Cheyney Women's Bowling Joins East Coast Conference

CENTRAL ISLIP, New York -- East Coast Conference Commissioner, Dr. Robert Dranoff, announced today the addition of women's bowling as the league's 18th championship sport. The ECC will become the seventh NCAA conference to sponsor women's bowling and the second comprised of only Division II institutions.

Six schools will join the conference and compete in the inaugural 2015-16 season. Full-time ECC members, Daemen College (Amherst, N.Y.) and Molloy College (Rockville Centre, N.Y.), will be joined by four associate members, Adelphi University (Garden City, N.Y.), Cheyney University (Cheyney, Pa.), Franklin Pierce University (Rindge, N.H.), and Kutztown University (Kutztown, Pa.).

Adelphi and Kutztown were previously associate members of the Northeast Conference, while Cheyney and Franklin Pierce competed as independents. Daemen and Molloy will field a team for the first time in school history in 2015-16.

"The ECC is excited to be working with these schools and this new conference sport," said Dranoff. "We look forward to having an opportunity to help grow intercollegiate bowling and to create a positive conference championship experience for the women who participate."

The NCAA has sponsored women's bowling as a sport since 2004. Unlike other NCAA sponsored sports, institutions from Division I, II, and III compete together to determine a National Champion.

The ECC is working on plans for a post-season conference championship in March and will have weekly and postseason awards beginning in the Fall of 2015. More information will be available on www.eccsports.org in the coming weeks.

About the ECC

Founded as the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference in 1989 and rechristened the East Coast Conference in July 2006, the ECC was formed to enhance intercollegiate athletic competition among member institutions and to assist them in integrating athletics into their academic program in a fiscally sound way. The ECC is committed to the highest standards of scholarship, sportsmanship, teamwork, and citizenship. Its mission is to promote the total person concept in its student-athletes, which stresses the abilities to excel in academic achievement, athletic competition, and positive character traits. East Coast Conference members include: University of Bridgeport (Bridgeport, Conn.); University of the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.); Daemen College (Amherst, N.Y.); Dowling College (Oakdale, N.Y.); LIU Post (Brookville, N.Y.); Mercy College (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.); Molloy College (Rockville Centre, N.Y.); New York Institute of Technology (Old Westbury, N.Y.); Queens College (Flushing, N.Y.); Roberts Wesleyan College (Rochester, N.Y.) and St. Thomas Aquinas College (Sparkill, N.Y.). Associate Members include: Chestnut Hill College (Philadelphia, Pa.), Cheyney University (Cheyney, Pa.), Dominican College (Orangeburg, N.Y.), Franklin Pierce University (Rindge, N.H.), Georgian Court University (Lakewood, N.J.) and Kutztown University.

The ECC sponsors the following championship sports: baseball; men's and women's basketball; women's bowling; men's & women's cross country; men's and women's lacrosse; softball; men's and women's tennis; men's and women's indoor track and field; men's and women's outdoor track and field; men's and women's soccer; and women's volleyball.

The East Coast Conference is a proud member of the NCAA and Division II. Division II is a dynamic and engaging group of colleges, institutions and conferences of varying sizes and educational missions. Division II members encourage and support diversity; value sportsmanship, fairness and equity; and place the highest priority on the overall educational excellence of the student-athlete.

COURTESY CHEYNEY UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION