| Stevens is leading the CUNYAC
in the only year they will be awarded an automatic bid, at least
for now. Stevens athletics photo |
By Ricky Nelson
D3sports.com
D3sports.com
The City University of New York Athletic Conference was
granted a Pool A bid to the 2014 baseball championship despite not
having the requisite seven full NCAA members, an NCAA official
confirmed to D3baseball.com.
"In March, the NCAA Division III Championships Committee approved the waiver request submitted by the CUNYAC," NCAA spokesperson Gail Dent told D3sports.com. "The conference believed that it had satisfied the requirements for the AQ [Pool A] bid effective with the 2014 championship year, specifically that it had successfully completed the two-year waiting period as a conference with five member schools and two affiliate members."
The CUNYAC had considered Yeshiva University, a multi-sport member of the Skyline Conference, as one of the affiliate members during the waiting period.
"In March, the NCAA Division III Championships Committee approved the waiver request submitted by the CUNYAC," NCAA spokesperson Gail Dent told D3sports.com. "The conference believed that it had satisfied the requirements for the AQ [Pool A] bid effective with the 2014 championship year, specifically that it had successfully completed the two-year waiting period as a conference with five member schools and two affiliate members."
The CUNYAC had considered Yeshiva University, a multi-sport member of the Skyline Conference, as one of the affiliate members during the waiting period.
"The committee was sympathetic to the CUNYAC's circumstances and the request for the waiver but was reluctant to offer an extension of the AQ award beyond the 2014 championship year."
A CUNYAC team has not played in the NCAA Division III baseball tournament since John Jay in 1996. Staten Island made the field in 1991-92. Current CUNYAC affiliate Stevens qualified for the 2002 NCAA tournament out of the now-defunct Knickerbocker Conference.