Heart of America Athletic Conference Announces the Addition of Men’s & Women’s Lacrosse as a Conference Sponsored Sport

The Heart of America Athletic Conference is pleased to announce the addition of the sports of Men's & Women's Lacrosse as official conference championship sponsored sports beginning in the 2022-2023 academic year.

"Lacrosse continues to grow in the Midwest and the Heart is excited to add it to the championship footprint making it the 24th and 25th sponsored sports in the conference," said Heart Commissioner, Lori Thomas. "We want to welcome Mount Vernon Nazarene and St. Ambrose as they will join the Heart as Associate Members in the sport of Lacrosse which will round out the 6 men's and 6 women's teams participating in the Heart."

Both lacrosse seasons will participate in the regular season and postseason in the Heart in the spring of 2023.

The following women's lacrosse teams will be: Benedictine College (Atchison, Kan.), Clarke University (Dubuque, Iowa), Culver-Stockton College (Dubuque, Iowa), Missouri Valley College (Marshall, Mo.), William Penn University (Oskaloosa, Iowa) and St. Ambrose University (Dubuque, Iowa).

The following men's lacrosse teams will be: Benedictine College (Atchison, Kan.), Clarke University (Dubuque, Iowa), Missouri Valley College (Marshall, Mo.), William Penn University (Oskaloosa, Iowa), St. Ambrose University (Dubuque, Iowa) and Mount Vernon Nazarene University (Mount Vernon, Ohio).

Benedictine College women's lacrosse just captured the 2022 NAIA Women's Lacrosse National Championship on Saturday, May 7.

The NAIA recognizes women's lacrosse as a NAIA National Championship sport and men's lacrosse is currently recognized as a NAIA National Invitational sport.

About the Heart:

Founded in 1971, the Heart of America Athletic Conference (Heart) marked its 50th year during the 2020-21 season. All 14 conference schools are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).

Three schools have been members of the conference since its inception - Baker University, Graceland University and Missouri Valley College.

The conference has continued to expand with the total number of teams growing to 13 when competition began for the 2018-19 school year. The 2015-16 season saw Grand View University and William Penn begin full membership in the Heart, while Clarke University and Mount Mercy University joined the competition for the 2016-17 seasons. The most recent addition to the conference was Park University, who effectively became a member in the 2020-21 season, bringing the conference to 14 institutions. 

The commissioner of the conference is Lori Thomas, who was named commissioner prior to the 2014-15 school year, and is the first female commissioner in the history of the NAIA.