GPAC Welcome and History
Welcome to the GPAC website! The membership of the Great Plains Athletic Conference
welcomes you to our on-line home. We hope that you find all the infomation you need about the GPAC on this site, but if you have additional questions please contact me at corey.westra@gpacsports.com. Thank you again for taking the time to visit our website, please visit often, and thank you for supporting the more than 6,500 student-athletes in the GPAC!
Click Here to Learn More About GPAC Commissioner Corey Westra
The History of the Great Plains Athletic Conference...
The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) is an affiliated conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), consisting of 12 private, faith-based colleges and universities in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota. Originally founded in 1969 as the Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NIAC), the league retains four of the six charter members - Concordia, Doane, Hastings, and Midland.
In 1992, the NIAC added Northwestern and became the Nebraska-Iowa Athletic Conference. Eight years later, Dakota Wesleyan, Dordt, Mount Marty and Sioux Falls joined the conference which became the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) in 2000-2001. Briar Cliff entered the league in 2002-2003 and Morningside joined starting with the 2003-2004 school year. In the summer of 2010 Dana College ceased operations (Member from 1969-2010) and in 2011 The University of Sioux Falls discontinued membership in the GPAC (Member from 2000-2011). Nebraska Wesleyan discontinued membership in 2016 (Member from 1969-2016). In 2015-16 the GPAC added College of Saint Mary in Omaha, Nebraska, as a member. For 2018-19 the University of Jamestown in Jamestown, North Dakota, joined the league as the 12th member.
The GPAC sponsors 22 intercollegiate sports - nine for women, eleven for men, and cheer & dance as a co-ed offering - and awards an All-Sports Trophy based on the final league standings and conference meet results at the end of each school year.
Since 2000 the GPAC has 32 NAIA team National Champions and in 2020-21 the league had 1,298 NAIA Scholar-Athletes and 165 NAIA Scholar-Teams.
First and foremost, the GPAC remains committed to Academic and Athletic Excellence.
Corey Westra of Sioux City, Iowa, is the GPAC Commissioner and Lucas Mohrman of Columbus, Nebraska, is the GPAC Assistant Commissioner for Sports Information.
The GPAC has 37 NAIA National Champions...
2001 - NAIA DII Women’s Basketball – Northwestern
2001 – NAIA DII Men’s Basketball – Northwestern
2001 – NAIA Women’s Outdoor Track and Field – Doane
2002 – NAIA DII Women’s Basketball – Hastings
2002 – NAIA Women’s Outdoor Track and Field – Doane
2003 – NAIA DII Women’s Basketball – Hastings
2003 – NAIA DII Men’s Basketball – Northwestern
2004 – NAIA DII Women’s Basketball – Morningside
2005 – NAIA DII Women’s Basketball – Morningside
2006 – NAIA Wresting – Dana
2006 – NAIA DII Women’s Basketball – Hastings
2006 – NAIA Football – Sioux Falls
2008 – NAIA DII Women’s Basketball – Northwestern
2008 – NAIA Football – Sioux Falls
2009 – NAIA DII Women’s Basketball – Morningside
2009 – NAIA Football – Sioux Falls
2010 – NAIA Men’s Soccer – Hastings
2010 -NAIA DII Women’s Basketball - Northwestern
2011 – NAIA DII Women’s Basketball – Northwestern
2012 – NAIA DII Women’s Basketball – Northwestern
2015 – NAIA DII Women’s Basketball – Morningside
2015- NAIA Men’s Track and Field – Concordia
2016 – NAIA Women’s Track and Field - Concordia
2016- NAIA Women's Volleyball – Hastings
2016 – NAIA Men’s Soccer – Hastings
2017 – NAIA Dance – Midland
2018 - NAIA DII Women's Basketball - Dakota Wesleyan
2018 - NAIA Football - Morningside
2019- NAIA DII Women's Basketball - Concordia
2019 - NAIA Dance - Midland
2019- NAIA Football - Morningside
2021- NAIA Men's Outdoor Track and Field - Doane
2021- NAIA Football - Morningside
2022- NAIA Dance - Morningside
2022 - NAIA Men's Cross Country - Dordt
2022 - NAIA Women's Volleyball - Jamestown
2022 - NAIA Football - Northwestern
The GPAC has many individual NAIA National Champions in track and field as well as in wrestling.
