INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) will host its seventh annual GLVC Football Kickoff event on Friday, July 27, setting the scene for the league’s seventh season on the gridiron.
The annual celebration will be held at The Hettenhausen Center for the Arts on the campus of McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois for the fifth consecutive year. This season’s event, which will serve both the league’s media members and passionate fans through several social media outlets, will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. CT.
Located just outside the gates of McKendree’s Leemon Field, “The Hett,” as it is commonly referred to on campus, has been a perfect setting for the GLVC Football Kickoff this past four seasons. The 2012 and 2013 events were held at the Millennium Student Center on the campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
All eight conference teams will be represented by the head coach and two players at the event.
Five-time and defending GLVC Champion University of Indianapolis will once again be represented at GLVC Football Kickoff by Bob Bartolomeo. Under the direction of the eighth-year head coach, UIndy has compiled a 42-4 record in GLVC play since the league began sponsoring the sport in 2012, and has also garnered NCAA DII playoff bids in four of the last five seasons. The Greyhounds are coming off a record-setting 2017 campaign, in which they went 11-1 (7-0 GLVC) and ended the year with a program-best No. 13 national ranking.
McKendree and Missouri S&T tied for second in the league standings at 5-2 last year. The two teams also had identical 7-4 overall marks and enter the 2018 campaign under the direction of familiar leadership. Mike Babcock returns for his sixth season at the helm of the Bearcats, just as Tyler Fenwick is doing with the Miners in Rolla, Missouri.
Southwest Baptist University and Truman State University – the 2016 GLVC co-Champions – tied one another for fourth in league play last year with a 4-3 record. Head coach Robert Clardy is back for his fourth season with the Bearcats, having guided SBU to a 5-5 overall mark in 2017.
Truman’s Gregg Nesbitt will be on the sidelines for the ninth season in Kirksville, Missouri, looking to improve on the Bulldogs’ 5-6 mark from last year, which ended with four straight wins.
Returning for his fourth season as the head man at William Jewell College, Shawn Weigel will be in attendance following a 2017 campaign in which the Cardinals placed sixth overall (2-9, 2-5 GLVC).
The remaining two coaches are coming off their maiden campaigns on campus.
Quincy University’s Gary Bass led the Hawks to a 3-8 record overall and a 1-7 mark in GLVC action to finish seventh. Following his inaugural campaign as interim head coach, Bass saw the interim tag removed in November.
Steven Smith took over the reins of GLVC associate member Lincoln University last season and directed the Blue Tigers to a 1-9 record (0-7 GLVC).
On July 12, the GLVC will release its list of player attendees, and launch the official GLVC Football Kickoff website as well as the fan-interactive schedule on July 17.
Media members interested in attending the 2018 GLVC Football Kickoff can apply for credentials by contacting GLVC Associate Commissioner Jeff Smith at
jeff@glvc-sports.org.