Coast to Coast Athletic Conference

The Coast to Coast Athletic Conference (C2C; officially stylized as Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference), formerly named Capital Athletic Conference (CAC), is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located throughout the United States in the states of California, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Coast to Coast Athletic Conference

Formerly	Capital Athletic Conference (CAC)
Association	NCAA
Founded	1989
Commissioner	Chris Roekle (since 2020)
Sports fielded	20 men's: 9 women's: 11
Division	Division III
No. of teams	6 (5 in 2025)
Headquarters	Fredericksburg, Virginia
Region	U.S.-wide
Official website	www.c2csports.com
Locations

History

Catholic

Gallaudet

Mary Washington

St. Mary's

Marymount

York

Capital Athletic Conference Charter Members locations
– charter members

Formed in 1989 as Capital Athletic Conference (CAC), the charter members were The Catholic University of America, Gallaudet University, the University of Mary Washington, Marymount University, St. Mary's College of Maryland, and York College of Pennsylvania.

On May 26, 2020, it was announced that the Capital Athletic Conference would expand to 11 teams as they offered memberships to all schools in the American Collegiate Athletic Association. ^[1].All full ACAA members and an associate member joined the CAC in the 2020–21 school year; the announcement also stated that the expanded CAC planned to adopt a new name. The post-merger conference does not conduct regular-season competition in any sports; members establish their own schedules, with NCAA championship bids handed out in conference tournaments or championship meets, depending on the sport.

On November 18, 2020, the Capital Athletic Conference announced its rebranding as the "Coast to Coast Athletic Conference".

On March 17, 2021, Mills announced that it would end conferment degrees to become a research institution after the 2022-23 school year, thus dissolving their athletic programs. This was later revised to be acquired by Northeastern University to become Northeastern University at Mills College. Through this merger, Mills transitioned to a co-ed university and would discontinue athletics after the 2021-22 season.^[2][3][4]

On January 11, 2022, the University of Wisconsin–Platteville joins the C2C as an associate member for men's soccer, starting in the 2022 fall season (2022-23 academic year).^[5][6]

On July 26, 2022, the C2C announced that it would form the Coastal Lacrosse Conference, a single sport, men's lacrosse conference, with the New Jersey Athletic Conference. The members would include Christopher Newport University, Salisbury University, and University of Mary Washington from the C2C and Kean University, Montclair State University, and Stockton University from the NJAC. Play began in the 2022-23 season.^[7]

On July 27, 2022, the C2C announced the addition of Warren Wilson College as a full member starting in the 2022-23 season.^[8]

Chronological timeline

UC-Santa Cruz

Christopher Newport

Mary Washington

Mount Mary

Salisbury

Warren Wilson

Current Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Member locations
– Full member
– Departing member

