GNAC Sports

ABOUT THE GREAT NORTHWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Haglund

The Great Northwest Athletic Conference, which is in its 11th season of athletic competition, is comprised of 10 NCAA Division II schools located in five states and one Canadian province.

Dave Haglund is in his first season as the Commissioner for the GNAC after replacing Richard Hannan on Jan. 9, 2012. Haglund previously was the commissioner of the Cascade Conference for five years.

Four of the GNAC schools are located in the state of Washington including Central Washington University, Saint Martin's University, Seattle Pacific University and Western Washington University.

Representing Canada is Simon Fraser, which became the first Canadian member of the GNAC prior to the 2010-11 season.

The conference, which was officially founded on July 1, 2001, originally had 10 members including the University of Alaska Anchorage, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Northwest Nazarene University (Idaho) and Western Oregon University along with the four Washington schools.

Humboldt State University (Calif.) and Seattle University were also charter members of the conference but left following the 2005-06 and 2007-08 seasons, respectively. Montana State Billings joined the GNAC on July 1, 2007 followed three years later by Simon Fraser.

Prior to the formation of the GNAC, all the current and past members were at one time members of the PacWest Conference, including Simon Fraser.

Four of the schools in the conference - Alaska Anchorage, Alaska Fairbanks, Montana State Billings and Seattle Pacific – were charter members of the PacWest, which was created in May, 1992 with the merger of the Great Northwest Conference and the Continental Divide Conference.

Central Washington, Saint Martin's, Western Oregon and Western Washington joined the PacWest prior to the 1998-99 season. Northwest Nazarene joined the PacWest for the 1999-2000 season.

Simon Fraser was also a PacWest member for one season (1998-99) before its bid for NCAA membership was rejected by the national organization.

Central Washington, Saint Martin's, Simon Fraser and Western Washington were previously members of the Pacific Northwest Athletic Conference, while Western Oregon and Northwest Nazarene were members of the Cascade Conference before joining the PacWest. Humboldt State, Dixie State and Azusa Pacific are affiliate members of the GNAC for football.

The GNAC sponsors championships in eight men's and eight women's sports, including football, volleyball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's basketball, baseball, men's and women's golf, softball, men's and women's indoor track-and-field and men's and women's outdoor track-and-field.