Transition ahead for MSFA again

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FINDLAY, OHIO - The Mid-States Football Association has seen its share of team movement in recent years and that trend will continue in the fall of 2011 as three MSFA schools transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II and the remaining 14 member institutions compose the newly-aligned Mideast League and Midwest League.

Malone University, one of the 11 MSFA charter members, and Walsh University, crosstown rivals in Canton, Ohio, will continue to fulfill their schedule obligations against MSFA Mideast League teams during 2011 but will not be eligible for championship play. Walsh has been a MSFA member since 1996. McKendree University, located in Lebanon, Ill., is in the same situation after competing in the Midwest League since joining the association in 1998. While Malone and Walsh have not declared any conference affiliation when they are approved as D-II schools by the NCAA, McKendree will enter play in the D-II Great Lakes Valley Conference in 2012.

To help overcome the loss of two teams from the Mideast League, Concordia University of Ann Arbor, Mich. will enter league play this fall as a first-year program. Also, Quincy University of Illinois will move from the Midwest to the Mideast for 2011 before transitioning to the Great Lakes Valley Conference for the 2012 campaign. Marian University of Indianapolis, Saint Xavier University in Chicago, the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, Ind., and Taylor University in Upland, Ind. will round out the 6-team Mideast for 2011.

Trinity International University in Deerfield, Ill. and Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill. will move back to the Midwest this fall after two seasons of competition in the Mideast. The remainder of the Midwest League for 2011 will include Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, the Univesity of St. Francis in Joliet, Ill., Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa and William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

Saint Xavier claimed the 2010 MSFA Mideast League at 7-0, while William Penn and McKendree shared the Midwest League title at 6-1. MSFA league play is scheduled to begin this fall on Sept. 17.

The MSFA was formed in 1993 and began its first season of competition in 1994.