First season | 2016 (invitational sport) |
---|---|
No. of teams | 32 |
Most recent champion(s) | Keiser Seahawks (1) |
Most titles | Reinhardt Eagles (5) |
Official website | NAIA.org |
First season | 2016 (invitational sport), 2021 (championship sport) |
---|---|
No. of teams | 38 |
Most recent champion(s) | Lawrence Tech Blue Devils (1) |
Most titles | Savannah College of Art and Design Bees (3 NIT) |
Official website | NAIA.org |
There are numerous men's and women's college lacrosse teams at schools that are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), which is an alternate varsity athletic organization to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) was the first NAIA lacrosse conference to offer a championship for both men and women. [1]
During the summer of 2015, the NAIA approved men's and women's lacrosse to move from emerging sport status to national invitational. This move allows NAIA varsity teams to compete within the NAIA rather than an outside organization. The first NAIA National Invitational Tournament (NIT) was held in May 2016 in Greenville, South Carolina. Lacrosse is required to remain an invitational sport for a minimum of two years before applying for full championship status. Women's lacrosse moved to championship status beginning in the 2020–21 season. The inaugural NAIA women's lacrosse championship was held in Savannah, Georgia, in May 2021. As of summer 2022 men's lacrosse remained on invitational status.
Institution | Nickname | Location | Enrollment |
---|---|---|---|
University of the Cumberlands | Patriots | Williamsburg, Kentucky | 1,743 |
Keiser University | Seahwaks | West Palm Beach, Florida | 19,510 |
Montreat College | Cavaliers | Montreat, North Carolina | 1,145 |
Point University | SkyHawks | West Point, Georgia | 1,035 |
Reinhardt University | Eagles | Waleska, Georgia | 1,057 |
Savannah College of Art and Design | Bees | Savannah, Georgia | 2,500+ |
St. Andrews University | Knights | Laurinburg, North Carolina | 800 |
Tennessee Wesleyan University | Bulldogs | Athens, Tennessee | 1,100 |
Webber International University | Warriors | Babson Park, Florida | 800 |
Institution | Nickname | Location | Enrollment |
---|---|---|---|
Benedictine College | Ravens | Atchison, Kansas | 2,200 |
Clarke University | Pride | Dubuque, Iowa | 1,100 |
Missouri Valley College | Vikings | Marshall, Missouri | 1,800 |
Mount Vernon Nazarene University | Cougars | Mount Vernon, Ohio | 2,222 |
St. Ambrose University | Bees | Davenport, Iowa | 3,402 |
William Penn University | Statesmen | Oskaloosa, Iowa | 1,050 |
Institution | Nickname | Location | Enrollment |
---|---|---|---|
Columbia College | Cougars | Columbia, Missouri | 6,765 |
Midland University | Warriors | Fremont, Nebraska | 1,395 |
Missouri Baptist University | Spartans | Creve Coeur, Missouri | 2,800 |
Ottawa University | Braves | Ottawa, Kansas | 725 |
University of Saint Mary | Spires | Leavenworth, Kansas | 750 |
Institution | Nickname | Location | Enrollment |
---|---|---|---|
Aquinas College | Saints | Grand Rapids, Michigan | 2,300 |
Concordia University Ann Arbor | Cardinals | Ann Arbor, Michigan | 1,200 |
Indiana Institute of Technology | Warriors | Fort Wayne, Indiana | 7,000 |
Lawrence Technological University | Blue Devils | Southfield, Michigan | 3,000 |
Lourdes University | Gray Wolves | Sylvania, Ohio | 1,546 |
Madonna University | Crusaders | Livonia, Michigan | 3,139 |
Siena Heights University | Saints | Adrian, Michigan | 2,307 |
Taylor University | Trojans | Upland, Indiana | 1,887 |
University of Michigan-Dearborn | Wolverines | Dearborn, Michigan | 9,500 |
Institution | Nickname | Location | Enrollment |
---|---|---|---|
Arizona Christian University | Firestorm | Glendale, Arizona | 1,001 |
Biola University | Eagles | La Mirada, California | 3,924 |
College of Idaho | Coyotes | Caldwell, Idaho | 1,000 |
Multnomah University | Lions | Portland, Oregon | 335 |
Sierra Nevada University | Eagles | Incline Village, Nevada | 617 |
Southern Oregon University | Raiders | Ashland, Oregon | 5,260 |
