The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) is an association of member institutions and organizations with college lacrosse programs at all levels of competition, including the three NCAA divisions and non-NCAA schools, at both the varsity and club levels for men and women. The association traces its history through predecessor organizations back to 1882, although it received its present name and became a governing body with unlimited membership in 1926. The association is based in Louisville, Kentucky.
History The first intercollegiate game in the United States was played on November 22, 1877 between New York University and Manhattan College. Lacrosse had been introduced in upstate New York in the 1860s. Lacrosse was further introduced to the Baltimore area in the 1890s. An organizing body for the sport, the U. S. National Lacrosse Association, was founded in 1879. The first intercollegiate lacrosse tournament was held in 1881, with Harvard beating Princeton, 3–0, in the championship game. New York University and Columbia University also participated.
In 1882 three colleges formed a league called the Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (ILA), which several others also joined. In most years from this point through 1931, collegiate lacrosse associations selected annual champions based on season records. In 1899, the Inter-University Lacrosse League (IULL) began play using slightly different rules. The two leagues merged in December, 1905, to form the 8-team United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse League with Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Lehigh, Penn, Stevens Tech and Swarthmore. The USILL was a closed-membership league, which excluded several lacrosse powers, such as the U.S. Naval Academy. The national championship was officially bestowed only upon teams that were included in the membership of these organizations.
In 1906, the USILL established Northern and Southern Divisions, and its by-laws encouraged the annual division winners to play a post-season championship game. Only two such games were played, in 1912 and 1921. As Navy was not a member of the USILL, its teams were not eligible for the championship, even though Navy had the best collegiate record in many of those years. Navy was undefeated from 1917 through 1923, a stretch of 40 games with one tie.
The USILL was replaced by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association in March, 1926, as an open-membership governing body. In addition to the 12 former USILL teams, Rutgers, Navy, Union College, NYU, Colgate and St. Stephen's (now Bard College) became new USILA members. The USILA bestowed gold medals upon the teams that it selected as national champions through the 1931 season. No official champions were named from 1932 through 1935. In 1936, an award was established in the memory of a Baltimore sportswriter to recognize annually the most outstanding teams. From 1936 through 1972, the USILA executive board awarded the Wingate Memorial Trophy to the national champions.
From 1953–1959, lacrosse divisions were officially named after legendary lacrosse-men. These were the Cy Miller, Laurie D. Cox, and Roy Taylor Divisions. They were more commonly referred to as Division I, or A; Division II, or B; and Division III, or C. All college teams were placed in one of the three divisions, dependent upon their records, schedules, and success for the preceding five years, and a point system was created. Any team of the three divisions was eligible to win the national championship, but this was virtually impossible for non-Division I teams. A Division II team, playing several Division I teams, might have been able to achieve it. A team's record was required to include six games against teams in its own division. Teams were realigned every three years, again reflecting their records. All schools were eligible for the national rankings. The team that achieved the highest point total each year, however, was not guaranteed a solo national championship. The system served as guidance to the USILA executive board, who chose co-champions on frequent occasions. This point system prevailed with modifications until the NCAA in the early 1970s established the playoff system for determining champions. After 1959, Divisions II and III were realigned by geographical region instead of by team records.
At its 1969 annual meeting in Baltimore, the USILA voted for its first playoff tournament to determine a national champion. In 1971, the NCAA began sponsoring men's lacrosse and began holding an annual championship tournament for Division I schools. The USILA conducted a small college tournament for non-Division I schools in 1972 and 1973 (won by Hobart and Cortland State). In 1974, the NCAA took over the sponsorship of this tournament through the 1979 season, with separate tournaments being conducted in both 1980 and 1981 for Divisions II and III teams. The Division II tournament then was discontinued until returning in 1993.
Awards The USILA has inducted members into the United States Lacrosse Museum and National Hall of Fame annually since 1957. In addition, the USILA presents annually a number of awards to top collegiate athletes in NCAA Division I, Division II, and Division III.
Division I awards AwardPresented forLt. Raymond Enners AwardNational Player of the YearF. Morris Touchstone AwardCoach of the YearJack Turnbull AwardAttackman of the YearLt. Donald McLaughlin Jr AwardMidfielder of the YearWilliam C. Schmeisser AwardDefenseman of the YearEnsign C. Markland Kelly, Jr. Award Goaltender of the Year
Other Awards Howdy Meyers Man of the Year Award Frenchy Julien Service Award Doyle Smith Sports Information/Media Award Coach of the Year (Division II) Coach of the Year (Division III)
Champions
ILA champions 1881–1898 U.S. National Lacrosse Association tournament YearChampion1881Harvard
Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association YearChampionYearChampionYearChampion1882Harvard1888Princeton1894Stevens Tech1883Harvard, Princeton, Yale1889Princeton1895Lehigh 1884Princeton1890Lehigh1896Lehigh1885Harvard1891Johns Hopkins1897Lehigh1886Harvard1892Stevens Tech1898Johns Hopkins1887Harvard1893Lehigh
USIULL and ILA champions 1899–1905 U.S. Inter-University Lacrosse League and Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association
Bold indicates victory or tie in head-to-head game, or that such game was not played.
