Western Collegiate Lacrosse League

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Western Collegiate Lacrosse League
Data
Established	1980
Members	30
MCLA Division I Championships	4
MCLA Division II Championships	2
Region	West Coast of the United States
States	3 (Arizona, California, Nevada)
Past names	California Collegiate Lacrosse Conference (1980-1983)

The Western Collegiate Lacrosse League (WCLL) is a conference that participates in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The WCLL operates in California and Arizona and is split into two divisions, Division I and Division II. The Division I teams are split into an 4 geographical divisions and the Division II teams are split into 2 geographical divisions. The conference is governed by an executive board and the teams that win the conference's divisional playoffs receive automatic bids to the MCLA National Tournament.

Contents 1 Membership 1.1 Current Members 1.1.1 Division I 1.1.2 Division II 1.2 Former Members 2 History 3 WCLL Rivalries 4 Past Conference Champions 4.1 Division I 4.2 Division II 5 Presidents 6 External links

[edit] Membership

[edit] Current Members

[edit] Division I

Institution	AKA	Location	Founded	Joined Conference	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Conference Championships (D I)
Central Division
University of California, Berkeley	California, Berkeley	Berkeley, CA	1868	1980	Public (University of California system)	33,000	Golden Bears	5
California Polytechnic State University	Cal Poly SLO	San Luis Obispo, CA	1901	1983	Public (California State University system)	19,777	Mustangs
Saint Mary's College of California	St. Mary's	Moraga, CA	1863		Private/Roman Catholic	4,536	Gaels
Santa Clara University	Santa Clara	Santa Clara, CA	1851	1980	Private/Roman Catholic	7,487	Broncos
Stanford University	Stanford	Palo Alto, CA	1891	1980	Private/Non-sectarian	14,654	Cardinal
Los Angeles Division
Chapman University	Chapman	Orange, CA	1861	1988	Private	5,732	Panthers
The Claremont Colleges*	Claremont	Claremont, CA		1980	Private		Cougars
University of California, Los Angeles	UCLA	Los Angeles, CA	1919	1980	Public (University of California system)	38,000	Bruins	1
Loyola Marymount University	Loyola Marymount, LMU	Los Angeles, CA	1911	1985	Private/Roman Catholic	7,104	Lions
University of California, Santa Barbara	UCSB	Santa Barbara, CA	1944	1980	Public (University of California system)	20,559	Gauchos	8
University of Southern California	Southern California, USC	Los Angeles, CA	1880	1980	Private/Non-sectarian	32,160	Trojans
North Division
California State University, Chico	Chico State	Chico, CA	1887	1987	Public (California State University system)	14,500	Wildcats
University of California, Davis	UC Davis	Davis, CA	1905	1980	Public (University of California system)	30,474	Aggies
University of Nevada, Reno	Nevada, UNR	Reno, NV	1874		Public (Nevada System of Higher Education)	15,588	Wolf Pack
Sonoma State University	Sonoma State	Rohnert Park, CA	1960	1989	Public (California State University system)	8,400	Seawolves	3
North Division
University of Arizona	Arizona	Tucson, AZ	1885	1982	Public	37,036	Wildcats	1
Arizona State University	Arizona State, ASU	Tempe, AZ	1885	1982	Public	61,033	Sun Devils
University of San Diego	San Diego, USD	San Diego, CA	1949		Private/Roman Catholic	6,452	Toreros
University of California, San Diego	UCSD	La Jolla, CA	1960		Public (University of California system)	20,339	Tritons
San Diego State University	San Diego State, SDSU	San Diego, CA	1897	1980	Public (California State University system)	34,500	Aztecs

• The Claremont Colleges include five undergraduate colleges (Pomona College, Claremont McKenna College, Pitzer College, Scripps College, and Harvey Mudd College), of which one is all-women (Scripps).

