Conference Affiliations
The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC)
All Rider Sports with the exception of Field Hockey (NEC) and Wrestling (CAA)
2007-08 MAAC Story
With 10 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference is in its 27th year of competition during the 2007-2008 academic year.
The MAAC was founded in 1980 by six charter members: the U.S. Military Academy, Fairfield University, Fordham University, Iona College, Manhattan College and Saint Peter’s College. Competition followed one year later in the fall of 1981 with members competing in the sports of men’s cross country and men’s soccer. On January 2, 1982, Army traveled to Iona for the first MAAC men’s basketball game and the MAAC story had begun.
Today, Conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Loyola College (Md.), Manhattan College, Marist College, Niagara University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s College, and Siena College. In addition, associate members Duquesne University and LaSalle University compete in football. Mount St. Mary’s College, Providence College, Saint Joseph’s University, Virginia Military Institute and Wagner College compete in men’s lacrosse. St. Francis (N.Y.) College, Villanova University and Wagner College are all associate members of the MAAC Women’s Water Polo League. The MAAC will support 25 sports and conduct 24 championships during the 2007-2008 academic year.
The 2008 MAAC Basketball Championships returns to the Times Union Center in Albany, New York, with Trenton’s Sovereign Bank Arena preparing to host the 2009 championship. By having an excellent working relationship with these facilities, the MAAC has been able to attract a number of NCAA Championship events. Most recently, the MAAC, Canisius College and Niagara University successfully hosted the 2004 and 2007 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship First and Second Rounds at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. All three parties will host that event again in 2010. The MAAC and Rider University will co-host the 2009 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship Regional as well 2010 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship First and Second Rounds at the Sovereign Bank Arena, after recording the third highest attendance figure for the women’s championship with the First and Second Rounds in 2006.
MAAC Associate Sports
In January of 1993, the conference announced the formation of the MAAC Football League, which began play in September 1993. The league consists of the two football-playing MAAC schools – Iona and Marist – and two associate members Duquesne and La Salle. The MAAC Football League keeps costs to a minimum through a series of innovative conference rules involving travel squad size, length of the practice season, and a limited number of full-time coaches. Most importantly, however, there are no athletic scholarships, just need-based financial aid.
In June of 1995, the MAAC continued to develop opportunities for student-athletes as the conference announced the formation of the MAAC Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse Leagues. The men’s league began competition in the spring of 1996, while the women’s league commenced in the spring of 1997. The men’s league consists of four MAAC schools -- Canisius, Manhattan, Marist, and Siena – and five associate members – Mount St. Mary’s, Providence, Saint Joseph’s, Virginia Military Institute and Wagner. The women’s league consists of MAAC institutions Canisius, Fairfield, Iona, Manhattan, Marist, Niagara and Siena.
In 2002, the MAAC added the MAAC Women’s Water Polo League, making it the 25th sport that the conference sponsors. The league is made up of three MAAC schools – Iona, Marist and Siena – as well as three associate members, St. Francis (NY), Villanova and Wagner.
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. Jose Vargas, a Loyola student, was also awarded a Rhodes Scholarship in 1999.
First-class facilities are the rule with MAAC schools, as teams regularly play in top-notch arenas, such as Madison Square Garden, the Continental Airlines Arena, HSBC Arena, Times Union Arena, the Arena at Harbor Yard and Sovereign Bank Arena. The other MAAC championships boast their share of outstanding locales as well, such as Waterfront Park in Trenton, home of the baseball championship, and the fabled Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, where the cross country championships are contested. This year, the MAAC will take its Men’s Soccer Championship as well as Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships to Orlando, Florida, where it will conduct its post-season championships at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex. In 2008, the MAAC Cross Country Championships will be at Walt Disney World.
In the past several years, several of the MAAC schools have also enjoyed success in NCAA Tournaments. MAAC schools have made a total of 71 NIT appearances and 39 NCAA appearances. Combined with recent bracket expansion in several sports, the MAAC possesses 12 automatic bids in men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, men’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis, women’s water polo and men’s lacrosse. Last season, the Marist women’s basketball team advanced to the Sweet 16 before falling to the eventual National Champion, the University of Tennessee. In 2003, the Iona College men’s cross country team finished fourth – just one point out of third place – at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. Canisius softball, Manhattan track, Manhattan and Marist baseball and Loyola soccer and lacrosse have also flourished on the national stage.