University of Providence | Argos | Great Falls, Montana | 2,100 |
Westcliff University | Warriors | Irvine, California | 2,779 |
Institution | Nickname | Location | Enrollment | Year Joining | Conference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Life University | Running Eagles | Marietta, Georgia | 718 | 2023-2024 | Independent |
Institution | Nickname | Location | Enrollment |
---|---|---|---|
University of the Cumberlands | Patriots | Williamsburg, Kentucky | 1,743 |
Georgetown College | Tigers | Georgetown, Kentucky | 1,400 |
Montreat College | Cavaliers | Montreat, North Carolina | 1,145 |
Reinhardt University | Eagles | Waleska, Georgia | 1,057 |
St. Andrews University | Knights | Laurinburg, North Carolina | 800 |
Tennessee Wesleyan University | Bulldogs | Athens, Tennessee | 1,100 |
Truett McConnell University | Bears | Cleveland, Georgia | 1,000 |
Institution | Nickname | Location | Enrollment |
---|---|---|---|
Corban University | Warriors | Salem, Oregon | 1,000 |
Eastern Oregon University | Mountaineers | La Grande, Oregon | 3,488 |
Institution | Nickname | Location | Enrollment |
---|---|---|---|
Benedictine College | Ravens | Atchison, Kansas | 2,200 |
Clarke University | Pride | Dubuque, Iowa | 1,100 |
Culver–Stockton College | Wildcats | Canton, Missouri | 1,066 |
Missouri Valley College | Vikings | Marshall, Missouri | 1,800 |
St. Ambrose University | Fighting Bees | Davenport, Iowa | 3,402 |
William Penn University | Statesmen | Oskaloosa, Iowa | 1,050 |
Mount Mercy University | Mustangs | Cedar Rapids, Iowa | 1,280 |
Institution | Nickname | Location | Enrollment |
---|---|---|---|
Midland University | Warriors | Fremont, Nebraska | 1,395 |
Missouri Baptist University | Spartans | St. Louis, Missouri | 2,800 |
Ottawa University | Braves | Ottawa, Kansas | 725 |
UHSP | Eutectics | St. Louis, Missouri | 698 |
University of Saint Mary | Spires | Leavenworth, Kansas | 750 |
Institution | Nickname | Location | Enrollment |
---|---|---|---|
Ave Maria University | Gyrenes | Ave Maria, Florida | 1,080 |
Keiser University | Seahawks | West Palm Beach, Florida | 19,510 |
Life University | Running Eagles | Marietta, Georgia | 2,000 |
Savannah College of Art and Design | Bees | Savannah, Georgia | 2,500+ |
St. Thomas University | Bobcats | Miami Gardens, Florida | 3,650 |
Warner University | Royals | Lake Wales, Florida | 1,200 |
Webber International University | Warriors | Babson Park, Florida | 800 |
Institution | Nickname | Location | Enrollment |
---|---|---|---|
Aquinas College | Saints | Grand Rapids, Michigan | 2,100 |
Bethel University | Pilots | Mishawaka, Indiana | 1,964 |
Concordia University Ann Arbor | Cardinals | Ann Arbor, Michigan | 459 |
Indiana Institute of Technology | Warriors | Fort Wayne, Indiana | 3,500 |
Lawrence Technological University | Blue Devils | Southfield, Michigan | 4,000 |
Madonna University | Crusaders | Livonia, Michigan | 3,139 |
Rochester Christian University | Warriors | Rochester Hills, Michigan | 1,153 |
Siena Heights University | Saints | Adrian, Michigan | 2,307 |
Marian University | Knights | Indianapolis, Indiana | 3,595 |
Lourdes University | Gray Wolves | Sylvania, Ohio | 1,546 |
Year | Championship Team | Score | Runner-up Team | Arena | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Davenport | 13–10 [2] | Missouri Valley | Sirrine Stadium | Greenville, South Carolina |
2017 | Reinhardt | 10–5 [3] | Keiser | ||
2018 | Reinhardt | 8–7 (OT) [4] | Madonna | Aquinas Athletic Field | Grand Rapids, Michigan |
2019 | Reinhardt | 11–4 [5] | Aquinas (MI) | ||
2020 | Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Memorial Stadium | Savannah, Georgia | ||
2021 | Reinhardt | 17–8 [6] | Indiana Tech | ||
2022 | Reinhardt | 11-5 [7] | Indiana Tech | Ashton Brosnaham Stadium | Pensacola, Florida |
2023 | Keiser | 15-8 [8] | Indiana Tech |
School | Championships | Winning Years | Runner-Up | Runner-Up Years |
---|---|---|---|---|
Reinhardt | 5 | 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 | ||
Davenport | 1 | 2016 | ||
Keiser | 1 | 2023 | 1 | 2017 |
Indiana Tech | 3 | 2021, 2022, 2023 | ||