YearUSIULL winner (overall record)ILA winner (overall record)Notes, including head-to-head results between league winnersSchools claiming national championship#1899Cornell (4–3–2)Johns Hopkins (4–1)Cornell and Hopkins did not play each other in 1899.Johns Hopkins1900tie: Columbia (2–4–2) andHarvard (1–2–1)Johns Hopkins (6–1)Johns Hopkins def. Columbia during season, 5–0. Columbia def. Harvard during season, 6–3. USIULL declared co-champions, each with record of 1–1–1 in league standings.Johns Hopkins1901Harvard (4–2)NoneJohns Hopkins withdrew from the ILA in protest of violent play in its 1900 game with Stevens. Stevens def. Lehigh in the only ILA game of 1901.Swarthmore* (def. Hopkins, 4–2, after Hopkins def. Harvard, 4–0)1902Cornell (4–2)Johns Hopkins (6–1)Cornell and Hopkins did not play each other in 1902.Cornell, Johns Hopkins1903Cornell (2–4–1)Johns Hopkins (4–2)"The Inter-university Lacrosse Association held its usual series of games for the intercollegiate championship during 1903, but the season ended in a fizzle. Five games were actually played, and Columbia forfeited 1 game to Harvard, Columbia and Cornell each winning 2 and losing 1, while Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania each won 1 and lost 2. This left Cornell and Columbia tied for the championship, but each protested players on the other's team, and both protests were upheld, ... with the two leading teams disqualified, [ ] the season was unsatisfactory to all concerned." In February 1904, "[i]t was unanimously voted to award to Cornell the championship of the Inter-University League for last year." Cornell and Hopkins did not play each other in 1903.Cornell, Johns Hopkins1904Harvard (3–4–1)Swarthmore (10–1)Swarthmore def. Harvard during season, 6–3Swarthmore 19053-way tie: Cornell (3–6–1), Harvard (4–5) & Columbia (6–3)Swarthmore (7–1)Swarthmore def. Harvard, 6–2, and Cornell, 9–0. Cornell def. Harvard, 6–4. Harvard def. Columbia, 8–1. Columbia def. Cornell, 4–2.Swarthmore * Swarthmore joined the ILA in 1902. Although not a member of a league in either 1900 or 1901, Swarthmore had a leading team in 1901, which is a credible championship claim.
# Championship or co-championship claims, as published in school media guide, record book or yearbook
USILL champions 1906–1925 The USILL (United States Inter-Collegiate Lacrosse League, also USICLL) was a closed membership organization. Some strong teams of the era, such as Army and Navy, were never members, so that in some years, the USILL champion was not necessarily the best team in the United States.
The members of the USILL in 1906 were Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Lehigh University, University of Pennsylvania, Stevens Institute of Technology and Swarthmore College. In 1907, Hobart College became a member, and Penn withdrew. As had been the rule for over two decades, 12 players per side constituted a team, and the USILL was split into Northern and Southern divisions, corresponding to the former IULL and ILA, respectively.
Bold indicates victory or tie in head-to-head game, or that such game was not played. Italics indicates victory in intra-division head-to-head game (1909, 1923) or tie-breaker (1922).
YearNorthern Div. winner * (overall record)Southern Div. winner * (overall record)Result of head-to-head games between USILL division winnersSchools claiming national championship#1906Cornell (3–4–2)Johns Hopkins (6–0)Johns Hopkins def. Cornell during season, 9–0Johns Hopkins1907Cornell (7–0)Johns Hopkins (5–1)noneCornell, Johns Hopkins1908Harvard (4–4)Johns Hopkins (8–1)Johns Hopkins def. Harvard during season, 6–3Harvard, Johns Hopkins1909Harvard (4–3) &Columbia (4–4)Johns Hopkins (6–1)Johns Hopkins def. Harvard during season, 11–1. Harvard def. Columbia during season, 5–2.Harvard, Johns Hopkins1910Harvard (5–4)Swarthmore (7–2)Swarthmore def. Harvard during season, 11–7Harvard, Swarthmore1911Harvard (5–2)Johns Hopkins (7–1)Johns Hopkins def. Harvard during season, 3–2Harvard, Johns Hopkins1912Harvard (6–2)Swarthmore (6–3–1)Harvard def. Swarthmore in post-season playoff game, 7–3Harvard1913Harvard (7–2)Johns Hopkins (6–1–1)Johns Hopkins def. Harvard during season, 6–3Harvard, Johns Hopkins1914Cornell (6–2–2)Lehigh (6–1–1)Lehigh and Cornell tied during season, 1–1Cornell, Lehigh1915Harvard (5–3)Johns Hopkins (7–0–1)Johns Hopkins def. Harvard during season, 8–1Harvard, Johns Hopkins1916Cornell (5–3)Lehigh (6–1)Lehigh def. Cornell during season, 5–4Cornell, Lehigh 1917♦noneLehigh (4–0)Stevens Tech (1–3–1) was the only active Northern Division team. Johns Hopkins was the only inactive Southern Division team. Lehigh did not face Stevens. Lehigh, Stevens Tech1918♦noneJohns Hopkins (3–3–1)none (Stevens Tech (3–1–1) def. Yale in the only Northern Division game.)Johns Hopkins, Stevens Tech1919♦Hobart (3–2)Johns Hopkins (7–1)noneJohns Hopkins1920Syracuse (5–3–4)Lehigh (6–2)Lehigh def. Syracuse during season, 4–1Syracuse, Lehigh1921Syracuse (11–3–1)Lehigh (8–1)Lehigh def. Syracuse in post-season playoff game, 3–1Lehigh1922Syracuse (17–0)