Western Collegiate Lacrosse League

Western Collegiate Lacrosse League
WCLL
Established	1980
Association	MCLA
Members	15
Sports fielded	College lacrosse
Region	West Coast of the United States
Commissioner	Aaron Myers
Website	http://mcla.us/WCLL/

The Western Collegiate Lacrosse League (WCLL) is a conference that participates in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The WCLL operates in California and Nevada and is split into two divisions, Division I and Division II.^[1] The conference is governed by an executive board and the teams that win the conference's divisional playoffs receive automatic bids to the MCLA National Tournament.

Contents

• 
  1 History
  


• 
  2 Teams
  


• 
  3 Former members
  


• 
  4 Past Conference Champions
  
  
  
  • 
    4.1 Division I
    
  
  
  • 
    4.2 Division II
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  5 References
  


• 
  6 External links
  

History

The roots of the WCLL go back to 1959 when the California Lacrosse Association (CLA) was created. This was a hybrid organization that included both college and men's club teams in Southern California. Similarly, the teams in Northern California participated in the Northern California Lacrosse Association (NCLA). The founding members of the CLA included Claremont, Los Angeles Lacrosse Club, Orange County Lacrosse Club, San Fernando Valley Lacrosse Club, OMBAC, San Marino Lacrosse Club and others.
In 1969, UCLA joined the league, followed by UCSB in 1970.
In 1976, the CLA expanded with the addition of Southern California.
On occasion the CLA Champion would face the NCLA Champion at the end of the season to determine a conference or "California State Champion". UCSB captured the final state championship played under this arrangement defeating their northern counterparts in 1978. In 1979, at the urging of CLA VP and San Diego State alum Mitch Fenton, a separate organization for the collegiate teams in both the CLA and NCLA was brainstormed.

The union that would eventually become the WCLL was founded on Super Bowl Sunday, January 20, 1980 as the California Collegiate Lacrosse Association (CCLA). A select few gathered at the house of then UCLA Head Coach Mayer Davidson's house in West Los Angeles. Co-founders also included Stanford Head Coach Sam Sadtler, the Claremont Head Coach and Fenton. The original 9 members were: California, Claremont, San Diego State, Santa Clara, Southern California, Stanford, UC Davis, UCLA and UCSB. Fenton served as the first president of the association. When the association was formed it was determined that the top team of the Northern Division would play the top team of the Southern Division at the end of the season to determine the conference champion. In the inaugural championship, the UCSB Gauchos defeated the Stanford Cardinal. One year later, Whittier College joined the league. In 1982, the University of Arizona, Arizona State and Northern Arizona joined the CCLA. That same year the Stanford Cardinal took home the championship defeating UCLA at Stanford.

In 1983, the CCLA renamed itself the Western Collegiate Lacrosse League. That same year Cal Poly SLO joined the conference. Arizona Head Coach and WCLL Co-Founder Mickey-Miles Felton, who was instrumental in the addition of the Arizona schools the year before, served as the league's first president. The WCLL Championship Trophy is named in his honor.

In 1985, Loyola Marymount University was admitted to the conference. In 1987, Chico State was admitted as a full member of the conference.
In 1988, the WCLL split into A and B divisions (later I and II). That same year Chapman University joined the WCLL as a Division II member. In 1989, Sonoma State joined the WCLL.

In 1997, the WCLL, was one of the charter conferences in the US Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates (USLIA). Prior to the 2000 season, Whittier College departed joining the NCAA Division III as an independent. Following the 2002 season, Division II member Cal State San Marcos left the conference. Following the 2004 season, Division II member Cal State Hayward (now Cal State East Bay) left the conference.

The addition of the University of Nevada, Reno and St. Mary's College to the WCLL Division I at the annual conference meeting in 2004 lead to a massive realignment of the conference. The 20 Division I teams were split into 4 geographic divisions (North, Central, Los Angeles and South) for the 2005 season. In 2005, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and UC Santa Cruz joined the league, followed by Cal State Fullerton and San Jose State in 2006. That same year, the USLIA reorganized into the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA).^[2]

The league grew into the largest MCLA conferences but saw big changes in 2009.^[3] The University of California, Merced joined the league for the 2009 season but the league lost its entire Central Division, made up of Chapman, UC Santa Barbara, Claremont, Loyola Marymount, USC, and UCLA; and lost the majoity of its Southern Division, including: Arizona State, San Diego State, Arizona, San Diego, UC San Diego. The WCLL also lost six of ten Division II members, including: Biola, Cal Lutheran, Cal State Fullerton, Occidental, Pepperdine, UC Irvine, and UNLV. The exiting teams formed the Southwestern Lacrosse Conference (SLC).^[3]

