UMAC to launch website redesign on Aug. 9
ST. PAUL -- The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference’s (UMAC) website, www.umacathletics.com, is about to get a facelift. After over three years of the current website design, the conference will launch a redesign on Tuesday, August 9.
Syracuse, N.Y.-based Sidearm Sports, who the UMAC has partnered with for its website design and hosting needs since November of 2007, produced the new website design with the conference’s goals in mind. The new design will feature more of a “one-stop shop” on its front page, including a video player and links to live video and statistics without having to navigate elsewhere.
Seven of the eight UMAC full member schools are Sidearm clients, making the process of updating scores and schedules more efficient for both fans and back-end users alike.
As part of the countdown process, the league has posted unique facts from the 2010-11 academic year that correspond with the number of days remaining until the redesign launch. Those facts can be seen below.
10 - Number of UMAC football schools competing for a conference championship in 2011
The UMAC will have a full slate of conference football games with each team playing just one non-conference contest in either Weeks 1 or 2 beginning in 2011. Presentation College is the second UMAC school to begin sponsorship of the sport of football in the last five years, as the College of St. Scholastica also played its first football games in 2008. The UMAC will receive its first NCAA automatic qualifier for football in 2011.
9 - Number of UMAC schools that will race for the league’s men’s and women’s cross country championships in 2011.
North Central University will once again join the eight full member institutions this October at Minneopa Golf Course in Mankato, Minn. as the second and third conference champions of the 2011-2012 season are crowned. (The UMAC Men’s Golf Championship will be the first to award a trophy.) The St. Scholastica men’s team has won two straight UMAC titles while the Saints women’s squad has owned every cross country championship since 2001.
8 - Number of NCAA postseason automatic qualifiers that the UMAC awarded for the first time in 2010-2011
Following a mandatory two-year waiting period for earning automatic berths into NCAA Tournaments, UMAC championship events took on an entirely new meaning with the awarding of the AQ in 2010-2011. The College of St. Scholastica (baseball, softball, men’s soccer) and Northwestern College (volleyball, women’s soccer, men’s basketball) each claimed three of the automatic qualifiers, while North Central University and the University of Minnesota Morris punched their ticket in men’s golf and women’s basketball.
7 - Number of consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the St. Scholastica baseball team
In his first two seasons at St. Scholastica, head coach Corey Kemp has continued the program’s recent accomplishments by leading his team into the NCAA postseason. The Saints reached the NCAA Regional Championship game for the second time in program history in 2011.
6 - Number of sports that will be video streamed live at each UMAC institution beginning in 2011-2012.
All UMAC football, volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer and men’s and women’s basketball games will be video streamed (as facilities permit) for live viewing beginning this fall. All one-click video links will be available from the front page of umacathletics.com.
6 - Number of sports that will be video streamed live at each UMAC institution beginning in 2011-2012.
All UMAC football, volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer and men’s and women’s basketball games will be video streamed (as facilities permit) for live viewing beginning this fall. All one-click video links will be available from the front page of umacathletics.com.
5 - The UMAC will soon be entering its fifth year of partnership with Sidearm Sports for providing its website design.
The UMAC and Sidearm Sports collaborated for both the 2008 and 2011 website redesigns. Syracuse, N.Y.-based Sidearm is also the website partner of seven of the eight UMAC full member institutions. Sidearm has a client list that includes nearly 500 athletic clients from around the United States and Canada.
4 - Number of years that the UMAC has been a full member of the NCAA Division III
After many years of being affiliated with the NAIA, the UMAC Presidents Council voted to pursue NCAA Division III membership in 2002. Following a five-year period of exploration and provisional membership, the UMAC became a full NCAA member prior to the 2008-2009 academic year.
3 - Number of track and field student-athletes that earned berths in 2011 NCAA Championships.
The University of Minnesota Morris’ Linda Keller and Megan Croatt, along with the College of St. Scholastica’s Rachel Miller, qualified for the NCAA championship event in Delaware, Ohio. Keller ran in the 1500 meter race and Croatt participated in the 200 meter dash. Miller was one of 24 women to participate in the triple jump event.
2 - Number of UMAC student-athletes and teams who were named NCAA Division III statistical champions in their sport in 2010-11
Two UMAC champion teams were represented atop the NCAA’s statistical standings. Northwestern men’s basketball player Tom Gisler was the Division III statistical champion after finishing the season with the nation’s best three point-field goal percentage. The St. Scholastica baseball team led the nation (all divisions) in runs per game, averaging 9.3 runs scored.
1 - Just one more UMAC Dome Day
After 11 years, the UMAC will host its final Dome Day event at Mall of America Field at the Metrodome in Minneapolis on Friday and Saturday, October 28 and 29, 2011. All of the league’s teams have gathered at the Metrodome to play in an NFL venue since 2000. Many years featured three, four and five games - all in one day - before the UMAC moved to a two-day format in 2010. In future years, the conference will move to a home-and-home series format in place of UMAC Dome Day.