• 1989 – The Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) was founded. Charter members included The Catholic University of America, Gallaudet University, Mary Washington College (now the University of Mary Washington), Marymount University, St. Mary's College of Maryland, and York College of Pennsylvania, effective beginning in the 1989-90 academic year.
• 1991 – Salisbury State University (now Salisbury University) joined the CAC in all sports, effective in the 1991-92 academic year.
• 1993 – Goucher College joined the CAC in all sports, effective in the 1993-94 academic year.
• 2005 – Catholic and Goucher announced they would be departing for the newly-formed Landmark Conference, effective after the 2006-07 academic year.
• 2006 – Hood College and Villa Julie College (now Stevenson University) joined the CAC for some sports, effective in the 2006-07 academic year.
• 2007 – Wesley College joined the CAC in all sports (along with Hood and Stevenson), effective in the 2007-08 academic year.
• 2010 – Gallaudet left the CAC to join the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC; now the United East Conference), effective after the 2009-10 academic year.
• 2010 – Frostburg State University joined the CAC in all sports, effective in the 2010-11 academic year.^[9]
• 2012 – Hood and Stevenson departed the CAC for the Middle Atlantic Conferences, effective June 1, 2012.^[10]
• 2013 – Christopher Newport University, Penn State Harrisburg and Southern Virginia University joined the CAC in all sports, effective on June 1, 2013.^[11]
• 2013 – William Paterson University and New Jersey City University joined the CAC as associate members for men's golf, effective in the 2014 spring season (2013-14 academic year).
• 2016 – William Paterson departed from the CAC as an associate member for men's golf, effective after the 2016 spring season (2015-16 academic year).
• 2018 – Marymount and Wesley departed the CAC for the newly-formed Atlantic East Conference (AEC), effective after the 2017-18 academic year.^[12]
• 2018 – Babson College joined the CAC as an associate member for men's golf, effective in the 2019 spring season (2018-19 academic year).
• 2019 – Frostburg State began the transition to the Division II for the 2019-20 academic year, thus departed the CAC to join the Mountain East Conference, effective after the 2018-19 academic year.
• 2019 – Penn State Harrisburg departed the CAC to return to the NEAC, effective after the 2018-19 academic year.^[13]
• 2019 – Carnegie Mellon University joined the CAC as an associate member for men's golf, effective in the 2020 spring season (2019-20 academic year).
• 2020 – York departed the CAC to join the MAC, effective after the 2019-20 season.^[14]
• 2020 – The CAC announced that it would absorb the American Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA), effective beginning in the 2020-21 academic year. Therefore, all full members, the University of California, Santa Cruz, Finlandia University, Mills College (women's sports only), Mount Mary University (women's sports only), Pine Manor College, and Pratt Institute, and associate member, University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, of the ACAA joined in their respective memberships.^[15][16]
• 2020 – The Capital Athletic Conference announced that it would rebrand as the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C).^[17]
• 2020 – The conference dropped men's and women's swimming and golf as conference sports after the 2020-21 season, therefore, men's golf associates, Babson, Carnegie Mellon and New Jersey City departed.
• 2021 – St. Mary's departed the C2C to join the United East Conference, effective after the 2020-21 academic year.^[18] St. Mary's rejoined as an associate member in men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field.^[19]
• 2021 – Southern Virginia departed the C2C to join the USA South Athletic Conference, effective after the 2020-21 academic year.^[20]
• 2021 – Pine Manor was acquired by Boston College, thus dissolving their athletics programs, effective after the 2020-21 academic year.
• 2022 – Mills left the C2C to become a research institution, thus dissolving their athletics programs, effective after the 2021-22 academic year.
• 2022 – The University of Wisconsin–Platteville joined the C2C as an associate member for men's soccer, effective beginning in the 2022 fall season (2022-23 academic year).
• 2022 – On July 26, The Coast to Coast Athletic Conference announced that it would form the Coastal Lacrosse Conference therefore the C2C no longer sponsored men's lacrosse.^[21]
• 2022 – Warren Wilson College joined the C2C as a full member, effective in the 2022-23 academic year.
• 2023 – In March 2023, Finlandia University announced that it would close following the 2022-23 school year, thus departing the conference.^[22]
• 2023 – Pratt Institute accepted an invitation to join the Atlantic East Conference where they will begin competition in the 2024-25 academic year.
• 2024 – Mount Mary announced that they will leave the C2C and the NCAA to begin a transition to the NAIA and the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference for the 2025-26 academic year.

Member schools

Current members

The C2C currently has six full members, four are public schools and two are private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined
Christopher Newport University	Newport News, Virginia	1961	Public	5,186	Captains	2013–14
University of Mary Washington	Fredericksburg, Virginia	1908	Public	4,862	Eagles	1989–90
Mount Mary University[lower-alpha 1]	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	1913	Catholic (SSND)	1,209	Blue Angels	2020–21
Salisbury University	Salisbury, Maryland	1925	Public (USM)	7,383	Sea Gulls	1993–94
University of California, Santa Cruz	Santa Cruz, California	1965	Public (UC)	19,700	Banana Slugs	2020–21
Warren Wilson College	Swannanoa, North Carolina	1894	Presbyterian (PCUSA)	650	Owls	2022–23

