Lindenwood women's gymnastics head coach Gretchen Goerlitz announced this week that the Lady Lions gymnastics program has accepted an invitation to join the Midwest Independent Conference (MIC).

“I'm thrilled we are now members of the MIC,” said Goerlitz. “It will be great for the Lady Lions to be able to see our conference members during the regular season, especially with having three of the five teams so close to us. I think it will really help to prepare us to be a strong contender for the first championship event in 2013.”

The other members of the MIC are Centenary (La.), Illinois at Chicago, Illinois State, Southeast Missouri, and Texas Women's. The conference has been very balanced in recent years, with four of the five conference schools winning the MIC Championship over the past five seasons. This year, Illinois State won the conference title by just 0.075 over Illinois-Chicago.

Lindenwood's inaugural season in women's gymnastics will take place in 2013.