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N.D.(NewsDakota.com)…Jamestown College Athletic Director Lawrie Paulson was the guest with Mark McKenzie on the AM 1400 KQDJ Summer Sports Corner on Saturday.

Paulson talked about the upcoming 2011-12 Jimmie sports season, the dissolving of the DAC Conference, which will force Jamestown to play as an independent this season, what conference the Jimmies may eventually join, the possibility of Jamestown moving up to NCAA Division Three, or Division Two “The College has developed a committee that includes board memebers and administrators to explore our options” said Paulson, We have looked at many ideas, including moving to NCAA Division Two or Division Three, and we have looked at staying an independant at the NAIA level, or finding another NAIA Conference. Geoghrapy will play a major role. There are really only two options for staying NAIA, based on geographical matters. One is going West to the Frontier League, the other is going South to the GPAC Conference. The GPAC is a private school conference, and includes schools from South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas. They aren’t looking at expanding as of now, so that means the GPAC is not an option.” Paulson continued with “The question is whether we stay NAIA and look at the Frontier Conference, which includes teams from Montana, Idaho, Utah, Washington, and Oregon Schools. The big probelm there is distance and travel. We have also talked about D-III with the MIAC and the UMAC Conference. This would require major change, as D-III Schools do not offer athletic scholarships. We have also explored D-II as well.” Paulson added “For now we are a member of an independent A.I.I. NAIA Conference. This means we can advance into postseason play. If we qualify, we will be invited to a National Tournament, but the difference is, we will travel to various locations across the country. This will be an expensive thing, but we will find a way to do this. Individual sports will stay the same, you advance to National Meets on an individual bases, for example, Track and Field, Cross Country or Wrestling. We feel we can be successful as an independant, not only with athletics, but for our students as well. We can recruit and scheudle successfully, and we feel we can provide our students a quality experience, and I feel strongly we will be able to do that. Will we join up with a conference sooner or later?  Maybe, I don’t know. All I can say is that we are still going through a process.”

Paulson is now in his 26th year with Jamestown College, 19 years as the head coach for the womens basketball team, and the past seven years as the A.D..