Sunrise Athletic Conference

The Sunrise Athletic Conference was a college athletic conference founded in 2002 and affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Its member institutions were in Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont.

Sunrise Athletic Conference
Established2002
Dissolved2011
AssociationNAIA
DivisionDivision II
Sports fielded
  • 10
    • men's: 5
    • women's: 5
RegionRegion X of the NAIA Northeastern United States
CommissionerDr. Royal Goheen
Websitehttp://www.sunriseconference.com
Locations

History

The SAC was founded when both the Maine Athletic Conference and the Mayflower Conference disbanded in the spring of 2002. Both of these conferences were NAIA conferences of long standing.[1] The conference formed with eight inaugural members: the College of St. Joseph, Fisher College, Lyndon State College, University of Maine at Fort Kent, University of Maine at Machias, University of Maine at Presque Isle, Paul Smith's College, Vermont Technical College. Royal Goheen became the commissioner of the Sunrise Conference and continued to serve as the only commissioner in the history of the SAC until it disbanded. In 1997, Goheen took on the role as the commissioner of the Maine Athletic Conference before its disbandment. In 2010 he was elected to the NAIA Hall of Fame.[2]

In 2004, the Sunrise Conference added State University of New York at Canton after the university joined the NAIA as part of a transition from two-year to four-year institution. The conference held steady with nine members until Paul Smith's College and Lyndon State College left in 2010, dropping SAC membership to seven.

The conference disbanded in 2011 when the College of St. Joseph, Vermont Technical College and University of Maine at Machias left the conference and NAIA for the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) and the Yankee Small College Conference.[3][4] The University of Maine at Fort Kent, University of Maine at Presque Isle, and SUNY-Canton then left with no regional NAIA competition to become independents in the USCAA.[4] In addition, UM-Presque Isle is transitioning to an independent member of NCAA Division III, while SUNY Canton was accepted into the transition process to move from NAIA to NCAA DIII.[5] Fisher College joined the American Mideast Conference.[4]

Former members
Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Team Nickname Year
Joined		 Year
Left		 Conference
Joined		 Current
Conference
Lyndon State College Lyndon, Vermont 1911 Public 1,350 Hornets 2002 2006 North Atlantic Conference (NCAA Division III) as Northern Vermont University–Lyndon
Paul Smith's College Paul Smiths, New York 1946 Private 1,000 Falcons 2002 2010 Yankee Conference (USCAA)
College of St. Joseph Rutland, Vermont 1956 Private 500 Saints 2002 2011 Closed in 2019
Fisher College Boston, Massachusetts 1903 Private 1,121 Falcons 2002 2011 American Mideast Conference (NAIA) Independent (NAIA)
University of Maine at Fort Kent Fort Kent, Maine 1878 Public 1,339 Bengals 2002 2011 Independent (USCAA)
University of Maine at Machias Machias, Maine 1909 Public 1,200 Clippers 2002 2011 Yankee Conference (USCAA)
University of Maine at Presque Isle Presque Isle, Maine 1903 Public 1,600 Owls 2002 2011 Independent (USCAA) North Atlantic Conference (NCAA Division III)
Vermont Technical College Randolph, Vermont 1866 Public technical college 1,453 Knights 2002 2011 Yankee Conference (USCAA)
State University of New York at Canton Canton, New York 1906 Public 3,320 Kangaroos 2004 2011 Independent (USCAA) North Atlantic Conference (NCAA Division III)

Membership timeline
Map of the Sunrise Athletic Conference, circa 2011

Conference sports
Conference sports
SportMen'sWomen's
Baseball
Y
Basketball
Y
Y
Cross Country
Y
Y
Golf
Y
Soccer
Y
Y
Softball
Y
Volleyball
Y

Conference championships

References
  1. http://naia.cstv.com/member-services/conferences/profiles/NAIA_ConferenceProfile_Sunrise.pdf
  2. Staff (Aug 24, 2010). "NAIA Announces 2010-11 Hall of Fame Class". Victory Sports Network. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  3. Hawkins, Gary (June 30, 2011). "COLLEGE: UMA adds 3 sports". Kennebec Journal. Archived from the original on November 10, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  4. Mahoney, Larry (June 17, 2011). "UMFK, UMPI, UMM leave NAIA for new association". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  5. Brown, Gary (June 30, 2011). "DIII Membership Committee recommends four new active members". NCAA. Archived from the original on July 5, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
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