UWS selected to host 2013 women's hockey championships

The National Collegiate Athletic Association has announced Thursday that the University of Wisconsin-Superior will host the NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Championships, to be held March 15-16, 2013 at Wessman Arena.

The NCAA named 73 sites to serve as hosts for championships for various sports from 2013 through 2015. This is the largest single announcement of sites ever done by the NCAA. Sites were selected for 54 of the 89 championships in 18 sports across all three divisions, with 30 states being represented in the selections.

“We are excited by all of the hosts selected. More than 12,000 student-athletes will compete at these newly announced sites,” said Mark Lewis, NCAA executive vice president of championships and alliances. “In almost every sport there were very difficult choices, but all of the committees involved did a tremendous job of selecting the best possible venues. We are very appreciative of the amount of work put in by so many people in working on these selections.”

The 2013 championships will mark the fourth time UWS has been a host to the NCAA championships and the first time that the women’s championship will come to town. Wessman Arena hosted the men’s championship in 1994, 2000 and 2007, the former two coming when the Yellowjacket men competed in the championships and the latter when UWS was a pre-determined site by the NCAA.

“We are extremely excited to be able to host the 2013 NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Championships. Anytime you can have an event of this caliber come to your campus and your community it is a great thing,” said UWS athletics director Steve Nelson. “Not only is this event great for our campus community at UW-Superior, but it will also be great for the local economy with visiting teams and families coming to town to watch the best hockey that our level has to offer.”

Nelson will have been a part of all four championships at Wessman Arena. He coached the Yellowjackets in 1994 and 1999 and was the athletics director in 2007.

“If you go back to 1994, we’ve come a long way as a campus and as a community,” Nelson said. “And look at the improvements that we’ve made to Wessman Arena in that time — the new sound system, the locker room addition and everything we’ve done to make it a national caliber facility despite it being over 40 years old. We’ve done something right. The NCAA loves coming back and hosting events here, and we are very excited to have them.

“It’s going to be a tremendous weekend of hockey.”

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