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Mid-Continent Conference
340 W. Butterfield Road
Suite 3-D
Elmhurst, IL 60126
Phone: (630) 516-0661
Fax: (630) 516-0673
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About the Mid-Con
Now in its 24th year as an NCAA Division I athletics conference, the Mid-Continent Conference is coming off a year in which its student-athletes, coaches, administrators and teams continued to strengthen its reputation as a nationally competitive and well-respected league. The Mid-Con's member schools - Centenary College of Louisiana, Chicago State University, IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis), UMKC (University of Missouri-Kansas City), Oakland University, Oral Roberts University, Southern Utah University, Valparaiso University and Western Illinois University - are located primarily in the Midwest's largest urban areas, and pride themselves on providing quality athletic, academic and social experiences for their student-athletes.
The Mid-Con sponsors an all-time high of 19 championship sports, which includes: baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's swimming & diving, men's and women's indoor track & field, men's and women's outdoor track & field, men's and women's tennis, and volleyball.
A brief review of the Mid-Con’s highlights over the past two decades:
1982-83
The Association of Mid-Continent Universities is founded with “Frosty” Ferzacca as its first commissioner. The initial AMCU line-up includes Cleveland State, Eastern Illinois, Illinois-Chicago, Northern Iowa, SW Missouri State, Valparaiso, Western Illinois and Wisconsin-Green Bay.
1983-84
UW-Green Bay and Eastern Illinois each play in the NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament, making them the league’s first NCAA Tourney teams in any sport.
1985-86
Cleveland State earns the AMCU’s first national recognition in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The 14th-seeded Vikings upset No. 3 seed Indiana on their way to a “Sweet 16” appearance. In addition, SW Missouri State begins a string of five consecutive postseason appearances by reaching the quarterfinals of the NIT.
1987-88
The AMCU sends two teams to men’s basketball postseason play for the third straight season. Ferzacca steps down as commissioner and is replaced by Jerry Ippoliti. Eastern Illinois’ Jim Maton is the league’s first NCAA National Champion, as he wins the 800 meter run at the NCAA Indoor Track Championship.
1989-90
The AMCU sends a conference-record three teams to postseason play in men’s basketball, including Northern Iowa, which upsets former No. 1 Missouri in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The AMCU changes its name to the now familiar Mid-Continent Conference.
1990-91
For the second straight season, the Mid-Con sends two teams - in this case, Northern Illinois and UW-Green Bay - to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
1991-92
The league announces that it will begin sponsoring women’s athletics - strengthened by the membership of seven former North Star Conference members - the following year with the debut of six championship sports. UW-Green Bay’s Tony Bennett establishes the league’s all-time scoring record in men’s basketball and wins his second straight Mid-Con Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award.
1992-93
UW-Milwaukee wins the first Mid-Con-sponsored women’s championship when it takes home the cross country crown. Northern Illinois makes the first NCAA appearance by a Mid-Con women’s team in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. Wright State’s Brian Anderson is the third overall pick in the Major League Baseball draft after repeating as the league’s Pitcher of the Year.
1993-94
Northern Illinois’ volleyball squad posts the league’s first women’s NCAA Tourney win with a three-game triumph over Illinois State. UW-Green Bay upsets California in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tourney. Six schools depart the Mid-Con at the conclusion of the season.
1994-95
The league’s revamped line-up includes Buffalo, Central Connecticut State, Chicago State, UMKC, Northeastern Illinois and Troy State. Jon Steinbrecher begins a league-record nine-year tenure at the Mid-Con helm when he replaces Ippoliti as commissioner. Valparaiso begins a string of five straight regular-season titles and six consecutive Mid-Con Tournament titles in men’s basketball.
1995-96
Charter member Eastern Illinois departs the Mid-Con, but not until after winning its ninth men’s outdoor track and field title, a record for all Mid-Con sports that still stands.
1996-97
Buffalo (cross country) and Valparaiso (volleyball) earn the first-ever “three-peats” in Mid-Con women’s athletics.
1997-98
Oral Roberts and Southern Utah join the Mid-Con. Oral Roberts begins a string of six straight Mid-Con volleyball titles, and wins its first-round match in the NCAA Tournament by edging Arizona in five games. The Mid-Con becomes one of few NCAA Division I conferences across the nation to simultaneously run its basketball championships at the same neutral site. Valparaiso reaches the NCAA “Sweet 16”, thanks to the efforts of NBA draftee Bryce Drew, who hits “The Shot” which eventually earns him an ESPY from ESPN. Youngstown State earns the first Mid-Con women’s tourney win, topping fifth-seeded Memphis in the first round.
