After a year when nine Cardinal athletic teams appeared in conference championships and four walked away with conference titles, Wheeling Jesuit University is ready to face the changes to the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) with the withdrawal of nine schools. WJU will continue to focus on athletic and academic excellence as they explore their options for conference affiliation. The changes will not have an impact on the upcoming 2012-13 academic year.
Athletic Director Danny Sancomb said that Wheeling Jesuit is in discussions with other institutions about the conference possibilities and that the University plans to align itself with schools that are similar to WJU not only athletically, but also academically, noting that the incoming class – which has a cumulative Grade Point Average of 3.5. – will bring the largest number of students to the WJU campus in the school’s history.
“From our teams’ performances this year, it is very clear that we are one of the most competitive schools in the WVIAC. We are still NCAA Division II and we intend to compete in at least as many conference championships next year as we did this year,” Sancomb said, noting the WJU volleyball team made it to the NCAA elite eight, the men’s basketball team clinched a berth in the NCAA’s basketball tournaments round of 32 and an All-American track performance rounded out the year.
Wheeling Jesuit boasts more than 45 Academic All-Americans and has an extraordinary record of nearly 100 percent acceptance into graduate programs in law, medicine and physical therapy. Students’ passing rates on national board certifications also regularly is 100 percent.
Respecting the other schools included in the discussions, Sancomb said he will be more specific about future plans once arrangements with the teams involved have been made. WJU is also exploring a move to Division I.
“The decision by some members of the WVAIC to form a new conference appears to have been made largely for financial reasons and seems to have taken the focus off the student-athlete. As Wheeling Jesuit athletics moves forward, we will continue to focus on maintaining academic excellence and quality athletic programs,” he said.
A global leader in academic excellence, undergraduate research and service learning, Wheeling Jesuit University is ranked in the top 10 percent of the nation’s colleges by Forbes Magazine. One of 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States, Wheeling Jesuit has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a top university for the past 15 years.
The University’s 20 varsity sports include 19 men’s and women’s NCAA Division II athletic teams and its USA Rugby Program. Jesuit teams have won 63 conference championships and boast 45-plus Academic All-Americans.
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