Asbury Athletics Photos
Asbury University is now part of the NCAA Division III Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) after being accepted recently as a full member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The conference affiliation became effective July 1 and Asbury will begin conference play this fall in various sports.
“We are thrilled and excited to be joining the CCS and cannot wait to compete at the conference and national level again. We will be competing against talented and like minded programs. We cannot wait to see what the future holds for us in the CCS,” Asbury women’s soccer coach Zach Welch said.
The CCS sponsors championships in women’s cross country, soccer, volleyball, basketball, softball, tennis, and track and field along with men’s cross country, soccer, basketball, baseball, golf, tennis, and track and field.
In addition to Asbury, conference members are:
Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Ga.
Belhaven University, Jackson, Miss.
Covenant College, Lookout Mountain, Ga.
Huntingdon College, Montgomery, Ala.
LaGrange College, LaGrange, Ga.
Maryville College, Maryville, Tenn.
Piedmont University, Demorest, Ga.
Wesleyan College, Macon, Ga.
Mark Whitworth, Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics & University Communications, called this a “monumental step” for the growth of athletics at Asbury.
“We are deeply grateful for the opportunities membership in the CCS will provide our student-athletes and coaches,” he said “We will work diligently to represent the CCS in a way that reflects positively on the member institutions and fulfills our mission.”
Division III, which does not offer athletics scholarships, now has 475 active members including Asbury, which has 16 intercollegiate sports with over 350 student-athletes.
“I know how excited I am to be competing in such a quality conference, but the team is very excited as well. We’ve had the opportunity to compete against several of the CCS teams over the last couple of years, and they have been nothing but amazing hosts to us,” Asbury women’s basketball coach Chad Mayes said. “They play an incredibly high level brand of basketball in the CCS , so this is going to be a fun experience for us.”
Baseball graduate student Kaden Dugle remembers when Asbury competed in NAIA and how special the atmosphere was for those games.
“I’m pumped to have the opportunity to be a part of a conference again and the chance to bring a championship back to Wilmore. It’ll be fun getting to see new squads, facing off against new foes,” Dugle said.
Softball coach Ally Moore expects the conference affiliation to have a big impact on her team.
“I believe playing a consistent conference schedule is going to elevate our program and make our team more competitive,” she said.