Missouri Valley | 1 | 2016 | ||
Madonna | 1 | 2018 | ||
Aquinas (MI) | 1 | 2019 |
Year | Championship Team | Score | Runner-up Team | Arena | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Davenport | 13–9 [9] | Georgetown (KY) | Sirrine Stadium | Greenville, South Carolina |
2017 | Savannah College of Art and Design | 16–10 [10] | Lawrence Tech | ||
2018 | Savannah College of Art and Design | 18–11 [11] | Indiana Tech | Aquinas Athletic Field | Grand Rapids, Michigan |
2019 | Savannah College of Art and Design | 18–12 [12] | Benedictine (KS) |
School | Championships | Winning Years | Runner-Up | Runner-Up Years |
---|---|---|---|---|
Savannah College of Art and Design | 3* | 2017, 2018, 2019 | ||
Davenport | 1* | 2016 | ||
Benedictine (KS) | 1 | 2019 | ||
Lawrence Tech | 1 | 2017 | ||
Georgetown (KY) | 1 | 2016 | ||
Indiana Tech | 1 | 2018 |
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to their student athletes. $1.3 billion in athletic scholarship financial aid is awarded to student athletes annually. For the 2023–24 season, it had 241 member institutions, of which two are in British Columbia, one in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the rest in the continental United States, with over 83,000 student-athletes participating. The NAIA, whose headquarters is in Kansas City, Missouri, sponsors 28 national championships. CBS Sports Network, formerly called CSTV, serves as the national media outlet for the NAIA. In 2014, ESPNU began carrying the NAIA Football National Championship.
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) held a men's national ice hockey championship from 1968 to 1984 when ice hockey was dropped as an NAIA sport.
Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is a private art school with locations in Savannah, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; and Lacoste, France. It was founded in 1978 to provide degrees in programs not yet offered in the southeast of the United States. The university enrolls more than 16,000 students from across the United States and around the world with international students comprising up to 17 percent of the student population. SCAD is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and other professional accrediting bodies.
Lenoir–Rhyne University is a private Lutheran university in Hickory, North Carolina. It was founded in 1891 and is affiliated with the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
The Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Members of the conference are located in the Southeastern United States in Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.
The Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), headquartered in Livonia, Michigan. The conference consists of twelve colleges and universities located in the U.S. states of Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. Founded in 1992, the conference was created as a successor group for the now-defunct NAIA District 23.
College lacrosse is played by student-athletes at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. In both countries, men's field lacrosse and women's lacrosse are played at both the varsity and club levels. College lacrosse in Canada is sponsored by the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association (CUFLA) and Maritime University Field Lacrosse League (MUFLL), while in the United States, varsity men's and women's lacrosse is governed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). There are also university lacrosse programs in the United Kingdom sponsored by British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) and programs in Japan.
The Savannah State Tigers and Lady Tigers are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic teams that play for Savannah State University in Savannah, Georgia.
The Lindenwood Lions and Lady Lions are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Lindenwood University, located in St. Charles, Missouri, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the Ohio Valley Conference for most of its sports since the 2022–23 academic year.
