The Riverhawks will add a women’s golf team and a women’s cross-country team to their roster of sports next year.
The teams will compete in Division II of the National Junior College Athletic Association.
AACC Athletics added the teams after the NJCAA discontinued women’s lacrosse at community colleges nationwide in July.
“We wanted to provide opportunities for women’s participation,” Herr said. “So we felt like it was a good time to bring back women’s cross-country.”
The college discontinued its men’s and women’s cross-country teams in 2022, citing a lack of interest from athletes. At the time, the women’s lacrosse team had five runners on the roster and the men’s squad had six.
Since then, Herr said, “We’ve gotten some interest at the high school level for running sports.”
The college is not bringing back men’s cross-country, but Herr said he has not ruled out its return.
“We’ll evaluate and see what it looks like for interest and see where we need to go,” Herr said. “We’re constantly evaluating the sports that we offer … and determining what the interest looks like here on campus, what interest looks like from student athletes coming from the high school level. And we’ll make our decisions based on that.”
The two new sports will begin in 2025.
According to men’s golf coach Dave O’Donnell, the addition of the new sports was because of Title IX compliance after the removal of women’s lacrosse
“It was a real disappointment, because our women’s lacrosse team was … really a point of pride for the school,” O’Donnell said.
Still, O’Donnell said he is “very excited” for the addition of women’s golf.
“I think that golf has become a really popular game in the last five to seven years among especially young people,” O’Donnell said. “Having the opportunity for women to be able to compete in their own tournaments is absolutely wonderful.”
Two female students golfed for the men’s team last year. One of them, Ela Simpson, carded the top score among women at the 2024 Region 20 Division III golf championship.
“We’ve kind of had the opportunity for women’s golf in the past,” Herr said. “But just with it coming in on board as a Division II sport … it’s a really good transition to bring it in and have it as its own separate sport.”
Herr said the college is trying to recruit coaches for the two new women’s teams.
AACC offers five men’s sports and four women’s teams, plus a co-ed esports team in 2024.