[edit] Division II

Institution	AKA	Location	Founded	Joined Conference	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Conference Championships (D II)
North Division
California Lutheran University	Cal Lutheran, CLU	Thousand Oaks, CA	1959		Private/Evangelical Lutheran		Kingsmen
University of California, Santa Cruz	UC Santa Cruz	Santa Cruz, CA	1965		Public (University of California system)	15,012	Banana Slugs
University of the Pacific	Pacific, UoP	Stockton, CA	1851		Private	6,100	Tigers
Pepperdine University	Pepperdine	Malibu, CA	1937		Private/Church of Christ	6,050	Waves
San Jose State University	SJSU	San Jose, CA	1857		Public (California State University system)	31,906	Spartans
South Division
Biola University	Biola	La Mirada, CA	1908		Private		Eagles
University of California, Irvine	UC Irvine, UCI	Irvine, CA	1965		Public (University of California system)	25,024	Anteaters	1
California State University, Fullerton	Cal State Fullerton	Fullerton, CA	1957		Public (California State University system)	37,130	Titans
University of Nevada, Las Vegas	UNLV	Las Vegas, NV	1957		Public (Utah System of Higher Education)	31,000	Rebels
Occidental College	Occidental	Eagle Rock, CA	1837		Private	1,839	Tigers

[edit] Former Members

Institution	Location	Founded	Tenure of Membership	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Conference Championships
Humboldt State University				Public
California State University, Long Beach	Long Beach, CA			Public
California State University, Hayward (now CSU East Bay)				Public
California State University, San Marcos				Public
Northern Arizona University
Whittier College	Whittier, CA		1981-1999	Private			10

[edit] History

The roots of the WCLL go back to 1959 when the California Lacrosse Association (CLA) was created. This was a hybrid organization that included both college and men's club teams in Southern California. Similarly, the teams in Northern California participated in the Northern California Lacrosse Association (NCLA). The founding members of the CLA included Claremont, Los Angeles Lacrosse Club, Orange County Lacrosse Club, San Fernando Valley Lacrosse Club, OMBAC, San Marino Lacrosse Club and others. In 1969, UCLA joined the league, followed by UCSB in 1970. In 1976, the CLA expanded with the addition of Southern California. On occasion the CLA Champion would face the NCLA Champion at the end of the season to determine a conference or "California State Champion". UCSB captured the final state championship played under this arrangement defeating their northern counterparts in 1978.

In 1979, at the urging of CLA VP and San Diego State alum Mitch Fenton, a separate organization for the collegiate teams in both the CLA and NCLA was brainstormed.

The union that would eventually become the WCLL was founded on on Super Bowl Sunday, January 20, 1980 as the California Collegiate Lacrosse Association (CCLA). A select few gathered at the house of then UCLA Head Coach Mayer Davidson's house in West Los Angeles. Co-founders also included Stanford Head Coach Sam Sadtler, the Claremont Head Coach and Fenton. The original 9 members were: California, Claremont, San Diego State, Santa Clara, Southern California, Stanford, UC Davis, UCLA and UCSB. Fenton served as the first president of the association.

When the association was formed it was determined that the top team of the Northern Division would play the top team of the Southern Division at the end of the season to determine the conference champion. In the inaugural championship, the UCSB Gauchos defeated the Stanford Cardinal.

One year later, Whittier College joined the league.

In 1982, the University of Arizona, Arizona State and Northern Arizona joined the CCLA. That same year the UCLA Bruins took home the final championship played under the CCLA name, defeating Stanford at Crawford HS in San Diego, CA.

In 1983, the CCLA renamed itself the Western Collegiate Lacrosse League. That same year Cal Poly SLO joined the conference. Arizona Head Coach and WCLL Co-Founder Mickey-Miles Felton, who was instrumental in the addition of the Arizona schools the year before, served as the league's first president. The WCLL Championship Trophy is named in his honor.

In 1985, Loyola Marymount University was admitted to the conference.

