Ashland University, NCAA Highlight 50th Anniversary Of Division II

Sunday (Aug. 6) was the 50^th anniversary of the creation of Division II by the NCAA.
 
Monday (Aug. 7) was the start of the NCAA beginning the celebration of a half-century of the division.
 
Then-Ashland College's men's sports began its membership in NCAA Division II with the 1979-80 academic year, with Eagle women's sports following beginning in 1982-83.
 
Since then, Ashland athletics has put its stamp on the division across the board:
 

• In the Learfield Directors' Cup, finishes in the top five four times, in the top 10 on ten occasions, and in the top 20 on 19 occasions – with Ashland consistently ranking as one of the top private institutions in D-II.
• Since 1979-80, 117 Ashland teams/individuals/relays have won D-II national championships. The biggest year for AU national titles was 2013, when there were nine.
• Of Ashland's 111 all-time Academic All-America awards, an even 100 have come as a D-II member.
• And of the current Eagles' sports offerings, how many teams have made at least one NCAA postseason appearance? Twenty.

And over the last four-plus decades, Ashland athletics has seen everything from national titles won on national television to alums becoming professional athletes to even having an Olympic gold medalist.

"If you look at the history of Asland University Athletics, for a number of years we struggled to determine what level of play fit best for us and what league affiliation was best," said Ashland Director of Athletics Al King. "All of that changed when the university took the leap to commit to NCAA Division II. Much of the credit for that goes to Dr. Fred Martinelli, who pushed for that. Once we set our course with NCAA Division II, we were able to attract better coaches and student-athletes. We knew what kind of funding was needed to be successful and while we didn't have that at the start, we set a goal and worked toward that.

"We did the same thing with our programming off the field and history shows that we were proficient when it came to stellar academic and athletic performance. For a number of years, Ashland was the only NCAA Division II institution in Ohio. That set us apart from other schools and we were viewed as a pace-setter. We'd like to think we are still a pace-setter, particularly for private institutions. Our success academically and athletically is extremely important to us as is the 'Life in the Balance,' philosophy of NCAA Division II. We look to continue to grow along with NCAA Division II." 
 
Once Ashland joined D-II, the Eagles started play in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, staying until 1994-95. AU has been in three main conferences in the last 44 years – GLVC, Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1995-2021) and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (2021-current).
 
In addition, Ashland student-athletes have competed in four specialized conferences since its D-II membership began – the Penn-Ohio Conference for swimming and diving (1967-95), the Heartland Collegiate Conference for football (1979-89), the Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference for football (1990-98), and the Greater Ohio Athletic Conference for women's sports (1982-84).

FROM THE NCAA DIVISION II WEB SITE: "Of the more than 1,100 NCAA member universities and colleges, about 300 classify their athletics programs in Division II.
 
Division II is all about balance. Students participate in highly competitive athletics, have the best access ratio to NCAA championships of any division and can earn athletics scholarships, but their college experience includes so much more than sports participation. The balanced approach in athletics, academics and community engagement allows Division II student-athletes to focus on their academic pursuits, internships, studies abroad and all that interests them.
 
Among the most distinguishing features in Division II is its athletics scholarship model, which awards partial scholarships that students combine with academic or need-based grants to construct their financial aid package. Division II believes it is important to acknowledge and financially reward students' athletics abilities. This partial scholarship model keeps athletics budgets more closely proportioned with the total institutional budget."