The New
England
Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association
The
"New England's" as the NEICAAA is affectionately known, is one of the
oldest cross country and track & field conferences in the
country. The outdoor championships just completed it's 123rd
annual meet, while the indoor championship has been a mainstay since
1969. Cross country has a long history, running a
championship meet since 1912.
Women
began competing
in NEICAA championship meets in 1982, initially running under a
separate championship format. However, beginning in 2003, the
NEICAAA coaches assocation voted to combine into one governing body
with one commissioner responsible for meet management and with athletic
directors and coaches voting on any constitutional matters brought
before the body.
Conference Makeup
The
NEICAAA consists of
65 colleges and universities within the six New England
states.
The conference is comprised of 17 Division One colleges and
universities, 6 Division Two colleges and universities and 35 Division
Three colleges and universities. State representation is as
follows: Maine has 3 schools; New Hampshire has 5 schools;
Vermont has 1 school; Massachusetts has 28 schools; Rhode Island has 3
schools and Connecticut has 5 schools. Not all schools participate in
each of the three championship meets during the year. In
fact,
some schools have conflicts with their own NCAA conference meets and or
other major meets, such as the IC-4A Championships. However,
despite such difficult scheduling issues, the three championship meets
have had huge participation numbers every year. Well over 50%
of
the schools who are members of the NEICAAA participate in all three
championship meets.