In 1987, Chico State was admitted as a full member of the conference. In 1988, the WCLL split into A and B divisions (later I and II). That same year Chapman University joined the WCLL as a Division II member.

In 1989, Sonoma State joined the WCLL.

In 1997, the WCLL, was one of the charter conferences in what would become the MCLA.

Prior to the 2000 season, Whittier College departed joining the NCAA Division III as an independent.

Following the 2002 season, Division II member Cal State San Marcos left the conference. Following the 2004 season, Division II member Cal State Hayward (now Cal State East Bay) left the conference.

The addition of the University of Nevada, Reno and St. Mary's College to the WCLL Division I at the annual conference meeting in 2004 lead to a massive realignment of the conference. The 20 Division I teams were split into 4 geographic divisions (North, Central, Los Angeles and South) for the 2005 season.

In 2005, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and UC Santa Cruz joined the league, followed by Cal State Fullerton and San Jose State in 2006.

[edit] WCLL Rivalries

• Cal Poly-Chico State (winner gets the Boot)

[edit] Past Conference Champions

[edit] Division I

Season	Conference Champion	North Division	South Division
1980	UCSB	Stanford	UCSB
1981	California	California	UCSB
1982	UCLA	Stanford	UCLA
1983	UCSB	UCSB	Arizona
1984	UCSB	UCSB	San Diego State
1985	Whittier	California	Whittier
1986	Whittier		Whittier
1987	UCSB	UCSB	Whittier
1988	Whittier		Whittier
1989	Whittier		Whittier
1990	Arizona
1991	Whittier		Whittier
1992	Whittier		Whittier
1993	Whittier		Whittier
1994	California	California	UCSB
1995	California		Whittier
1996	Whittier	Sonoma State	Whittier
1997	Whittier	Sonoma State	Whittier
1998	California	California	Whittier
1999	Whittier	Sonoma State	Whittier
2000	California	Sonoma State	Arizona
2001	Sonoma State	Sonoma State	Arizona
2002	Sonoma State	Sonoma State	Arizona
2003	UCSB	Sonoma State	UCSB
2004	UCSB	Sonoma State	UCSB
Season				Central	Los Angeles
2005	UCSB	Sonoma State	UC San Diego	Cal Poly SLO	UCSB
2006	Sonoma State	Sonoma State	Arizona	Cal Poly SLO	UCSB
2007	UCSB	Sonoma State	Arizona	California	Chapman*
2008

• ineligible for playoffs (runner-up UCSB received LA Division #1 seed, 3rd place Claremont received #2 seed)

Bold Text denotes MCLA National Champion

Team	Championships	Winning years
Whittier	10	1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1999
UCSB	8	1980, 1983, 1984, 1987, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007
California	5	1981, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2000
Sonoma State	3	2001, 2002, 2006
Arizona	1	1990
UCLA	1	1982

[edit] Division II

Season	Conference Champion	North Division	South Division
1988	Chico State
1989	Chico State
1990
1991
1992	Chapman
1993
1994
1995	Arizona State
1996
1997	Arizona State
1998
1999
2000
2001	Chapman
2002	Southern California	St. Mary's	Pepperdine
2003	Claremont	Nevada	Claremont
2004	San Diego	St. Mary's	San Diego
2005	San Diego
2006	San Diego	Claremont	San Diego
2007	UC Irvine	Pepperdine	UC Irvine
2008

Bold Text denotes MCLA National Champion

Team	Championships	Winning years
San Diego	3	2004, 2005, 2006
Arizona State	2	1995, 1997
Chapman	2	1992, 2001
Chico State	2	1988, 1989
UC Irvine	1	2007
Claremont	1	2003
Southern California	1	2002

[edit] Presidents

• Gary Podesta 2007-Present

[edit] External links

• Western Collegiate Lacrosse League official website
• MCLA The Lax Mag website
• CollegeLAX web site
• Men's Division official website
• Women's Division official website
• US Lacrosse official website