Notes

1. This institution is a women's college, therefore it doesn't compete in men's sports. October 8, 2024 Mount Mary announced its intention to join the NAIA and leave the NCAA DIII

Former members

The C2C had 16 former full members, all but three were private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Left	Current conference
The Catholic University of America	Washington, D.C.	1887	Catholic (Pontifical)	6,705	Cardinals	1989–90	2006–07	Landmark
Finlandia University	Hancock, Michigan	1896	Lutheran (ELCA)	507	Lions	2020–21	2022–23	N/A[lower-alpha 1]
Frostburg State University	Frostburg, Maryland	1898	Public (USM)	5,215	Bobcats	2010–11	2018–19	Mountain East (MEC) (NCAA D-II)
Gallaudet University	Washington, D.C.	1864	Quasigovernmental	2,340	Bison	1989–90	2009–10	United East (UEC)
Goucher College	Towson, Maryland	1885	Nonsectarian	2,375	Gophers	1989–90	2006–07	Landmark
Hood College	Frederick, Maryland	1893	United Church of Christ	3,856	Blazers	2007–08	2011–12	MAC Commonwealth
Marymount University	Arlington, Virginia	1950	Catholic (RSHM)	3,684	Saints	1989–90	2017–18	Atlantic East (AEC)
Mills College[lower-alpha 2]	Oakland, California	1852	Nonsectarian	1,345	Cyclones	2020–21	2021–22	N/A[lower-alpha 3]
Penn State Harrisburg	Lower Swatara, Pennsylvania	1966	Public	3,441	Lions	2013–14	2018–19	United East (UEC)
Pine Manor College	Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts	1911	Nonsectarian	419	Gators	2020–21	2020–21	N/A[lower-alpha 4]
Pratt Institute	Brooklyn, New York	1877	Nonsectarian	4,829	Cannoneers	2020–21	2023–24	Atlantic East
St. Mary's College of Maryland	St. Mary's City, Maryland	1840	Public	1,950	Seahawks	1989–90	2020–21	United East (UEC)
Southern Virginia University	Buena Vista, Virginia	1867	LDS Church	1,106	Knights	2013–14	2020–21	USA South
Stevenson University	Stevenson, Maryland	1947	Nonsectarian	3,929	Mustangs	2007–08	2011–12	MAC Commonwealth
Wesley College	Dover, Delaware	1873	United Methodist	2,400	Wolverines	2007–08	2017–18	N/A[lower-alpha 5]
York College of Pennsylvania	York, Pennsylvania	1787	Nonsectarian	5,367	Spartans	1989–90	2019–20	MAC Commonwealth

Notes

1. Finlandia University closed in 2023, ending all athletic programs.
2. This institution was a women's college, therefore it did not compete in men's sports.
3. Mills was acquired by Northeastern University in 2023, becoming part of that university's extended operations in the San Francisco Bay Area. In advance of this, Mills dropped athletics after the 2021–22 school year.
4. Pine Manor was acquired by Boston College in 2021.
5. Wesley was acquired by Delaware State University in 2021.

Former associate members

The C2C had seven former associate members, five were public schools and two were private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Left	Primary conference	C2C sport
Babson College	Wellesley, Massachusetts	1919	Nonsectarian	3,120	Beavers	2018–19	2019–20	New England (NEWMAC)	men's golf
Carnegie Mellon University	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	1900	Nonsectarian	14,800	Tartans	2019–20	2019–20	University (UAA)	men's golf[lower-alpha 1]
New Jersey City University	Jersey City, New Jersey	1929	Public	7,300	Gothic Knights	2013–14	2019–20	New Jersey (NJAC)	men's golf
St. Mary's College of Maryland[lower-alpha 2]	St. Mary's City, Maryland	1840	Public	1,950	Seahawks	2021–22	2022–23	United East (UEC)	men's indoor track & field men's outdoor track & field women's indoor track & field women's outdoor track & field
William Paterson University	Wayne, New Jersey	1855	Public	10,970	Pioneers	2013–14	2015–16	New Jersey (NJAC)	men's golf
University of Wisconsin–Platteville	Platteville, Wisconsin	1866	Public (UW)	8,134	Pioneers	2022–23	2023–24	Wisconsin (WIAC)	men's soccer
University of Wisconsin–Whitewater	Whitewater, Wisconsin	1868	Public (UW)	11,020	Warhawks	2020–21	2023–24	Wisconsin (WIAC)	men's soccer

