Great Rivers Athletic Conference
| Great Rivers Athletic Conference (GRAC) |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Established | 1982 |
| Association | NJCAA |
| Division | Division I N/A |
| Members | 9 |
| Sports fielded | 6 (men's: 3; women's: 3) |
| Region | Midwestern United States |
| Former names | None |
| Headquarters | Belleville, Illinois |
| Commissioner | Neil Fiala (since unknown) |
| Website | http://www.gracsports.com/ |
The Great Rivers Athletic Conference (GRAC) is part of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) located primarily in the Southern part of Illinois and was formed in 1982. The GRAC is located in Region 24 which is about 4/5 the Southern portion of Illinois. The GRAC has nine member schools, with enrollments ranging from less than 1,000 to more than 6,000. While there is no limit as to how many teams each school can field, the GRAC only sponsors six sports: Men’s Golf, Basketball, and Baseball and Women’s Basketball, Softball, and Volleyball.
The GRAC currently consists of nine schools, all from Southern Illinois. The members of the GRAC span the width of Southern Illinois with Wabash Valley on the Eastern border of Illinois and Indiana, and Southwestern Illinois on the Western border of Illinois and Missouri. There are multiple highway rivalries between schools located along Interstate 57 and 64. These include John A. Logan vs. Rend Lake and Lakeland vs. Kaskaskia.
Every team in the GRAC fields a men’s baseball team. The Wabash Valley College Warriors are annually one of the premier teams, not just in the GRAC, but in the NJCAA, given their annual success and multiple conference victories and the amount of players taken in the draft since the year 2000. This is considered to be an oddity since the school is very small and located in the Midwest and most premier teams are located in the west coast or southern regions. Other teams that have had a large number of conference titles and players drafted are Southwestern Illinois, John A Logan, Lincoln Trail, and Rend Lake College.
The Volunteers have won nine conference titles, six Region 24 championships, and made two national tournament appearances. Eleven Volunteers have earned NJCAA All–American honors, and fourteen former Volunteers are currently playing professional baseball, with four competing in the major leagues. Many players over the years have been drafted and gone on to play in the MLB. The following is a list of recent players drafted.
Blue Devils won 108 games in 3 years, won 2 GRAC titles, have 30 Academic All-American athletes and were named an Academic All-American Team in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Many players over the years have been drafted and gone on to play in the MLB. The following is a list of recent players drafted.
The Lincoln Trail College Statesmen have consistently battled for a top spot in the GRAC. Year in and year out the Statesmen have fielded a strong team that has given fellow conference and Region 24 teams all they could ask for. The Statesmen have been champions of the GRAC four times (2001, 2006, 2007 and 2015) since the year 2000 and champions of Region 24 twice (2005 and 2007) in the same span of time.
...
Wikipedia