Beginning in the fall of 2015, Mount Mary University will become an affiliate member of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference in tennis and cross country.

The NACC currently sponsors 18 sports and consists of 12 private colleges and universities from the shared-border states of Illinois and Wisconsin, all of which are NCAA Division III members. The members of the NACC include Alverno College, Aurora University, Benedictine University, Concordia University Chicago, Concordia University Wisconsin, Dominican University, Edgewood College, Lakeland College, Marian University, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Rockford University and Wisconsin Lutheran College.

"We are very pleased to begin a new partnership with Mount Mary University as an affiliate member of the NACC for the sports of women's cross country and women's tennis," NACC Commissioner Steve Larson said.

The Blue Angels will become the 13th women's team at the cross country championships and the 12th team in the women's tennis standings. The union works well for both parties as the even number of women's tennis teams will negate byes from the round-robin schedule and gives plenty of benefits to MMU.

"Our teams now have the opportunity to play against a higher level opponent on a consistent basis," Mount Mary Director of Athletics Marc Heidorf said. "Having a conference tournament or championship as a possibility at the end of the season offers our student-athletes a constant goal for motivation and focus both in and out of season."

The Blue Angels have fared well against the NACC in recent years in tennis, and with the budding cross country program the chance for postseason play will be more consistent.

The MMU tennis program has compiled back-to-back winning seasons the last two years including an 8-3 record versus NACC opponents during that span. In the past eight years the cross country program has produced a pair of Association of Division III Independents runners of the year and Eugene Miranda was named AD3I coach of the year twice.

Since joining the NCAA ranks, Mount Mary University athletics has been building each year. Growing not only in number of wins, but in overall competitiveness for the last half decade. The entrance as an affiliate member into the NACC is just another step to the continuing growth of Blue Angels athletics.