2014 MAAC CROSS COUNTRY
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MAAC Associate Sports
In 2002, the MAAC added the MAAC Women’s Water Polo
League. The league is currently made up of three MAAC
schools - Iona, Marist and Siena - as well as four associate
members, St. Francis (N.Y.), Villanova, Virginia Military Institute
and Wagner.
Sacred Heart began participation in MAAC Women’s Rowing
in the spring of 2008. Drake University joined the league for
the 2010 MAAC Championship, while Robert Morris began
competition in the spring of 2011. In 2012 Jacksonville
University brought its men’s and women’s teams into MAAC
Rowing, and Stetson University joined the league in 2014.
MAAC women’s golf competition is comprised of five member
schools – Fairfield, Monmouth, Niagara, Quinnipiac and Siena
– and three associate members – the University at Albany,
University of Dayton and the University of Hartford.
For the first time in league history, an associate member was
added in men’s swimming & diving when Bryant University
joined the league in the summer of 2012.
In April of 2013 the MAAC added field hockey as a sponsored
sport with competition beginning in the fall of the 2013-14
academic year between four member institutions – Monmouth
University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University and Siena
College. In June of 2013 the MAAC added associate members
to the Field Hockey League - Bryant University and Sacred
Heart University, bringing the MAAC to six teams for 2014, with
Fairfield University set to join the league starting in the 2015-16
academic year.
Academics and Athletics
The MAAC prides itself on the accomplishments of its student-
athletes in the classroom, as well as on the field. Mary Beth
Riley, a 1991 graduate of Canisius, was the first recipient
of the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. In the fall of 1998,
Erin Whalen, a member of the Iona women’s rowing team,
was awarded one of the nation’s 32 Rhodes Scholarships for
academic achievement and civic leadership.
In 2014 the NCAA announced that twenty five MAAC women’s
sports and thirteen men’s sports achieved a perfect APR score
of 1,000. MAAC Women’s basketball posted a conference
wide APR of 992, 19 points higher than the national average of
973. The MAAC was ranked in the top quartile of the Division I
members in terms of overall graduation rates.
First-class facilities are the rule with MAAC schools, as teams
regularly play in top-notch arenas, such as Madison Square
Garden, the Barclays Center, the MassMutual Center, the IZOD
Center, First Niagara Center, Times Union Center, the Webster
Bank Arena, and the Sun National Bank Center. This year,
the MAAC will take the volleyball championship to Orlando,
Florida at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The 2015
MAAC Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships will be held at
Disney’s Palm Golf Course.
In the past several years, a number of the MAAC schools have
also enjoyed success in NCAA Championships. MAAC schools
have played in a total of 83 NIT games and 81 NCAA games.
In 2014, Siena College claimed the league’s first basketball
postseason title in its history by winning the College Basketball
Invitational (CBI) title. In 2013, the MAAC had a record 6 men
basketball programs participate in postseason play- Iona
(NCAA Championship), Niagara (NIT), Canisius, Fairfield,
Loyola, and Rider (CIT). Canisius and Loyola both advanced
to the Quarterfinal round, while Rider reached the second
round. In 2012, the MAAC had two teams advance to the NCAA
Division I Men’s Basketball Championship for the first time in
16 years, with Loyola earning the league’s automatic bid and
Iona garnering an at-large bid. In 2007, the Marist women’s
basketball team advanced to the Sweet 16 before falling to the
eventual National Champion, the University of Tennessee. The
Red Foxes have recorded an additional five NCAA wins since
their run in 2007.
The MAAC has also been a leader in the forefront of technology,
expanding the notoriety of the league into cyberspace. In
2007, the league reached an agreement with JumpTV, Inc.,
now NeuLion, Inc., to design and host the MAAC web page.
MAACSports.com has been a great success, providing fans
with up-to-date contest results, live and on-demand video and
an online merchandise store. The MAAC, in conjunction with
NeuLion, launched an iPhone app in February 2011, followed
by Android and iPad apps that were released during the 2011-
12 academic year.
In September 2011, the conference announced the launch of
MAAC.TV, the league’s first broadband network. Eight schools
- Canisius, Fairfield, Iona, Manhattan, Marist, Monmouth, Rider,
and Saint Peter’s - are currently part of the network, which
broadcast over 400 live events in 2013-14.
In May 2014, the MAAC continued to grow its partnership with
ESPN3 announcing the launch of the MAAC Branded ESPN3
Channel. All MAAC and school produced ESPN3 broadcasts
will be viewable as live or archived contents for all MAAC sports.
The new initiative increases the MAAC’s long-term partnership
with ESPN and is concurrent with the development of school
based production facilities on many of the conference’s member
campuses.
The MAAC President for the 2014-2015 academic year is John
J. Hurley, the President of Canisius College. The Vice-President
is Brennan O’Donnell, the President of Manhattan College.
Commissioner Rich Ensor serves as the league’s Secretary/
Treasurer. Joe Quinlan, Director of Athletics at Saint Peter’s
University, will chair the Committee on Athletic Administration,
and Jamie Fogarty, Senior Associate Athletic Director/SWA at
Iona College will serve as Vice Chair.