The High Point Panthers are the 16 varsity athletic teams that represent High Point University (HPU) in High Point, North Carolina, United States. All of HPU's varsity teams compete at the NCAA Division I level. All sports except men's lacrosse compete in the Big South Conference. The men's lacrosse team joined the Southern Conference July 1, 2014. The Panthers joined Division I in 1999, after having been NCAA Division II and being members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) prior to 1992. HPU was a founding member of the North State Conference, which is now the NCAA Division II Conference Carolinas.
The Grand Canyon Antelopes are the 21 athletic teams representing Grand Canyon University, located in Phoenix, Arizona. Most of the university's athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division I level in the Western Athletic Conference. Men's volleyball competes in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) effective beginning in the 2017–18 academic year. The beach volleyball program competes in the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) through the 2024 season, after which it will become an inaugural member of the MPSF beach volleyball league. The university will become a full member of the West Coast Conference on July 1, 2025.
The Davenport Panthers are the athletic teams that represent Davenport University, located in Caledonia Township, Michigan, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) for most of its sports as a provisional member since the 2017–18 academic year. The Panthers previously competed in the Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 2005–06 to 2016–17.
The National Women's Lacrosse League (NWLL) is a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) women's lacrosse-only college athletic conference. The vast majority of NAIA women's lacrosse programs play at the club level as part of the Women's Collegiate Lacrosse Associates (WCLA). The NAIA does not currently organize the sport of lacrosse for its member institutions, although there is hope this may change in the near future. In the meantime, the NWLL is providing an umbrella organization for all women's varsity NAIA lacrosse teams in the USA, including a national championship tournament.
The Limestone Saints are the athletic teams that represent Limestone University, located in Gaffney, South Carolina, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sporting competitions. The Saints compete as members of the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) for most sports, having joined that league in July 2020 after 22 years in Conference Carolinas (CC). Limestone maintains CC membership in two sports, specifically men's wrestling and women's acrobatics & tumbling. Men's wrestling is one of two sports in which the SAC and CC operate as a single league, the other being women's field hockey. The SAC operates the field hockey championship, while CC operates the wrestling championship. The men's volleyball team competes as an independent. The swim team competed in the Bluegrass Mountain Conference before being dropped in 2018; the field hockey and wrestling teams were members of the ECAC–Division II before 2018, when the SAC and CC established their alliance in those two sports. The football team had been independent, but entered into a scheduling agreement with the SAC in 2015. This agreement was replaced in 2017 by formal affiliate membership, which continued until the Saints joined the SAC full-time in 2020.
The Flagler Saints are the athletic teams that represent Flagler College, located in St. Augustine, Florida, in intercollegiate sports at the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Peach Belt Conference since the 2009–10 academic year.
The Savannah College of Art and Design Bees are the athletic teams that represent the Savannah campus of the Savannah College of Art and Design, located in Savannah, Georgia, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Sun Conference since the 2004–05 academic year; The Bees previously competed as an NAIA Independent during the 2003–04 school year ; as well as a member of the Division III ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as an NCAA D-III Independent from 1992–93 to 2002–03.
The Reinhardt Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Reinhardt University, located in Waleska, Georgia, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) since the 2009–10 academic year. They were also a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA), primarily competing as an independent in the South Region of the Division I level from 1999–2000 to 2000–01. The Eagles previously competed in the Southern States Athletic Conference from 2000–01 to 2008–09. Prior joining the NAIA, Reinhardt was also a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and of the National Small College Athletic Association (NSCAA) until after the 1998–99 school year.
The NAIA Men's Bowling Championship is an annual tournament hosted by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics to determine the national champion of collegiate men's team ten-pin bowling among its members in the United States.
The NAIA women's bowling championship is an annual tournament hosted by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics to determine the national champion of collegiate women's team ten-pin bowling among its members in the United States.
The NAIA women's lacrosse tournament is a yearly single-elimination tournament hosted by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics to determine the national champion of women's collegiate lacrosse among its members in the United States.