2019 Cross Country Program

MEET THE MAAC COMMISSIONER

The MAAC membership sees the year-end championships as a way to increase student attendance at the combined MAAC basketball and Esports championships in Atlantic City. By creating a sports festival atmosphere, the thought is that traditional sports and Esports fans can become engaged in both events. It also serves as a new admission tool for student recruitment, and an on-campus student engagement platform that should assist with student retention.

Aprovenleader inintercollegiate sports, event management and law for over three decades, Richard J. Ensor, ESQ. was named the third Commissioner of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in August 1988. Ensor has provided leadership in a period of conference realignment and growth in intercollegiate athletics and the MAAC. During his tenure the MAAC has secured a stable

Hall in Atlantic City, NJ had been selected to host the 2020- 22 MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships. Boardwalk Hall will host the championships for the first time in history and the conference will switch the dual championships to the last week of the season, generating increased excitement for the NCAA Selection Shows that occur that Sunday/Monday after the MAAC champions are decided. In 2019 the MAAC also approved the hosting of its inaugural coed Esports Championships in Atlantic City. The 2020 championships will take place on March 13th and 14th in the Adrian Phillips Theater, which is part of Boardwalk Hall. The MAAC will be conducting championships for the following games: League of Legends; Overwatch; Rocket League; and, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. MAAC champions will receive bids to the national tournaments for the games under the MAAC’s membership in the Electronic Gaming Federation (EGF). Instrumental in the expansion of MAAC sports offerings to reflect the MAAC’s commitment to Division I membership and diversity, Ensor guided efforts within the MAAC beginning in 1992 to add women’s soccer, in 1996 men’s lacrosse, and in 1997 women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s indoor track and rowing. In 1998, the MAAC added outdoor track and field and women’s golf, and in 2002-03 it added women’s water polo. The league currently sponsors 23 sports and is awarded automatic or play-in bids to 15 NCAA championships [baseball, softball, tennis (m&w), golf (m&w), basketball (m&w), lacrosse (m&w), rowing (w), soccer (m&w) water polo (w), and volleyball (w)]. Additionally, MAAC men’s and women’s cross country have access to the NCAA championship through a regional qualifier race. Over half the MAAC sponsored sports now have direct access to NCAA Championships for the first time in the history of the conference. (Up from 13 sports and two automatic bids in 1988). To award its fans, arena partners and membership, provide staff training and networking, the MAAC during Ensor’s tenure has been very aggressive in seeking out opportunities to host NCAA Championships in various sports. With member schools it has served as a co-host of the 1995, 2000, 2004, 2007 and 2010 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament First and Second Rounds at the Times Union Center and the KeyBank Center 2014 2nd & 3rd rounds, respectively, and the 2003 NCAA Men’s Basketball East Regional at the Albany, NY arena and the 2003 and 2019 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four at the Buffalo venue. Additionally,

The MAAC has also been a leader in the forefront of technology, expanding the notoriety of the league into cyberspace. In 2017, the league reached a conference-wide agreement with SIDEARM Sports, to design and host the MAAC web page. MAACSports.com has been a great success, providing fans with fresh content, up-to-date results, live and on-demand video, and an online merchandise store. 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) were part of the original network. In May 2014, the MAAC monumentally expanded its partnership with ESPN by announcing the launch of the MAAC Branded ESPN3 Channel. In the 2017-18 academic year the MAAC entered into a new eight-year agreement with ESPN and produced a total of 325 events on the ESPN family of networks. All 11 MAAC institutions will be producing content on ESPN3 & ESPN+ in 2019-20 with over 450 broadcasts scheduled to be aired by the MAAC membership. Under the ESPN agreement, all MAAC institutions have school production facilities which provide hands on educational opportunities for broadcast and communications majors for their students. In the 2019-20 school year, all school hosted MAAC championships must be broadcast on ESPN3 or ESPN+. On April 12, 2018 ESPN launched a subscription based digital platform, ESPN+. ESPN+ leverages BAMTECH Media’s video and commerce platform to offer fans thousands of additional live events, on-demand content and original programming not available on ESPN’s linear TV or digital networks. This includes hundreds of MLB, NHL and MLS games, Grand Slam tennis, Top Rank boxing, PGA Tour golf, college sports, international rugby, cricket, the full library of ESPN Films (including 30 for 30) and more not available on any other platform. The first MAAC events on ESPN+ were men’s & women’s lacrosse games produced by Monmouth University. The 2018 Baseball Championship was the first MAAC championship to air entirely on ESPN+. As a part of the current MAAC-ESPN partnership ESPN+ will become home to hundreds of MAAC games, championships, and shows over the next several years. Under the new ESPN agreement, this academic year all MAAC institutions will have school production facilities and by the end of 2024-25 the conference and schools will produce over 500 collegiate athletic events and shows on the ESPN family of networks.

membership base, expanded the number of championships conducted and developed an extensive marketing program cemented with broadcast agreements with ESPN, a web paged hosted by SIDEARMSports and secured championship venues such as the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall (Atlantic City, NJ), Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and Disney Sports Attractions. During a time of tumultuous realignment and ethical challenges within NCAA Division I conferences the MAAC remains a homogenous association of private institutions of similar size and funding, which are committed to student-athlete excellence both on the playing fields and in the classroom. The MAAC’s graduation rate is yearly in the top 25% of all leagues and in August 2019 the MAAC again received a NCAA Public Recognition Award for its member schools placing in the top 10% in the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate for student-athletes. Ensor is a past member of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee and past president of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA). He serves on the boards of the Sports Lawyers Association, WBCA, Philadelphia Sports Congress, and NACDA’s IAAA ADs. He has just completed a two-year term on the NCAA DI Council where he served as chair of the Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee on which he will remain with a recent 4-year term renewal. Since 2017, Ensor has served on the Arizona State University Sports Law and Business Program National Advisory Board. Under Ensor’s direction, the MAAC has focused efforts to showcase its member institutions in its annual men’s and women’s basketball championship. Since 1990 with the support of the MAAC Council of Presidents and the league’s athletic administrators and coaches the MAAC has held its premier event in state of the art playing facilities such as the Times Union Center in Albany, NY, the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY, the Sun National Bank Center (Trenton, NJ), and the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT.

The MAAC President for the 2018-19 academic year is Gregory G. Dell’Omo, President of Rider University. The Vice-President is Rev. James Maher, President of Niagara University. Commissioner Richard Ensor, Esq, serves as the league’s Secretary/Treasurer., Greg Amodio, Director of Athletics & Recreation at Quinnipiac University, will chair the Committee on Athletic Administration, and Jennifer Lawlor, Senior Associate Athletics Director/Student Development/SWA at Monmouth University will serve as Vice Chair.

Photo Courtesy of Canisius Athletics

The MAAC announced in 2018 that Jim Whelan Boardwalk

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