Sunday, September 12, 1999
NORTHERN KENTUCKY INSIDER
TMC looks for league affiliation
BY NEIL SCHMIDT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Figuratively speaking, Thomas More College's athletic teams have been divorced for four years. Now they're back on bended knee, proposing to the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Don't expect an immediate answer.
“It's a careful process and procedure,” HCAC Commissioner Tom Bohlson said. “It's not a marriage. But boy, it's close to it.”
Thomas More has sought conference affiliation since the Association of Mideast Colleges disbanded in 1995. Is this a love connection? The Saints say so.
“Location-wise, we're perfect for them,” TMC Athletic Director Todd Asalon said. “Everything sounds positive so far. We're just crossing our fingers.”
Bohlson speaks highly of Thomas More, but the decision won't be his. The presidents of the HCAC institutions — currently Anderson, Bluffton, Franklin, Hanover, Manchester, Mount St. Joseph, Wabash and Wilmington — do the voting.
“It appears it could be a very nice fit,” Bohlson said. “But the ball is in Thomas More's court. They have to demonstrate that their administrative philosophy is in accord with the administrative philosophies of the other members.”
The HCAC is in flux. Wabash and Wilmington are leaving after this school year, while Defiance College has been approved to join next fall. A ruling beginning this year for NCAA Division III tournaments — conferences with eight or more schools receive an automatic bid — makes the HCAC hungry to add another program.
“That (automatic bid) could really help us from a potential playoff standpoint,” TMC football coach Dean Paul said. “We'd love to be that eighth team they need.”
Ironically, it could hurt some TMC teams — most notably baseball.
A quirk in the postseason selection process awards one spot in each region to the best team not in an eight-team conference, for which the Saints would currently be the top candidate. It would be harder for the baseball team to make NCAAs if it joins the HCAC.
Asalon, who's also the baseball coach, defers to the big picture.
“As an AD, I have to look at everything,” he said. “For the institution, (joining the HCAC) is a good move.”
The HCAC would need to decide TMC's fate by late winter to square away 2000-01 schedules. What does the conference seek?
“Primarily this is a conference of church-related schools with strong academic reputations,” Bohlson said. “The presidents don't micromanage, but they are strongly involved in the conference.”
That means they hope to see the Rev. William Cleves, TMC's president, take a hands-on approach to athletics. With a new on-campus football field and with Asalon and Paul in the first year of their positions, this is a new era in the program's history.
“We think the Heartland folks will like what they see,” Asalon said. “This would work out best for us and for them.”
HIGHLANDS DROPS FROM POLL: Apparently a 3-0 start isn't good enough for some folks.
Despite extending its state-best winning streak to 18 games, Highlands' football team has fallen out of Fox Sports Net's “Fox Fab 50” ratings. The network's national ratings includes only the top 25 — Highlands, 19th in preseason, is gone — with the Fab 50 referring to FSN's Top 10 ratings for each of five different 10-state regions.
FSN, which places Kentucky in the Midwest, rates Highlands eighth in that region (down from fourth in preseason). Louisville Male, unranked in preseason, is fifth regionally and 25th overall.
Moeller is second in the region and 15th overall.
JUMPING FOR JOY: Katie Meyer, a Covington Latin senior, placed second in synchronized trampoline at World Trials meets in both Utah and Tennessee. That qualified her for an international competition in South Africa at the end of the month.
Neil Schmidt is The Enquirer's Northern Kentucky sports reporter. Call him at 578-5582 or send e-mail to nschmidt@enquirer.com.
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