Wartburg College Introduces Women’s Lacrosse as 20th Varsity Sport
ByWartburg College has introduced women's lacrosse as its 20th varsity sport, which will begin competing in 2015. Now the college has equal number of varsity teams for both men and women (10).
The college has added a new program after almost 20 years. Men and women's soccer was added in 1989.
"Lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in the Midwest," said Rick Willis, Wartburg College athletic director. "Offering lacrosse allows us to provide additional participation opportunities while also giving additional high school students another reason to consider attending Wartburg."
Apart from Wartburg College, University of Dubuque and Loras College have recently added lacrosse programs. However, their teams have already begun competing since last month.
Beginning spring, the college will start a national hunt for a full-time coach and will enroll prospective players from big cities such as Milwaukee, Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Wartburg College athletic teams, known as Knights, compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III and are a member of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC).
NCAA Division III has a total of 215 women's lacrosse varsity programs.
The college's men's athletic teams comprise of baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis, track & field and wrestling. On the other hand, women's athletic teams feature basketball, cheerleading, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball.
Last year spring, Wartburg College became the only college in NCAA history to win two national team championships on the same day - men's wrestling and Women's track and field.