Notes

1. Carnegie Mellon joined as an associate member in the 2019–20 season, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Then men's golf was dropped as a conference sport after the 2019–20 season, therefore Carnegie Mellon never participated in a conference championship.
2. St. Mary's (Md.) was a full member of the C2C (back then, the CAC) from 1989–90 to 2020–21.

Membership timeline

Sports

The C2C sponsors championships in the following sports:

Conference sports

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	Y
Basketball	Y	Y
Cross Country	Y	Y
Field Hockey		Y
Lacrosse	[lower-alpha 1]	Y
Soccer	Y	Y
Softball		Y
Tennis	Y	Y
Track and field (indoor)	Y	Y
Track and field (outdoor)	Y	Y
Volleyball		Y

Men's sponsored sports by school

School	Baseball[upper-alpha 1]	Basketball	Cross country	Soccer	Tennis	Track & field (indoor)	Track & field (outdoor)	Total C2C Sports
UC Santa Cruz	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	5
Christopher Newport	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Mary Washington	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Salisbury	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Warren Wilson	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	3
Totals	3	5	5	5	4	4	4	30

Notes

1. Baseball will be in danger of not being eligible for NCAA championship bids in the 2023-24 season if new members teams do not join C2C in those sports. According to the NCAA rules for a conference sport to be considered for NCAA championship bids there must be five or more teams competing in that sport, which all of the sports listed had four teams or less fielding that sport after the 2020-21 season.

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the C2C that are played by C2C schools

School	Cycling	Equestrian	Football	Golf	Lacrosse	Rugby	Sailing	Swimming & Diving	Volleyball
UC Santa Cruz								PCSC	Independent
Christopher Newport			NJAC	Independent	CLC		MAISA
Mary Washington		IHSA[upper-alpha 1]			CLC	CCRC		METS
Salisbury			NJAC		CLC			METS
Warren Wilson	HC				CLC			Independent

Notes

1. Mary Washington's equestrian programs are not sponsored by the NCAA but through the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association.

Women's sponsored sports by school

School	Basketball	Cross country	Field hockey[upper-alpha 1]	Lacrosse[upper-alpha 1]	Soccer	Softball	Tennis	Track & field (indoor)	Track & field (outdoor)	Volleyball	Total C2C Sports
UC Santa Cruz	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	6
Christopher Newport	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Mary Washington	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Mount Mary	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	5
Salisbury	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Warren Wilson	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	Y	5
Totals	7	7	3	4	7	4	5	5	5	7	57

Notes

1. Field hockey and women's lacrosse will be in danger of not being eligible for NCAA championship bids in the 2023-24 season if new members teams do not join C2C in those sports. According to the NCAA rules for a conference sport to be considered for NCAA championship bids there must be five or more teams competing in that sport, which all of the sports listed had four teams or less fielding that sport after the 2020-21 season.

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by C2C that are played by C2C schools

School	Cheerleading	Cycling	Dance	Equestrian[lower-alpha 2]	Golf	Rugby[lower-alpha 2]	Sailing	Swimming & diving
UC Santa Cruz					ASC			PCSC
Christopher Newport	NCA		NCA		Independent		MAISA
Mary Washington				IHSA[lower-alpha 3]		CRU		METS
Mount Mary					Independent
Salisbury								METS
Warren Wilson		HC						Independent

Notes

1. In 2022, C2C and NJAC announced the creation of the Coastal Lacrosse Conference, an NCAA Division III single-sport men's lacrosse conference between members from the two conferences.^[23]
2. Part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.
3. While equestrian is recognized by the NCAA as one of its "Emerging Sports for Women", the NCAA does not sponsor a championship in that sport. Championships are organized by the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association.