The new conference name (GPAC) was selected from among dozens of entries from students in a contest conducted in the fall of 1999. Five students submitted the winning conference name and two of them - Miles Ruch of Doane and Northwestern's Brian Pike - were selected at random to receive $250 scholarships from the GPAC in recognition of their winning entries. The other three students who submitted "Great Plains Athletic Conference" for the new league name were Dana's Kevin Stull, Kim Walquist of Concordia, and Doane's Wayne Webster.
The Original GPAC Logo...
The original GPAC logo was designed by former league commissioner Paul Clark and was used from 2000-2015. The three stars in the GPAC logo symbolize the three states represented in the conference.
The New GPAC Logo...
A new GPAC logo was unveiled in the summer of 2015. The new logo was created by Mongoose Graphics from Denver, Colorado. To learn more about the new GPAC logo click here.GPAC Conference Staff (2022-23)
GPAC Council of Presidents Chair - Marc Long, Mount Marty
GPAC President (FAR Chair) - Peggy Hart, Doane
GPAC Chair of Steering Committee (Athletic Directors) -
Jon Hart, Dakota Wesleyan
GPAC Commissioner- Corey Westra
GPAC Assistant Commisioner/Sports Information Director: Lucas Mohrman
GPAC Executive Committee: Marc Long (Mount Marty, Chair), Greg Christy (Northwestern, Vice-Chair), Peggy Hart (Doane), Brent Royuk (Concordia), Ross Douma (Dordt), and Corey Westra (ex-officio)
GPAC Treasurer- Mika Thorlakson, Jamestown
GPAC Eligibility Chair- Byron Noordewier, Northwestern
GPAC Eligibility Committee: Byron Noordewier (Northwestern - Chair), Stephanie Bell (Briar Cliff), Dale Zevenbergen (Dordt), Alan Farris (Mount Marty), and Susanne Lubbers (Morningside)
GPAC Conduct and Ethics Committee- Micah Parker (Northwestern, Chair), Andy Bernatow (Mount Marty) and Rita Bristol (Midland)
NAIA Council of Presidents Liaison- Polly Peterson, Jamestown (GPAC Representative)
NAIA Council of Faculty Athletic Representatives Liaisons -
Byron Noordewier, Northwestern and Dale Zevenbergen, Dordt
NAIA National Administrative Council Liasions -
Devin Smith (Concordia)
NAIA Constitution and By-Laws Committee -
Corey Westra (At-Large Member and NAIA Parlementarian) and Byron Noordewier (Northwestern)
NAIA Conference Commissioners Association -
Corey Westra (Past Chair)
NAIA National Eligibility Committee Member-
Byron Noordewier, Northwestern
GPAC Supervisor of Football Officials- Sean Johnston
GPAC Assigner of Volleyball Officials- Jean Ellis
Assigner of Soccer Officials- Wayne Wilson
GPAC Supervisor of Basketball Officials (W&M) - Brooks Wells (M) and Zac Brost (W)
GPAC Assigner of Softball Umpires- Jim Bewley
GPAC Assigner of Baseball Umpires- Sean Johnston
GPAC Sport Group Chairs
GPAC Football Coaches Chair- Joel Penner, Dordt
GPAC Cross Country Coaches Chair- Scott Bahrke, Northwestern
GPAC Women's Soccer Coaches Chair- Nick Becker, Jamestown
GPAC Men's Soccer Coaches Chair - Jason Weides, Concordia
GPAC Golf Coaches Chairs- Myron Parsley (Doane, Men) and Zach Hale (Jamestown, Women)
GPAC Women's Basketball Coaches Chair- Thad Sankey, Jamestown
GPAC Men's Basketball Coaches Chair- Ryan Baumgartner, Doane
GPAC Baseball Coaches Chair- Brian Wede, Northwestern
GPAC Indoor and Outdoor Track Coaches Chair- Scott Bahrke, Northwestern
GPAC Tennis Coaches Chairs- Kim Gradoville, College of Saint Mary and Bruno Campos, Midland
GPAC Wrestling Coaches Chair- Rik Dahl, Northwestern
GPAC Men's Volleyball Coaches Chair - Travers Cox, Jamestown
GPAC Cheer and Dance Chair - Ashley Lyon, Doane
To contact any of these individuals please call or e-mail:
Corey Westra, GPAC Commissioner
4728 Birch Way, Sioux City, Iowa, 51106
Phone/Cell: 712.226.4722
Home Page: www.gpacsports.com