The MAAC has also been a leader in the forefront of technology, expanding the notoriety of the league into cyberspace. In 2007, the league retained XOS Technologies, Inc., to sponsor the MAAC web page. Launched in November 1999, www.maacsports.com has been a great success, providing fans with up-to-date contest results, fan polls and an online merchandise store.
The MAAC President for the 2007-2008 academic year is Rev. Joseph L. Levesque, C.M., the President of Niagara University. The Vice-President is Rev. Brian F. Linnane, S.J., the President of Loyola College. Bill Maher, Director of Athletics at Canisius College, will chair the Committee on Athletic Administration, and Teddi Burns, Associate Athletics Director/Senior Woman Administrator at Loyola College will serve as Vice Chair.
-MAAC-The Northeast Conference (NEC) - Rider Field Hockey
Since its inception in 1981, the Northeast Conference has charted a course of steady growth that continues to this day. Now entering its 27th year, the NEC remains committed to the original principles the conference was founded upon - academic integrity and development, athletic achievement, community outreach and good sportsmanship - while capitalizing on opportunities to build its reputation both regionally and nationally.
When the Northeast Conference was first established as the ECAC-Metro Conference back in 1981, the league’s founders had one simple goal in mind: to create a competitive Division I men’s basketball conference for unaffiliated schools on the Eastern seaboard. A single-sport entity at its inception, even the league’s most ardent supporters during its formative years could not have envisioned a transformation into a burgeoning 11-member, 21-sport conference. The remarkable success story of the conference began to unfold in 1985, when the league began sponsoring additional sports. Three years later, a change of name was in order and the Northeast Conference as we know it today was born. With membership and sport sponsorship continuing to grow over the next decade and beyond, the NEC now enjoys qualification or play-in access to 13 different NCAA Championships (baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, field hockey, men’s and women’s golf, women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s tennis and women’s volleyball).
Though the NEC has featured various incarnations since its inception, charter members Fairleigh Dickinson, Long Island, Robert Morris, St. Francis (NY), Saint Francis (PA) and Wagner remain part of the current 11-school alignment. They are joined by Monmouth (admitted in 1985), Mount St. Mary’s (1989), Central Connecticut State (1997), Quinnipiac (1998) and Sacred Heart (1999). NEC expansion, which culminated in 1999 with the addition of Sacred Heart, has given the league a five-state geographic footprint with access to such major media markets as New York City, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Hartford.
With the addition of four sports in the last decade, NEC member institutions now compete in 21 championship sports: baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, football, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s indoor track and field, women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s outdoor track and field, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, women’s swimming, men’s and women’s tennis, and women’s volleyball.
As only the third full-time commissioner in NEC history, the hiring of Brenda Weare on August 1, 2006 marked the dawn of a new era for the conference. In just one year, Weare has already launched a number of new initiatives aimed at enhancing the experience of the league’s student-athletes and strengthening the NEC’s competitive position. NEC Championships were enriched through upgraded student-athlete gifts and awards, sport-specific merchandise, comprehensive tournament programs and additional event signage. Sponsorship revenue and trade reached the highest level in league history as a result of partnerships with a host of regional and national corporations. A new conference scheduling policy for primary sports was adopted with designs on enhancing the NEC’s ranking nationally. Finally, Duquesne University was added as an as associate member in football beginning in 2008, helping to secure the future of one of the NEC’s fastest rising sports.
The NEC’s exposure has widened on a national basis through a number of initiatives in recent years. The league’s official website - one of the most comprehensive in the nation - was relaunched in 2004 with additional content and features, and redesigned two years later with a state-of-the-art design. To supplement one of the premier regional basketball television packages in the country, the conference also produces a football package, as well as a preseason basketball show entitled NEC Countdown to Tipoff. Over the last five years, the NEC has televised nearly 150 events, as the league’s coverage area expanded to 40 million homes plus coverage internationally. Along with flagship station MSG Network, other regional television outlets have included FSN-New York, FSN-Pittsburgh, FSN-New England, Fox College Sports, NESN and MASN. In 2007, ESPN broadcast the men’s basketball championship game for the 20th straight year while MSG televised the women’s title contest for the tenth season in a row. Additionally, the Gridiron Classic was televised live on CSTV last fall, giving the NEC its first national exposure in a sport other than men’s basketball. In the spring, the NEC signed a three-year agreement with the America Channel, which will launch this fall. The partnership includes expanded coverage of basketball and football, along with televised championships in men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, field hockey, men’s and women’s tennis, lacrosse, baseball and softball.
