Misplaced Pages

Northwest Conference

Formerly	Northwest Conference (1902–1925)
Association	NCAA
Founded	December 12, 1925
Commissioner	Shana Levine
Sports fielded	20 men's: 9 women's: 11
Division	Division III
No. of teams	9
Headquarters	Hillsboro, Oregon
Region	Pacific Northwest
Official website	nwcsports.com
Locations

The Northwest Conference (NWC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member teams are located in the states of Oregon and Washington. It was known as the Pacific Northwest Conference from 1926 to 1984.

History

The Northwest Conference was formed in 1925, making it one of the oldest continuously existing athletics conferences in the western United States. For 60 years, the NWC sponsored sports exclusively for men, but in 1984 it joined with the Women's Conference of Independent Colleges to become the Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges, shortening the name to its current moniker in 1996 when it joined the NCAA.

The charter members included Willamette University, Pacific University, Whitman College, the College of Puget Sound (now the University of Puget Sound), Linfield College (now Linfield University), and the College of Idaho. In 1931, Albany College joined, left in 1938, and re-joined in 1949 using its present name of Lewis & Clark College. Pacific Lutheran University was added in 1965, and Whitworth University in 1970. In 1978, the College of Idaho dropped out of the conference. Whitworth also left in 1984, but then returned in 1988. In 1996, George Fox University joined when the conference moved to the NCAA and Puget Sound re-joined in that same year since 1948. From 2006 to 2010, Menlo College was also a part of the conference as an associate member in football.

The College of Idaho reinstated its football program in 2014 after a 37-year hiatus and joined the Frontier Conference for football. College of Idaho is now a member of the NAIA's Cascade Collegiate Conference for other sports. Whitworth left the NWC in 1984 but returned in 1988. George Fox University and Seattle University joined the conference in 1997. Seattle dropped out again in 1999 to become members of NCAA Division II. Menlo College joined the conference in 2005 as a football-only member.

Chronological timeline

• 1925 – The NWC was founded as the Pacific Northwest Conference (PNWC). Charter members include the College of Idaho, Linfield College (now Linfield University), Pacific University, the College of Puget Sound (now the University of Puget Sound), Whitman College and Willamette University, beginning the 1926–27 academic year.
• 1931 – Albany College (now Lewis & Clark College) joined the PNWC in the 1931–32 academic year.
• 1938 – Lewis & Clark left the PNWC after the 1937–38 academic year.
• 1948 – Puget Sound left the PNWC after the 1947–48 academic year.
• 1949 – Lewis & Clark re-joined back to the PNWC in the 1949–50 academic year.
• 1965 – Pacific Lutheran College (now Pacific Lutheran University) joined the PNWC in the 1965–66 academic year.
• 1970 – Whitworth College (now Whitworth University) joined the PNWC in the 1970–71 academic year.
• 1978 – The College of Idaho left the PNWC after the 1977–78 academic year.
• 1984 – Whitworth left the PNWC after the 1983–84 academic year.
• 1984 – The PNWC merged with the Women's Conference of Independent Colleges (WCIC) to become the Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges (NCIC), therefore adding women's sports in the conference, beginning the 1984–85 academic year.
• 1988 – Whitworth re-joined back to the NCIC in the 1988–89 academic year.
• 1995 – George Fox College (now George Fox University) joined the NCIC in the 1995–96 academic year.
• 1996 – Puget Sound re-joined back to the NCIC in the 1996–97 academic year.
• 1996 – The NCIC has rebranded its name to become the Northwest Conference (NWC), beginning the 1996–97 academic year.
• 1996 – The NWC has joined full membership in the Division III ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) after years spent in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), beginning the 1996–97 academic year.
• 1997 – Seattle University joined the NWC in the 1997–98 academic year.
• 1999 – Seattle left the NWC to join the NCAA Division II ranks and the Pacific West Conference (PacWest) after the 1998–99 academic year.
• 2006 – Menlo College joined the NWC as an associate member for football in the 2006 fall season (2006–07 academic year).
• 2011 – Menlo left the NWC as an associate member for football after the 2010 fall season (2010–11 academic year).
• 2018 – Mills College joined the NWC as an associate member for women's rowing for the 20178 spring season (2017-18 academic year)
• 2022 - Mills left the NWC as an associate member for women's rowing as the school merged with Northeastern University and put their athletics programs on hold

