The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the NCAA's Division III. In women's gymnastics, it competes alongside Division I and II members, as the NCAA sponsors a single championship event open to members of all NCAA divisions. As the name implies, member teams are located in the state of Wisconsin, although there are three associate members from Minnesota and one from Illinois. All full members are part of the University of Wisconsin System.
In 1913, representatives from Wisconsin's eight normal schoolsâÂÂSuperior Normal School (now the University of WisconsinâÂÂSuperior), River Falls State Normal School (now the University of Wisconsin-River Falls), Stevens Point Normal School (now the University of WisconsinâÂÂStevens Point), La Crosse State Normal School (now the University of WisconsinâÂÂLa Crosse), Oshkosh State Normal School (now the University of WisconsinâÂÂOshkosh), Whitewater Normal School (now the University of WisconsinâÂÂWhitewater), Milwaukee State Normal School (now the University of WisconsinâÂÂMilwaukee) and Platteville Normal School (now the University of WisconsinâÂÂPlatteville)âÂÂmet in Madison to organize the Inter-Normal Athletic Conference of Wisconsin. The Stout Institute (now the University of WisconsinâÂÂStout) joined in 1914, followed by Eau Claire State Normal School (now the University of WisconsinâÂÂEau Claire) in 1917.
The conference evolved with the growing educational mission of its member schools. It changed its name to the Wisconsin State Teachers College Conference in 1926, and the Wisconsin State College Conference in 1951. Finally, in 1964, it became the Wisconsin State University Conference.
In 1971, the member schools of the WSUC joined with the University of WisconsinâÂÂMadison, University of WisconsinâÂÂParkside and Carthage College to form the Wisconsin Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. By 1975, UWâÂÂMilwaukee, Carroll College, the University of WisconsinâÂÂGreen Bay and Marquette University had also joined. With the dissolution of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women in 1982, the member schools joined their male counterparts in either the NCAA or NAIA. By 1993, the non-NCAA Division III members had all dropped out, resulting in the WWIAC having the same membership as the WSUC. Under the circumstances, a merger was inevitable. In 1996, Gary Karner was named commissioner of both the WSUC and the WWIAC. The two conferences formally merged in 1997 to form the current WIAC.
Effective with the 2001âÂÂ02 academic year, Lawrence University joined the conference in the sport of wrestling. Three Minnesota schools, Gustavus Adolphus College, Hamline University and Winona State University, became members of the conference in the sport of women's gymnastics during the 2004âÂÂ05 academic year. In 2009âÂÂ10, the conference added menâÂÂs soccer as a sponsored sport with the announcement of Michigan school Finlandia University as an affiliate member. Lawrence discontinued its affiliation with the WIAC in wrestling.
The conference remained unusually stable over the years; the only changes in full membership being the departures of UWâÂÂMilwaukee in 1964 and UWâÂÂSuperior in 2015.
The ninth-oldest conference in the nation, the WIAC celebrated its centennial year during the 2012âÂÂ13 academic year. Additionally, the WIAC is the most successful NCAA Division III conference in history, boasting NCAA National Championships in 14 different sports. At the beginning of the 2011âÂÂ12 academic year, the conference had claimed a nation-leading 92 NCAA National Championships.
To celebrate its centennial, the conference named All-Time Teams in each sport that is currently or was previously recognized as a "championship" sport within the conference. Furthermore, the WIAC commissioned a commemorative work of art, created by Tim Cortes, and has also created a two-year calendar in celebration of its centennial.
The celebration was headlined by its Centennial Banquet held on August 4, 2012, at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Among the honorees at the event were the All-Time Team members and the inaugural class to the WIAC Hall of Fame.
The WIAC currently has eight full members, all are public schools:
The WIAC currently has thirteen affiliate members, all but five are private schools:
The WIAC has one future affiliate member, which is a private school:
The WIAC had two former full members, both were public schools:
The WIAC had five former affiliate members, all but one were private schools:
Member institutions field men's and women's teams in cross country, basketball, ice hockey, track and field, and swimming and diving. Men's teams are fielded for baseball, football, and wrestling. Women's teams are fielded for golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball.