1998-99
IUPUI and Oakland begin competition in the Mid-Con. Western Illinois wins its eighth men’s swimming and diving title. Associate member DePaul reaches the NCAA Softball College World Series, posting a third-place finish, and sets a Mid-Con single-season record with 54 wins.
1999-00
Southern Utah finishes 21st in the NCAA Men’s Cross Country Championship. Western Illinois softball reels off a 25-game win streak behind Mid-Con Pitcher of the Year Holly Killion, who sets Mid-Con records with 30 wins and 355 strikeouts.
2000-01
Oakland women’s soccer player Anita Rapp - a two-time Mid-Con Player of the Year (1999, 2001) and a WUSA draftee - earns a Gold Medal while playing for her native Norway in the 2000 Olympic Games. The Mid-Con renames its Women’s All Sports Award for retiring Western Illinois Director of Athletics Dr. Helen Smiley.
2001-02
Southern Utah sweeps the Mid-Con cross country championships for the fourth straight year, while UMKC captures the conference’s first-ever NCAA Men’s Soccer College Cup win, a 2-1 overtime triumph over former league member UW-Milwaukee. Oral Roberts’ Krista Ragan sets the Mid-Con women’s basketball career scoring record (2,105), and becomes the first player in league history to earn four first-team all-conference citations in the sport. Valparaiso posts the biggest turnaround in NCAA women’s basketball (from 7-22 in 2000-01 to 26-7 in 2001-02) on its way to reaching the quarterfinals of the WNIT. UMKC’s Matt Voelker earns outdoor track and field All-America honors in the high jump.
2002-03
The Mid-Con sets a league record by sending four teams combined - IUPUI (NCAA) and Valparaiso (NIT) on the men’s side and Valparaiso (NCAA) and Western Illinois (WNIT) on the women’s side - to basketball postseason play. Oral Roberts’ Marsha Dawkins earns All-America honors in the 400 meter dash at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championships. IUPUI women’s basketball player Tiffany Kyser is Indiana’s recipient of the NCAA “Woman of the Year” award (she is also a finalist for the national award). Steinbrecher resigns as commissioner and is replaced by Ron Bertovich.
2003-04
Centenary begins Mid-Con play, lifting the league’s membership to nine. The Mid-Con sends two teams (UMKC, Oakland) to the NCAA Men’s Soccer College Cup for the second time in league history, and Oakland’s swimming & diving programs set league records for consecutive titles when they sweep the Mid-Con Championships for the fifth straight time. UMKC’s Michael Watson finishes his career as the league’s all-time leading scorer (2,488) in men’s hoops, while Oral Roberts’ Caleb Green and Ken Tutt are the nation’s highest scoring freshman duo. Oral Roberts sets a league record with 50 wins and finishes the season ranked in all four of college baseball’s polls. Southern Utah becomes the first Mid-Con school to sweep the men’s and women’s cross country and indoor and outdoor track & field crowns in the same year. Oral Roberts’ Prince Mumba (800 meter) and Western Illinois’ Aubrey Martin (shot put) earn All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship; Mumba runs for his native Zambia in the 2004 Athens Olympics, while Valparaiso’s Joaquim Gomes plays for the Angolan Olympic basketball team. The Mid-Con Men’s All Sports Award is renamed for retiring Valparaiso Director of Athletics Dr. William Steinbrecher.
2004-05
Oral Roberts’ Faithy Kamangila finished 11th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships to become the first woman in school history to garner All-American honors. Oakland claims the Mid-Con men’s basketball Championship on a last-second three-pointer by Pierre Dukes to win the title as the seventh seed. In its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, the Golden Grizzlies notched a win over Alabama A&M; in the opening round before falling to eventual National Champion North Carolina in the first round. For the second consecutive season, Oral Roberts’ baseball team collected a pair of victories in the NCAA tourney. The Golden Eagles had five players selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, while Oakland’s Paul Phillips was the top Mid-Con player chosen in the ninth round. Western Illinois softball coach Kathy Veroni retires after 34 seasons at the helm, while ORU’s Mable Kunihira garnered All-American honors at the Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a fifth place finish in the 800-meter run.
 
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