During the 2006-07 season, the NEC was able to showcase a number of its teams and student-athletes on a national stage through the awarding of NCAA bids to the conference in 12 team sports, while NEC student-athletes also qualified for NCAA Championship events in men’s cross country, men’s indoor track & field, women’s swimming and men’s and women’s outdoor track and field. In football, Albany and CCSU become the first NEC teams to be ranked in Sports Network FCS Top-25 poll after the league secured a number of victories over perennial playoff teams. NEC champion Monmouth, one of five conference programs to finish in the top-10 in the Sports Network Mid-Major football poll, hosted the inaugural Gridiron Classic, taking on Pioneer League champion San Diego. Men’s soccer also comes off a banner year that featured three programs - CCSU, Fairleigh Dickinson and Monmouth - ranked in the NSCAA top-20. In men’s basketball, CCSU beat Sacred Heart, 74-70, before a nationwide audience on ESPN2 and a packed house at Detrick Gymnasium in one of the most exciting NEC championship games in league history. Three women’s basketball teams (league champion Robert Morris, Long Island and Sacred Heart) reached 20 wins for the second straight year as the NEC established a record-high RPI for the conference. In softball, after capturing its fourth NEC Tournament championship in the last five years, Long Island earned a 5-1 victory over Colgate in the NCAA Tournament. NEC baseball teams racked up a host of impressive wins over traditional powers throughout the 2007 season, followed by conference champion Monmouth losing a pair of tight NCAA Tournament games to #5 Arizona State, 5-3, and Nebraska, 6-5. Fairleigh Dickinson also reached the semifinals of NCAA Bowling Championships, one year after capturing the national championship in the sport.
Individually, Fairleigh Dickinson distance runner Sam Chelanga completed one of the most spectacular years in league history. Chelanga was named Most Outstanding Performer and NEC Freshman of the Year in cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field, and also earned All-America status in two sports, finishing 16th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, followed by a fourth place finish in the 5,000 meters at NCAA indoors. Sacred Heart’s Arman Dixon (seventh in indoor 200 meters) and Monmouth’s Tisifenee Taylor (fourth in outdoor long jump) also claimed All-American status in track and field. Long Island outfielder Randi Gillespie was picked as a second team Easton All-American in softball, while Quinnipiac outfielder Tim Binkoski was tabbed to the ABCA All-American third team, Sacred Heart field hockey player Carisa Eye was named a third team All-American by the NFHCA and Monmouth men’s soccer player Steven Holloway was chosen as an NSCAA/adidas third team All-American. Gardner-Webb swimmer Terra Wilson became the NEC’s first-ever All-American in the sport after finishing sixth in the 200 meter freestyle at NCAAs. In football, CCSU running back Justise Hairston placed eighth in the Walter Payton Award balloting, became the second NEC player to participate in the Hula Bowl and joined Robert Morris lineman Ray Gensler and Albany linebacker Colin Disch as All-Americans in the sport. Hairston, along with Albany’s Rashad Barksdale, were chosen in NFL Draft in April. The duo became the third and fourth players in NEC history to be drafted. Likewise, six NEC players were selected in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft: Ivor Hodgson & Mike Gioioso (Mount St. Mary’s), Randy Gress (Quinnipiac), Jay Monti (Sacred Heart), Evan Scribner (CCSU) and Joe DiGeronimo (Wagner).
For the fourth year in a row and sixth time in the award’s history, Monmouth won the NEC Commissioner’s Cup. Monmouth also finished as the men’s Cup champion for the sixth consecutive year, while Sacred Heart earned the women’s Cup award for the second time in school history. Monmouth’s outstanding year included NEC championships in men’s soccer, women’s lacrosse, men’s golf, baseball, women’s outdoor track and field, and men’s indoor and outdoor track and field. The Hawks also captured regular season crowns in football and men’s soccer.
The 2006-07 athletic year also featured a strong balance between athletic feats and academic achievements of NEC student-athletes as 1,095 competitors were named to the NEC Academic Honor Roll, 33 to ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District teams and five earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America status. Robert Morris football player Ray Gensler and Mount St. Mary’s pole vaulter Mandy Jenkins were honored for the second straight year and tabbed to the Academic All-America first team. CCSU football player Ryne Nutt and Saint Francis (PA) cross country/track and field student-athlete Erika Jacobs were named to the second team. CCSU men’s soccer player Alex Harrison was chosen to the third team. Additionally, NEC institutions earned a higher Academic Progress Rate (APR) than the national average and ranked 15th among the 31 NCAA Division I conferences. A total of 18 NEC teams from among more than 800 across the nation were honored by the NCAA with public recognition awards for their latest Academic Progress Rate scores.