Member schools

Current members

The NWC currently has nine full members, all are private schools:

Notes

1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
2. Lewis & Clark left the NWC after the 1937–38 school year before re-joining back in the 1949–50 school year.
3. Puget Sound left the NWC after the 1947–48 school year before re-joining back in the 1996–97 school year.
4. Whitworth left the NWC after the 1983–84 school year before re-joining back in the 1988–89 school year.

Former members

The NWC had two former full members, which both were private schools:

Notes

1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
2. Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
3. Currently an NAIA athletic conference.
4. Currently an NCAA Division I athletic conference.

Former associate members

The NWC had two former associate members, which were also a private school:

Notes

1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
2. Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
3. Currently an NCAA Division II athletic conference.
4. Menlo dropped football after the 2014 fall season (2014–15 school year).
5. Mills was acquired by Northeastern University in 2023, becoming part of that university's extended operations in the San Francisco Bay Area. In advance of this, Mills dropped athletics after the 2021–22 school year.

Membership timeline

Sports

The Northwest Conference sponsors championship competition in nine men's and 11 women's NCAA sanctioned sports.

McIlroy-Lewis All-Sports Trophy

Each year the NWC awards one of its member institutions the NWC McIlroy-Lewis All-Sports Trophy, based on a points system. The award is named in honor of Jane McIlroy, former athletic director of Linfield (1950-82), and John Lewis of Willamette (1947-72).

In each sport, the conference champion is awarded 18 points, second place is awarded 16 points, and so on. The school with the most points at the conclusion of the academic year wins the trophy. Football, women's volleyball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's golf, men's baseball, women's softball, and men's and women's track and field are the 18 sports in which points are awarded.

Pacific Lutheran has won the award 15 times, more than any other school. Whitworth has won the trophy 14 times, Linfield has won the trophy three times while Puget Sound and George Fox have won it twice.

National championships

† - Whitworth was not a member of the NWC until 1970.

Football champions

References

1. ^ Written at Seattle. "Withdrawal of Large Universities Is End of Old Northwest Conference". The Spokesman-Review. No. 213. Spokane. Associated Press. December 13, 1925. p. C1. Gonzaga Left as Free Lance — Six Small Colleges Form Another Conference, Retaining Old Name and Rules — Officials of all colleges concerned emphasized the fact that the move was entirely harmonious and for mutual advantage.
2. "College of Idaho reinstates football program". The College of Idaho. May 14, 2012. Archived from the original on March 13, 2013. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
3. "NWC History". Northwest Conference.
4. "About George Fox". Retrieved March 31, 2023.
5. "About Linfield: Facts and Figures". Retrieved March 31, 2023.
6. "Pacific University About". Retrieved March 31, 2023.
7. "About PLU: Quick Facts". Retrieved March 31, 2023.
8. "Puget Sound Facts and Figures". Retrieved March 31, 2023.
9. "Whitman College Enrollment". Retrieved March 31, 2023.
10. "About Whitworth Facts & Rankings". Retrieved March 31, 2023.
11. "About Willamette: Quick Facts". Retrieved March 31, 2023.
12. "Northwest Conference". Northwest Conference. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
13. "Northwest Conference All-Sports Trophy". nwcsports.com. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
14. "Boxers finish seventh in final NWC All-Sports Trophy standings". Pacific University Athletics. 2024-05-20. Retrieved 2024-07-31.

External links

• Official website

• Northwest Conference