Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) to Add Saint Vincent College as Eighth Member

Contact: Joe Onderko

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. - The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) has announced the addition of Saint Vincent College of Latrobe, Pa., as the eighth member of the conference. The members of the PAC Presidents' Council voted unanimously to accept Saint Vincent's application for membership during a conference call this morning.

"On behalf of the PAC Presidents' Council, we are very pleased to add Saint Vincent College to the conference," said Waynesburg President Timothy Thyreen, who serves as PAC Presidents' Council chair in 2005-06. "Saint Vincent brings an academic reputation and athletic history that is very consistent with our other conference members."

Saint Vincent, which is currently a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), recently completed an exploratory year as a member of NCAA Division III and will begin a four-year provisional membership period in Division III in 2006-07. PAC schools will begin scheduling Saint Vincent in all sports in 2006-07, including the new Bearcat varsity football program set to debut in 2007-08. Saint Vincent will be eligible for PAC championships upon its acceptance as a full member in NCAA Division III, scheduled for the 2010-11 academic year.

"We are pleased that the members of the PAC Presidents' Council have enthusiastically welcomed us into the conference," said Saint Vincent College Vice Chancellor and President James F. Will.

The addition of Saint Vincent marks the second institution to join the PAC in 2005. In April, the conference welcomed Thomas More College of Crestview Hills, Ky., as the league's seventh member. The other conference members are Bethany (W.Va.) College, Grove City College, Thiel College, Washington & Jefferson College, Waynesburg College, and Westminster (Pa.) College.

"The acceptance of Saint Vincent is another step in the growth and development of the PAC into a premier NCAA Division III conference," said Waynesburg Director of Athletics Rudy Marisa, the 2005-06 chair of the PAC Athletic Directors' Council. "Also, this addition will allow several of our schools to restore and renew athletic rivalries with Saint Vincent, including some which stretch over several decades."

Saint Vincent will field 19 intercollegiate athletic teams during the upcoming academic year -- men's teams in nine sports including baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis and track and women's teams in ten sports including basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis and volleyball. All except field hockey and lacrosse are sponsored by the PAC.

"Realigning with NCAA Division III and the Presidents' Athletic Conference is a long-term investment in the future," Mr. Will concluded. "And we are excited to announce the return of football. I know everyone associated with Saint Vincent shares in our excitement about these decisions."

Founded in 1955, the Presidents' Athletic Conference continues its mission of promoting intercollegiate athletics and the pursuit of academic excellence. The PAC remains a unique organization in this day of high pressure intercollegiate athletics. With academics at the center of each member's philosophy, the PAC is built on the principle that an athletic program is a part of college life, but not an entity in itself.

The PAC annually crowns champions in 19 sports (10 men, nine women). In 2004-05, the conference had 18 teams represent the conference in postseason play, including 12 in NCAA championship events. The conference is scheduled to receive automatic qualification (AQ) status for NCAA championships in the 2007-08 academic year.

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Joe Onderko
Sports Information Director
Westminster College/Presidents' Athletic Conference
102 Old Main, 319 S. Market Street
New Wilmington, PA 16172-0001
P-(724) 946-6357

McGurk, Williams earn Preseason All-America praises

ALAMOSA, Colo.- Adams State College senior linebacker Adam McGurk and senior punter Jeff Williams have both been named to a pair of Preseason All-America teams, recently released by college football preview magazines. McGurk, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound rover from Longmont, Colo. (Longmont HS) was a First Team pick by both Lindy's and Street & Smith's while Williams, a 6-foot-4, 225-pounder from Mead, Colo. (Skyline HS) was a Second Team selection by Lindy's and a First Team pick by Street & Smith's, which only lists a single unit.

Street & Smith's also listed the Wayne McGinn coached ASC Grizzlies as one of the "Best of the Rest" and tabbed the team's Nov. 5 regular season finale at defending RMAC Champion Colorado School of Mines as one of five "Games to Watch" from around the country in 2005.

McGurk, the 2-time Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year, was also named to the Lindy's preseason team in 2004 and has earned postseason All-America honors from numerous publications over each of the last two seasons. In 2004, he made a team-high 126 tackles and led ASC's defense, coordinated by Marty Heaton, that finished atop the RMAC and 12th in the nation while earning "NCAA Division II Defense of the Year" honors from the College Sports Report. As ASC's career and single-season sack record holder, McGurk also had 20 total tackles for losses, 7.5 sacks, seven pass breakups and was tied for the national lead in forced fumbles with five.

Williams boomed 71 punts for 3,405 yards in 2004, good for an impressive 48.0 yard average. That mark led all levels of college football and was good for his third straight RMAC punting title. Recording the best single-season average of any NCAA Division II punter since 1966, Williams broke Jason Van Dyke's 1997 ASC single-season record for punting yards and fell just 0.1 yard per punt shy of breaking ASC's single-season punting average record, held by the legendary Don Cockroft, a former All-Pro with the NFL's Cleveland Browns.

Moving into second place behind Van Dyke, a 3-year All-American, on ASC's career punting yards and attempts charts in the process, Williams is now averaging 44.7 yards per punt throughout his 3-year career and is well ahead of Van Dyke's NCAA Division II record pace of 44.3 yards per kick.

Williams was named to six different All-America teams following the 2004 season, including the First Team AP Little All-America squad, and is receiving a lot of attention from professional scouts entering his final season at ASC.

The Grizzlies, who won seven straight games in 2004 before finishing with their best record (7-4) in 15 years, will report to preseason camp on Aug. 6 and will kickoff the 2005 season on Thursday, Aug. 25 at Central Missouri State, which is also tabbed as a "Best of the Rest" squad by Street and Smith's.

ASC will return 19 starters and 37 letterwinners from the 2004 squad, that was ranked 34th and 36th by Dopke.com and Don Hansen's Weekly Football Gazette, respectively, at the end of the campaign.

Colorado Mines and Chadron State, two of ASC's RMAC opponents, are ranked 14th and 24th, respectively, by that publication while Colorado Mines is tabbed 16th by Lindy's. The Grizzlies will host Chadron State in their home-opener on September 10.

Visit ASCGrizzlies.com for the latest news and info on Adams State College Athletics.