GAC championships in basketball, baseball will remain in Oklahoma

The Great American Conference this week released its championship schedule, including dates and venues, for 2014-2015.

Bartlesville and Enid will once again be stops on the championship tour.

The Bartlesville Sports Commission won the rights to host the GAC Basketball Championships in 2015 and 2016.

Bob Pomeroy, BSC chairman, spoke of the pride the community takes in hosting such an event.

“We’re thrilled about the decision the school presidents made,” Pomeroy said.  “This is something the Bartlesville community enjoys doing.  We like doing it and we think we’re good at it.  We have a great base of volunteers.  We’ve really been anxious since last March to find out if the GAC was coming back here.”

Bruin Fieldhouse has been the site of the GAC Basketball Championships since the inception of the conference in 2011-2012.

“When (GAC commissioner) Will Pruitt called to tell me about the decision, he told me we had overwhelming support.  I was really glad to hear that because I think that speaks really well of the Bartlesville community.  We’ve got over 300 volunteers that help with the tournament every year and over 66 companies and businesses that help us sponsor it.

“So along with the Bartlesville Sports Commission, we take a lot of pride in being able to put on a championship that they appreciate and want to com back and have us do it again.”

Next year’s tournament will take place March 5-8.

The GAC Baseball Tournament will be held in Enid in 2015, once again at the David Allen Memorial Ballpark, its home for the past three seasons.

Bill Mayberry, facility manger at the ballpark and Enid High School baseball coach, said he enjoys the different level of competition the NCAA Division II tournament brings.

“We certainly look forward to it,” Mayberry said.  “It’s such an opportunity for us to the see the quality of baseball at the four-year school level.

“We’re really familiar with junior college and high school baseball, but to get to see that four-year school level of baseball is a plus for us and our community.”

The 2015 baseball tournament will be May 2-5.

Graphic courtesy Great American Conference