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Wikipedia / Centennial Conference

The Centennial Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Chartered member teams are located in Maryland and Pennsylvania; associate members are also located in New York and Virginia.

Eleven private colleges compose the chartered member teams of the Centennial Conference. Five of its 11 members rank among the top 50 national liberal arts colleges and Johns Hopkins University is ranked sixth among national universities.

On average, Centennial members sponsor 19 varsity teams. Conference members have won seventeen NCAA team titles: Johns Hopkins women's cross country (2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021), Gettysburg women's lacrosse (2011, 2017, 2018), Haverford men's cross country (2010), Franklin & Marshall women's lacrosse (2007, 2009), Ursinus field hockey (2006), Washington men's lacrosse (1998), and Washington men's tennis (1994, 1997).

History

According to the Centennial Conference's website, "On June 4, 1981, Keith Spalding, then-president of Franklin & Marshall College, made the announcement that "eight private colleges found it timely and appropriate to form a round-robin football schedule among institutions with similar attitudes and practices in intercollegiate football competition." With that statement, the Centennial Conference was born. Those private colleges were Dickinson College, Franklin & Marshall College, Gettysburg College, Johns Hopkins University, Muhlenberg College, Swarthmore College, Ursinus College, and Western Maryland College, later renamed and now known as McDaniel College.

The conference moved from a football-only conference to an all-sports conference after a 1991 feasibility study. The study also recommended to expand from eight schools to eleven. The other schools recommended were Bryn Mawr College, Haverford College, and Washington College. Those three schools accepted and became charter members in 1992 as the conference expanded its sports offerings.

All of the charter members defected from the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC). Johns Hopkins and McDaniel College both played in the Mason–Dixon Conference prior to entering the MAC in 1975.

Recent changes

On August 21, 2019, Cabrini University joined the Centennial as an affiliate member for women's golf to replace Neumann University's spot, effective in the 2020 spring season (2019–20 academic year).

On August 31, 2022, football affiliates Juniata College, Moravian University and Susquehanna University departed for a new football league in the Landmark Conference, beginning the 2023 fall season (2022–23 academic year).

On August 6, 2024, Carnegie Mellon University will join the Centennial as an associate football member, effective beginning the 2025 fall season (2025–26 academic year).

Chronological timeline

2017:

  • Susquehanna left the Centennial as an affiliate member for women's golf after the 2017 spring season (2016–17 academic year).

  • Marymount University and Neumann University joined the Centennial as affiliate members for women's golf in the 2018 spring season (2017–18 academic year).

2019:

Two institutions left the Centennial as affiliate members, both effective after the 2018–19 academic year:

  • Neumann for women's golf

  • and Stevens for men's wrestling

    Cabrini University joined the Centennial as an affiliate member for women's golf to replace Neumann's spot in the 2020 spring season (2019–20 academic year).

  • 2022 – Washington and Lee University left as an affiliate member in wrestling for their primary conference home, the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC), after the 2021–22 academic year.

  • 2023 – Juniata, Moravian and Susquehanna left the Centennial as football affiliates for a new football league within their primary conference home, the Landmark Conference, after the 2022 fall season (2022–23 academic year).

  • 2024 – Cabrini left the Centennial as an affiliate member for women's golf after the 2024 spring season (2024–25 academic year); as the school ceased operations in June 2024.

  • 2025 – Carnegie Mellon University joined the Centennial as an associate football member, beginning the 2025 fall season (2025–26 academic year).

Member schools

Current members

The Centennial currently has 11 full members, all are private schools:

  1. Notes:

Affiliate members

The Centennial currently has three affiliate members, two private schools and a public school:

  1. Notes:

Former affiliate members

The Centennial had eight former affiliate members, all were private schools:

  1. Notes:

Membership timeline

Sports

The Centennial Conference sponsors championships in the following sports:

Men's sponsored sports by school

  1. Notes

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Centennial Conference that are played by Centennial schools

Women's sponsored sports by school

  1. Notes

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Centennial Conference that are played by Centennial schools

Current champions

See also

References