Teams

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Conference Championships
Division I
University of California, Berkeley	Berkeley, California	1868	Public (University of California system)	33,000	Golden Bears	1980	1981, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2018
California Polytechnic State University	San Luis Obispo, California	1901	Public (California State University system)	19,777	Mustangs	1983	2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017
California State University, Chico	Chico, California	1887	Public (California State University system)	14,500	Wildcats	1987
Dominican University of California	San Rafael, California	1890	Private	1,800	Penguins
University of Nevada, Reno	Reno, Nevada	1874	Public (Nevada System of Higher Education)	15,588	Wolf Pack	2004
Santa Clara University	Santa Clara, California	1851	Private (Roman Catholic)	7,487	Broncos	1980
Sonoma State University	Rohnert Park, California	1960	Public (California State University system)	8,400	Seawolves	1989	2001, 2002, 2006
Stanford University	Palo Alto, California	1891	Private (Non-sectarian)	14,654	Cardinal	1980	1982, 2013, 2015
University of California, Santa Barbara	Santa Barbara, California	1891	Public (University of California system)	25,057	Gauchos	1980, 2019	1980, 1983, 1984, 1987, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007
Division II
University of California, Davis	Davis, California	1905	Public (University of California system)	30,474	Aggies	1980
University of California, Santa Cruz	Santa Cruz, California	1965	Public (University of California system)	15,012	Banana Slugs	2005	1993, 2008, 2009
Humboldt State University	Arcata, California	1913	Public (California State University system)	7,773	Lumberjacks	2010
University of the Pacific	Stockton, California	1851	Private (Methodist)	6,100	Tigers
Saint Mary's College of California	Moraga, California	1863	Private (Roman Catholic)	4,536	Gaels	1989	1991, 2000, 2010, 2011, 2012
San Jose State University	San Jose, California	1857	Public (California State University system)	31,906	Spartans	2006
Sierra Nevada College	Incline Village, Nevada	1969	Private	540	Eagles

Former members

Institution	Location	Team Nickname	Tenure	New Conference	New Classification
Arizona State University	Tempe, Arizona	Sun Devils	1982–2009	SLC	MCLA Division I
Biola University	La Mirada, California	Eagles	2001–2009	SLC	MCLA Division II
California Lutheran University	Thousand Oaks, California	Kingsmen	2005–2009	SLC	MCLA Division II
California State University, Fullerton	Fullerton, California	Titans	2006–2009	SLC	MCLA Division II
California State University, Hayward	Hayward, California	Pioneers	1997–2004	ceased operations in 2004	N/A
California State University, Sacramento	Sacramento, California	Hornets	1986–1998	ceased operations in 1998	N/A
California State University, San Marcos	San Marcos, California	Cougars	unknown-2002	N/A	N/A
Chapman University	Orange, California	Panthers	1988–2009	SLC	MCLA Division I
Claremont McKenna College	Claremont, California	Cougars	1980–2009	SLC	MCLA Division I
Loyola Marymount University	Los Angeles, California	Lions	1985–2009	SLC	MCLA Division I
Northern Arizona University	Flagstaff, Arizona	Lumberjacks	1982-unknown	N/A	N/A
Pepperdine University	Malibu, California	Waves	unknown–2009	SLC	MCLA Division II
Occidental College	Los Angeles, California	Tigers	2006–2009	SLC	MCLA Division II
San Diego State University	San Diego, California	Aztecs	1980–2009	SLC	MCLA Division I
University of Arizona	Tucson, Arizona	Wildcats	1982–2009	SLC	MCLA Division I
University of California, Irvine	Irvine, California	Anteaters	1988–2009	SLC	MCLA Division II
University of California, Los Angeles	Los Angeles, California	Bruins	1980–2009	SLC	MCLA Division I
University of California, San Diego	San Diego, California	Tritons	unknown–2009	SLC	MCLA Division I
University of Nevada, Las Vegas	Las Vegas, Nevada	Rebels	2005–2009	SLC	MCLA Division I
University of San Diego	San Diego, California	Toreros	unknown–2009	SLC	MCLA Division I
University of Southern California	Los Angeles, California	Trojans	1980–2009	SLC	MCLA Division I
Whittier College	Whittier, California	The Poets	1981–1999	Independent	NCAA Division III

