Атлетическая конференция Empire 8: История и изменения состава

The Empire 8 (E8) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. The E8 sponsors intercollegiate athletic competition in men's baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, women's field hockey, men's football, men's golf, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer, women's softball, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track and field, and women's volleyball. The E8 shares offices with the United Volleyball Conference, a separate Division III league that competes solely in men's volleyball.

The Empire 8 can trace its beginnings back to 1964 with the founding of the Independent College Athletic Conference (ICAC). At this time, the conference was made up of Alfred University, Clarkson University, Hobart College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), St. Lawrence University, and Union College. After Union left the league, Ithaca College and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) joined the ICAC. In 1991, the ICAC regrouped to become the Empire Athletic Association (EAA), with Clarkson leaving and Hartwick College joining to replace the spot. Hobart/William Smith, RPI, and St. Lawrence left in 1993, to be replaced by Elmira College, Nazareth College, and Utica University. Alfred re joined and St. John Fisher College joined the league in 1998. The EAA became the Empire 8 Athletic Conference in 1999, hosting 13 sports. Stevens Institute of Technology joined as a field hockey member beginning in 2006 and became a full member in 2007. RIT announced on June 5, 2009 that it planned to leave the Empire 8 for the Liberty League beginning in the fall of the 2011–12 season. Houghton College also announced that they would join the Empire 8 in the 2012–13 season as they transitioned from a school of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) to NCAA Division III status; they became full D III members in 2016. The most recent changes to the conference's membership were published in the 2018–19 school year. First, Stevens announced in August 2018 that it would leave the E8 at the end of the 2018–19 school year to rejoin the Middle Atlantic Conferences after an absence of more than 40 years. Stevens joined the MAC's Freedom Conference. In January 2019, the E8 reported that Stevens would eventually be replaced by Keuka College in 2020–21, and in March, The Sage Colleges merged Russell Sage College and Sage College of Albany, effectively making the former women only Russell Sage co educational in fall 2020. On July 15, 2020, the Empire 8 postponed all fall sports, but provided conference championships in those sports in spring 2021. On August 26, 2021, the E8 admitted Medaille for 2022–23, joining from the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. In 2023, three State University of New York schools will all join the Empire 8, beginning in the 2024–25 academic year: Starting with the State University of New York at Brockport (SUNY Brockport) and the State University of New York at Geneseo (SUNY Geneseo) on August 21; followed by the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) on November 20.

School Baseball Basketball Cross Country Football Golf Lacrosse Soccer Swimming & Diving Tennis Track & Field(Indoor) Track & Field(Outdoor) Volleyball Total Empire 8 Sports Alfred 9 Elmira 5 Hartwick 8 Houghton 7 Keuka 6 Nazareth 10 Russell Sage 9 St. John Fisher 11 Utica 11Totals 6 9 8 4+3 6+1 7 9 4 5 7 7 4 80

School Alpine skiing Equestrian Ice Hockey Wrestling Alfred Independent Independent No No Elmira No No NEHC Independent Nazareth No Independent UCHC No St. John Fisher No No No Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference Utica No No UCHC Independent

School Basketball Cross Country Field Hockey Lacrosse Soccer Softball Swimming & Diving Tennis Track & Field(Indoor) Track & Field(Outdoor) Volleyball Total Empire 8 Sports Alfred 10 Elmira 5 Hartwick 10 Houghton 9 Keuka 7 Nazareth 11 Russell Sage 10 St. John Fisher 10 Utica 11Totals 9 8 8+1 7 9 8 4 7 7 7 9 84

School Alpine skiing Bowling Equestrian Golf Gymnastics Ice Hockey Rowing Rugby Water Polo Wrestling Alfred Independent No Independent No No No No Independent No No Elmira No No No No No NEHC No No No Independent Hartwick No No Independent No No No No No No No Keuka No No No Independent No No No No No No Nazareth No No Independent Independent No UCHC Independent No No No Russell Sage No No No Independent No No No No No No St. John Fisher No No No Independent No No Liberty League No No No Utica No No No Independent Independent UCHC No No CWPA Independent