BYU Swimming & Diving to Join the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation

PROVO -- Brigham Young University and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation today announced the Cougar men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs will compete in the MPSF Championship Meet beginning the 2011-12 academic year.

On Sept. 1, 2010, BYU announced its football program would go independent and the Cougars would join the West Coast Conference in other sports. Because the WCC does not sponsor softball, track and field, and swimming and diving, the BYU athletic administration has been actively exploring conference affiliations for those programs.

“Our men’s volleyball program was a charter member of the MSPF back in 1993,” said BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe. “Being a member of the MPSF has been a great competitive fit for us. Having the BYU swimming and diving programs join the federation was natural.”

“We are looking forward to continuing BYU’s strong tradition in swimming and diving by competing against teams in the MPSF,” said BYU head coach Tim Powers. “Joining the MPSF will allow us to compete for a league title each year and continue sending swimmers and divers to the NCAA Championship.”

The BYU men’s volleyball team has enjoyed a great deal of success while competing in the MPSF. The Cougars have finished in the league’s top three 13 times in 18 seasons. During that stretch BYU won the regular season title three times, captured the tournament title three times and won the NCAA Championship three times. MPSF volleyball teams have captured 15 of the 18 NCAA titles since 1993.

“We have enjoyed our relationship with BYU for nearly two decades,” said MPSF Executive Director Al Beaird. “We are looking forward to BYU’s increased level of participation in the Federation.”

The BYU athletic administration will make additional announcements regarding softball as well as men’s and women’s track and field once the best conference affiliation has been determined for each program.