Past Conference Champions

Division I

Season	Conference Champion	North Division	South Division
1980	UCSB	Stanford	UCSB
1981	California	California	UCSB
1982	Stanford	Stanford	UCLA
1983	UCSB	UCSB	Arizona
1984	UCSB	UCSB	San Diego State
1985	Whittier	California	Whittier
1986	Whittier	Stanford	Whittier
1987	UCSB	UCSB	Whittier
1988	Whittier		Whittier
1989	Whittier		Whittier
1990	Arizona
1991	Whittier		Whittier
1992	Whittier		Whittier
1993	Whittier		Whittier
1994	California	California	UCSD
1995	California		Whittier
1996	Whittier	Sonoma State	Whittier
1997	Whittier	Sonoma State	Whittier
1998	California	California	Whittier
1999	Whittier	Sonoma State	Whittier
2000	California	Sonoma State	Arizona
2001	Sonoma State	Sonoma State	Arizona
2002	Sonoma State	Sonoma State	Arizona
2003	UCSB	Sonoma State	UCSB
2004	UCSB	Sonoma State	UCSB
Season				Central	Los Angeles
2005	UCSB	Sonoma State	UC San Diego	Cal Poly SLO	UCSB
2006	Sonoma State	Sonoma State	Arizona	Cal Poly SLO	UCSB
2007	UCSB	Sonoma State	Arizona	California	Chapman*
2008	Chapman	Sonoma State	Arizona State	Stanford	Chapman
2009	Cal Poly
2010	Cal Poly
2011	Cal Poly
2012	Cal Poly
2013	Stanford
2014	Cal Poly
2015	Stanford
2016	Cal Poly
2017	Cal Poly
2018	California

* ineligible for playoffs (runner-up UCSB received LA Division #1 seed, 3rd place Claremont received #2 seed)

Team	Championships	Winning years
Whittier	10	1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1999
UCSB	8	1980, 1983, 1984, 1987, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007
Cal Poly	7	2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017
California	6	1981, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2018
Sonoma State	3	2001, 2002, 2006
Stanford	2	1982, 2013, 2015
Arizona	1	1990
Chapman	1	2008

• Note: Bold text denotes MCLA National Champion


• Note: Italic text denotes MCLA National Champion runner-up

Division II

Season	Conference Champion	North Division	South Division
1988	Chico State
1989	Chico State
1990
1991	Saint Mary's
1992	Chapman
1993	UC Santa Cruz
1994	UC Irvine
1995	Arizona State
1996	Sacramento State
1997	Arizona State
1998	San Diego
1999	San Diego
2000	Saint Mary's	Saint Mary's	Claremont
2001	Chapman	Saint Mary's	Chapman
2002	Southern California	Saint Mary's	Pepperdine
2003	Claremont	Saint Mary's	Claremont
2004	San Diego	Saint Mary's	San Diego
2005	San Diego
2006	San Diego	Claremont	San Diego
2007	UC Irvine	Pepperdine	UC Irvine
2008	UC Santa Cruz	UC Santa Cruz	Biola
2009	UC Santa Cruz	Saint Mary's
2010	Saint Mary's	UC Santa Cruz
2011	Saint Mary's	UC Santa Cruz
2012	Saint Mary's	UC Santa Cruz
2013	UC Santa Cruz	Nevada
2014	Nevada

Team	Championships	Winning years
San Diego	5	1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006
Saint Mary's	5	1991, 2000, 2010, 2011, 2012
UC Santa Cruz	4	1993, 2008, 2009, 2013
Arizona State	2	1995, 1997
Chapman	2	1992, 2001
Chico State	2	1988, 1989
UC Irvine	2	2007, 1994
Claremont	1	2003
Sacramento State	1	1996
Southern California	1	2002
Nevada	1	2014

• Note: Bold text denotes MCLA National Champion

References

1. 
   ^ "About the WCLL". MCLA. Retrieved June 27, 2017..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   


2. 
   ^ "History of Cal Poly Lacrosse". California Polytechnic State University. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
   


3. 
   ^ ^ab "SLC History". SLC. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
   

External links

• Western Collegiate Lacrosse League website


• MCLA website

v t e Conferences in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association
Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference Lone Star Alliance Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference Southwestern Lacrosse Conference Upper Midwest Lacrosse Conference Western Collegiate Lacrosse League

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