Listed below are the NCAA Division III team national championships won by WIAC members.
UWâÂÂOshkosh: 1985, 1994<br /> UWâÂÂWhitewater: 2005, 2014, 2025
UWâÂÂWhitewater: 1984, 1989, 2012, 2014<br /> UWâÂÂPlatteville: 1991, 1995, 1998, 1999<br /> UWâÂÂStevens Point: 2004, 2005, 2010, 2015<br /> UWâÂÂOshkosh: 2019
UWâÂÂStevens Point: 1987, 2002<br /> UWâÂÂOshkosh: 1996
UWâÂÂOshkosh: 1988, 1989, 1990, 2002<br /> UWâÂÂLa Crosse: 1996, 2001, 2005, 2024, 2025<br /> UWâÂÂEau Claire: 2015
UWâÂÂLa Crosse: 1983<br /> UWâÂÂOshkosh: 1987, 1988, 1991, 1996<br /> UWâÂÂEau Claire: 2009
UWâÂÂLa Crosse: 1992, 1995<br /> UWâÂÂRiver Falls: 2025<br /> UWâÂÂWhitewater: 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014
UWâÂÂEau Claire: 2001
UWâÂÂRiver Falls: 1988, 1994<br /> UWâÂÂStevens Point: 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 2016, 2019<br /> UWâÂÂSuperior: 2002<br /> UWâÂÂEau Claire: 2013
UWâÂÂStevens Point: 1998<br /> UWâÂÂEau Claire: 2008
UW-River Falls: 2024, 2025<br />
UWâÂÂLa Crosse: 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2023, 2024, 2025<br /> UWâÂÂOshkosh: 2009<br /> UWâÂÂEau Claire: 2015, 2016, 2022
UWâÂÂLa Crosse: 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2024, 2025<br /> UWâÂÂOshkosh: 2009<br /> UWâÂÂEau Claire: 2019, 2022
UWâÂÂOshkosh: 1994âÂÂ96, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2013, 2014<br/> UWâÂÂLa Crosse: 2015, 2023
UWâÂÂLa Crosse: 1983, 1984, 2015, 2023<br /> UWâÂÂOshkosh: 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2011<br /> UWâÂÂRiver Falls: 2008
UWâÂÂWhitewater: 2002, 2005<br /> UWâÂÂEau Claire: 2021<br /> UW-Oshkosh: 2025
Many members of the WIAC have also won national championships from organizations other than the NCAA, including: NAIA, AIAW, NGCA, and National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA).
Women's Cross Country: 1984^
Men's Ice Hockey: 1984^
Women's Swimming and Diving: 1983^, 1987^, 1988^
Women's Basketball: 1981^^
Men's Bowling: 1967^, 1968^, 1969^
Football: 1985^
Men's Gymnastics: 1975^, 1976^, 1977^
Women's Gymnastics: 1986*, 1988*, 1995*, 1997*, 1999*, 2001*, 2002*, 2003*, 2004*, 2005*, 2006*, 2008*, 2009*, 2010*, 2011*, 2015*, 2016*, 2025*
Women's Outdoor Track and Field: 1982^^
Men's Gymnastics: 1973^, 1974^, 1978^, 1979^, 1980^ (and NCAA Div. II), 1981^ (and NCAA Div. II), 1982^ (and NCAA Div. II), 1983^
Women's Gymnastics: 1980^^, 1986^, 1989*, 2007*, 2022*, 2023*
Men's Ice Hockey: 1983^
Men's Gymnastics: 1984^
Women's Golf: 1985%
Women's Gymnastics: 2012*, 2013*, 2014*, 2017*, 2018*
Men's Ice Hockey: 1976^
Women's Cross Country: 1982^
Women's Swimming and Diving: 1984^
Women's Cross Country: 1980^
^ National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)
^^ Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW)
<nowiki>*</nowiki> National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA)
% National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA)