Sept. 16, 2011

NAPERVILLE, Ill. - California State University Bakersfield has joined the Great West Conference as an associate member in the sports of men's and women's outdoor track and women's tennis beginning with the 2012 seasons, GWC Commissioner Ed Grom announced today.

"I am very pleased that CSU Bakersfield has joined the Great West as an associate member in three sports," Grom said. "I believe it is important for student-athletes to have the opportunity to compete for championships, and I am proud that the Great West can afford that for Bakersfield. The addition will make our championships in outdoor track and women's tennis more competitive and provide a better overall student-athlete experience. Our Presidents were enthused with the addition."

The Roadrunners will join Chicago State, Houston Baptist, NJIT, North Dakota, Seattle, Texas-Pan American and Utah Valley as the teams vie for the 2012 GWC outdoor track championships, while Chicago State, NJIT, North Dakota, Seattle and Texas-Pan American welcome CSUB to the women's tennis championship.

"As I've said many times, we will pursue conference affiliations, even affiliate memberships, as they make sense for our program and present the best opportunities for our student-athletes to compete for postseason championships," said CSUB Director of Athletics Jeff Konya. "We are looking forward to this opportunity for our track and tennis programs to get a feel for conference competition by joining the Great West."

The GWC Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held May 10-12, at Houston, Texas, and hosted by Houston Baptist University.

"I am very excited about becoming a member of the Great West Conference and the opportunity for our men's and women's track teams to compete at the 2012 Great West Track and Field Championships," said Alan Collatz, CSUB Director of Track and Field. "Our student-athletes will get to experience a championship meet and the atmosphere that surrounds it. This is great news for our program and we look forward to the challenge."

Texas-Pan American will host the 2012 GWC Women's Tennis Championship, April 21-22, at Edinburg, Texas.

"We are extremely delighted and honored to join the Great West Conference," said Regina Csibi-Krueger, CSUB women's tennis coach. "We feel that this is another step forward to have an outstanding Division I program at CSUB, and we are very excited about participating in this conference."