Elon Adding Division I Women's Lacrosse for 2013-2014

The women's lacrosse program will be the 17th varsity sport and ninth women's athletic program at Elon. A national search will begin immediately to identify a head coach, and the 2012-2013 season will be utilized for recruiting, scheduling, and player development.

"Women's lacrosse is growing at an incredible pace, and we are excited to add this opportunity for Elon student-athletes," said Dave Blank, director of athletics. "Women's lacrosse is becoming increasingly popular at all intercollegiate levels and we feel the sport is a strong fit for our athletic program."

"Among the themes of the Elon Commitment strategic plan is a goal for the university to set conference standards in academics and gender equity," Blank said. "The addition of women's lacrosse is a key step toward achieving that goal, providing additional opportunities for female student-athletes to compete at the NCAA Division I level."

NCAA Division I lacrosse currently features more than 90 women's lacrosse programs and the sport boasts the top graduation success rates (GSR) among all NCAA Division I sports. According to NCAA figures released last May, women's lacrosse posted a four-year class average GSR of 94 percent, which topped all 18 NCAA-sanctioned sports.

Elon will become the sixth school in the state of North Carolina with a varsity program joining Campbell University (2012-2013), Davidson College, Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and High Point University. In the Southern Conference, Furman University recently announced the addition of women's lacrosse to begin competition in 2014-15. Davidson College began lacrosse in 1994 and currently competes in the National Lacrosse Conference.

Women's lacrosse has been offered as a club sport at Elon since 2001. Seventy-two high schools in North Carolina now offer girls lacrosse. Nineteen of those 72 high schools are located in Greensboro, Raleigh, Chapel Hill or Durham.

The last time Elon added a new sport was during the 2000-2001 academic year, when women's indoor and outdoor track and field began competition.

2012-03-20