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The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) - Rider Wrestling
Fresh off the celebration of its 20th Anniversary, the Colonial Athletic Association enters its third decade with two new members and an expanded geographic footprint that gives the conference a presence in five of the nation’s nine largest metropolitan areas.
The addition of Georgia State University in Atlanta and Northeastern University in Boston brings the membership of the CAA to 12 and enhances the league’s reputation as one of the nation’s top collegiate conferences both athletically and academically. On the playing field, the CAA has produced 16 national team champions in five different sports, 33 individual national champions, 11 national coaches of the year, 11 national players of the year and 12 Honda Award winners. Even more impressive, however, are the honors accumulated away from competition, which include five Rhodes Scholars and 16 NCAA post-graduate scholars. In 2004-05, the CAA had seven CoSIDA Academic All-Americans and more than 1,500 student-athletes posted at least a 3.2 grade point average while lettering in a varsity sport and received the CAA Commissioner’s Academic Award.
The landscape of the conference now stretches along the majority of the East Coast, and includes six of the nation’s top 25 media markets – New York (1), Philadelphia (4), Boston (5), Washington, D.C. (8), Atlanta (9) and Baltimore (23). The number of television homes in the CAA market exceeds 19 million.
The CAA conducts championships in 21 sports. Male athletes compete for championships in baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field and wrestling. Female athletes battle for conference titles in basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field and volleyball. The CAA will also begin sponsorship of a 12-team Division I-AA football league in the fall of 2007.
In men’s basketball, the CAA has earned a reputation as a “giant killer” in the NCAA Tournament. Since 1981, CAA schools have posted 12 wins over higher-seeded teams. In 2004-05, the conference had four teams earn post-season berths for the first time in league history and five teams were ranked among the top 100 in the RPI. In women’s basketball, the CAA has had two teams earn post-season berths for five consecutive years. Perennial power Old Dominion, which has won the past 14 conference titles, has captured three national championships (1979, 1980, 1985) and reached the title game again in 1997.
The conference has also excelled in many other sports. CAA squads have won 10 field hockey national titles since the championship began in 1981, which is not only more than any other conference but represents nearly half of all titles won. In baseball, at least two CAA teams have earned NCAA Tournament berths for seven of the past eight seasons. The CAA is annually ranked among the nation’s top 10 conferences in men’s and women’s soccer, and has traditionally sent multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament. In 2004-05, 24 league teams earned NCAA Tournament berths in 15 sports, with the CAA having multiple representatives in men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey, men’s and women’s golf, men’s lacrosse and men’s tennis. There were 29 CAA student-athletes who earned All-America honors.
CAA member institutions are also committed to excellence in the classroom. The Colonial Academic Alliance was created in 2002 by the league’s presidents with a goal of expanding their partnership to all aspects of university life outside of intercollegiate athletics. Among the programs already established are an undergraduate research conference, coordination of study abroad programs and granting visiting academic status to student-athletes traveling to an away contest so that they have access to libraries, academic resource centers and computer labs.
In 2002, two faculty members from CAA institutions were awarded academia’s most coveted distinction – the Nobel Prize. John B. Fenn, a research professor in the Department of Chemistry at Virginia Commonwealth University, received the Nobel Prize for chemistry, and Vernon Smith, a professor of economics and law at George Mason University, shared the Nobel Prize in economic sciences.
Commissioner Thomas E. Yeager has guided the CAA since its inception. Core members George Mason University, James Madison University, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Old Dominion University, Virginia Commonwealth University and the College of William & Mary were joined by the University of Delaware, Drexel University, Hofstra University and Towson University in 2001. Georgia State University and Northeastern University became members of the conference on July 1, 2005.
The CAA traces its roots back to 1983 when three of its current members- George Mason, James Madison, and William and Mary - were aligned with East Carolina University, the United States Naval Academy and the University of Richmond as a basketball league (ECAC South). During the next two years, the league added 11 sports, acquired two new members (UNC Wilmington and American University) and decided to form a new association. The transformation from ECAC South to CAA took place on June 6, 1985. By the fall of 1986, the league gained automatic bids to NCAA Championships in men’s basketball, soccer, baseball and women’s basketball and formed an officials’ bureau. Old Dominion became a member of the CAA in 1991-92 and Virginia Commonwealth University joined the conference prior to the 1995-96 season.
From all-star athletes to Nobel Prize winning faculty, the CAA takes great pride in producing performers who stand out both on the playing field and in the classroom.
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