 till:2019 text:Texas A&M International (2006–2019) bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:2019 till:end text:Lone Star
bar:14 color:FullxF from:2006 till:2016 text:Texas–Permian Basin (2006–2016) bar:14 color:AssocOS from:2016 till:2019 text:(2016–2019) bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:2019 till:end text:Lone Star
bar:15 color:FullxF from:2009 till:2019 text:Arkansas–Fort Smith (2009–2019) bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:2019 till:end text:Lone Star
bar:16 color:FullxF from:2012 till:2014 text:McMurry (2012–2014) bar:16 shift:(30) color:OtherC1 from:2014 till:end text:American Southwest
bar:17 color:FullxF from:2012 till:2019 text:Oklahoma Christian (2012–2019) bar:17 color:OtherC1 from:2019 till:end text:Lone Star
bar:18 color:FullxF from:2013 till:2019 text:Lubbock Christian (2013–2019) bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:2019 till:end text:Lone Star
bar:19 color:FullxF from:2013 till:2019 text:Rogers State (2013–2019) bar:19 color:OtherC1 from:2019 till:end text:Mid-America
bar:20 color:AssocOS from:2016 till:2019 text:Eastern New Mexico (2016–2019) bar:20 shift:(30) color:OtherC2 from:2019 till:end text:Lone Star
bar:21 color:AssocOS from:2016 till:2019 text:Midwestern State (2016–2019) bar:21 shift:(30) color:OtherC2 from:2019 till:end text:Lone Star
bar:22 color:AssocOS from:2016 till:2019 text:West Texas A&M (2016–2019) bar:22 shift:(30) color:OtherC2 from:2019 till:end text:Lone Star
bar:N color:red from:1999 till:2019 text:Heartland Conference bar:N color:blue from:2019 till:end text:Post-Heartland
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Template:Bg Template:Bg Template:Bg Template:Bg
SportsEdit
Dallas Baptist's baseball team competed in NCAA Division I for much of its Heartland Conference tenure. At the time the league disbanded, the Patriots were single-sport members of the Missouri Valley Conference.
The Heartland Conference sponsored 13 sports, seven for women and six for men.
| A divisional format was used for soccer (M). | ||
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Men's sponsored sports by schoolEdit
Women's sponsored sports by schoolEdit
| School | Basketball | Cross Country |
Golf | Soccer | Softball | Tennis | Volleyball | Total HC Sports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:LeftArkansas–Fort Smith | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | 5 | ||
| Template:LeftDallas Baptist | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | 5 | ||
| Template:LeftLubbock Christian | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | 6 | |
| Template:LeftNewman | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | 7 |
| Template:LeftOklahoma Christian | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | 5 | ||
| Template:LeftRogers State | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | 5 | ||
| Template:LeftSt. Edward's | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | 7 |
| Template:LeftSt. Mary's | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | 6 | |
| Template:LeftTexas A&M International | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | Template:Y | 6 | |
| Totals | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 52 |
Other sponsored sports by schoolEdit
| School | Men | Women | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseball ‡ | Swimming & Diving |
Track & Field Indoor |
Track & Field Outdoor |
Wrestling | Swimming & Diving |
Track & Field Indoor |
Track & Field Outdoor | |||
| Template:LeftDallas Baptist | MVC | IND | IND | IND | IND | |||||
| Template:LeftNewman | MIAA | |||||||||
| Template:LeftOklahoma Christian | RMAC | IND | GAC | RMAC | IND | GAC | ||||
| Template:LeftRogers State | GAC | GAC | ||||||||
- ‡ — D-I sport
National championshipsEdit
| Sport | School | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Men's Basketball | Arkansas-Fort Smith | 1981 |
| Baseball | St. Mary's | 2001 |
| Softball | St. Mary's | 2002 |
| Men's Golf (Individual) | Jamie Amoretti (StMU) | 2006 |
| Women's Basketball | Lubbock Christian | 2016, 2019 |
Arkansas-Fort Smith (as Westark Junior College) won the 1981 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJACC) men's basketball national championship.
St. Mary's won NAIA national championships in Softball (1986) and Men's Basketball (1989).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
St. Mary's Men's Golf team was named the Golf Coaches Association of America 2008-2009 Academic National Champions, which St. Mary's treats as a fifth team national.
Dallas Baptist won the 2003 National Christian College Athletic Association Baseball national championship.
Lubbock Christian won NAIA national championships in Baseball (1983 & 2009) and Softball (2008).