Kelly Oeltjenbruns participating in Cornell College's inaugural lacrosse season

2015 Feb 20

The nation's fastest-growing intercollegiate sport is on campus this spring as Cornell College enters its inaugural season for men's and women's lacrosse.

Kelly Oeltjenbruns of Dayton is a member of Cornell College's first women's lacrosse team.

Both Ram teams will play 15 regular-season games, spanning roughly 10 weeks. Cornell's home contests will be held on the football field turf at Ash Park Stadium.

Coach Lauren Martin's women's team gets its season underway at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, against Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington, Ill. The Rams make their home debut Feb. 28 with a 2 p.m. contest against Elmhurst.

Cornell's men, coached by Andy Bonasera, open the season Wednesday, Feb. 25, with a 6 p.m. home game against Dubuque.

"Fans are going to see a quick, fast-paced game," said Martin, a standout player at NCAA Division II Lees-McRae (N.C.) College. "Lacrosse incorporates a lot of different sports. I like the history of it. It's an up-and-coming game that I think will spread across the U.S."

The men will compete in the seven-team Midwest Lacrosse Conference (MLC), which includes Aurora, Beloit, Benedictine, Concordia (Wis.), Fontbonne and Milwaukee School of Engineering. Bonasera's diverse initial roster features 16 players hailing from 10 different states.

The women are members of the Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference (MWLC), an eight-team league comprised of Aurora, Beloit, Benedictine, Concordia (Wis.), Cornell, Illinois Tech, Loras and Wartburg. Martin has players representing eight states on her roster.

The top four teams in the MLC and MWLC qualify for their respective conference tournaments in early May. The champion earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Lacrosse is relatively new to most Midwesterners and Cornellians. Statistical data indicates the sport is quickly gaining momentum, particularly at the Division III level.

This spring, 270 of 450 Division III membership institutions will sponsor women's lacrosse for a growth rate of 25 percent since 2012. Thirty conferences currently sponsor Division III women's lacrosse.

Participation growth numbers are similar on the men's side.

"Lacrosse is its own unique thing," said Bonasera, a four-time All-American player at Roanoke (Va.) College. "The men's game has the non-stop action of hockey, the back-and-forth of basketball, the size of field more like soccer and the physicality of football."

One of the 40 "Colleges That Change Lives," Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, is a national liberal arts college with a distinctive One Course At A Time curriculum. The One Course schedule provides students the chance to dive into their studies, focus more intensely on the disciplines of their choice, and learn authentically with the unique freedom to shed the confines of the traditional classroom to study off-campus, pursue research, or accept an internship--all without missing out on other classes.

Cornell has been recognized by numerous publications for the value its education offers and for academic excellence. This year it was named of the 100 best values in liberal arts education by Kiplinger's, one of the "Best Value Schools" among national liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report, and one of the 100 Affordable Elite Colleges by Washington Monthly. Ninety-three percent of Cornell graduates earn their degrees in four years. In 2013 Cornell was named one of the 25 colleges with the best professors by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity.

For more information, visit www.cornellcollege.edu.