Current champions

See also: Coast to Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament

See also: Coast to Coast Athletic Conference Championship History

The table below shows the current list of champions for the C2C/CAC championships.

Season	Sport	Women's Champion	Men's Champion
Fall 2021	Cross Country	UC Santa Cruz	UC Santa Cruz
	Field Hockey	Salisbury	—
	Soccer	Christopher Newport	Christopher Newport
	Volleyball	Christopher Newport	—
Winter 2021-22	Basketball	Christopher Newport	Christopher Newport
	Indoor Track & Field	Christopher Newport	Christopher Newport
Spring 2022	Baseball	—	Salisbury
	Lacrosse	Salisbury	Salisbury
	Softball	Christopher Newport	—
	Tennis	Mary Washington	Mary Washington
	Outdoor Track and Field	Christopher Newport	Christopher Newport

References

1. "CAC Announces Conference Expansion; Adds Six Member Institutions" (Press release).
2. "Mills College announces plan to close, triggering debate about other schools' futures". EdSource. March 17, 2021.
3. Graff, Amy (March 17, 2021). "Mills College in Oakland is closing to become an institute". SFGate. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
4. Ross, Martha (March 18, 2021). "COVID-19 casualty: Mills College in Oakland will end as 4-year school in 2023". The Mercury News (published March 17, 2021). Retrieved April 18, 2021.
5. Wisconsin-Platteville to Join C2C as Men's Soccer Associate Member - Coast to Coast Athletic Conference
6. Men's Soccer to join Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference - Wisc.-Platteville
7. "C2C & NJAC Announce Formation of Coastal Lacrosse Conference". C2C. July 26, 2022.
8. "C2C Welcomes Warren Wilson College as Newest Member" (Press release). Coast to Coast Athletic Conference. July 27, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
9. "Frostburg State Set To Join Mountain East Conference" (Press release). Bridgeport, West Virginia: Mountain East Conference. July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
10. "Stevenson and Hood to Join MAC". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Archived from the original on August 13, 2012. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
11. "Capital Athletic Conference Adds Penn State-Harrisburg; The Lions Join CNU & SVU As New Full Members In 2013-14" (Press release). Capital Athletic Conference. July 26, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
12. "Atlantic East has name, formal announcement". D3sports.com. March 1, 2018. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
13. "NEAC Welcomes Penn State Harrisburg for 2019-20" (Press release). North Eastern Athletic Conference. July 9, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
14. "MAC to Add York (Pa.) as 18th Member Beginning in 2020-21" (Press release). Middle Atlantic Conferences. April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
15. "ACAA and Capital Athletic Conference Join Forces" (Press release). American Collegiate Athletic Association. May 26, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
16. "CAC Announces Conference Expansion; Adds Six Member Institutions" (Press release). Capital Athletic Conference. May 26, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
17. "CAC Evolves Into Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference" (Press release). Capital Athletic Conference. November 18, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
18. "St. Mary's College of Maryland to Join North Eastern Athletic Conference in 2021" (Press release). North Eastern Athletic Conference. December 12, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
19. "St. Mary's to Rejoin C2C as Associate Member in Track and Field" (Press release). Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference. August 4, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
20. "Southern Virginia Set to Join USA South" (Press release). Southern Virginia University Athletics. December 11, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
21. "C2C & NJAC Announce Formation of Coastal Lacrosse Conference". C2C. July 26, 2022.
22. TV6 News Team (March 2, 2023). "Finlandia University to End Operations, not Enroll Students for the 2023–2024 Academic Year". Upper Michigan's Source. Negaunee, Michigan: WLUC-TV. Retrieved March 2, 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
23. "NJAC & C2C Announce Formation of Coastal Lacrosse Conference" (Press release). New Jersey Athletic Conference. July 27, 2022. Retrieved July 29, 2022.

External links

• Official website