2020 Indoor Track and Field Program

recruitment, and an on-campus student engagement platform that should assist with student retention.

This year, the MAAC hosts the inaugural MAAC/ASUN Challenge at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The event will feature two men’s and two women’s teams from each conference: Iona College, Monmouth University, Kennesaw State University and Stetson University on the men’s side; Marist College, Rider University, the University of North Florida and Lipscomb University on the women’s side. All games will air on ESPN3. The full slate of games will be played at HP Fieldhouse at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida on Nov. 22-23. The 2020 MAAC Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships will be held once again at Disney’s Magnolia Golf Course. The MAAC’s relationship with Disney Sports began in 1998 when volleyball was first hosted at the world-class sports complex.

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

In the past several years, several MAAC schools have enjoyed success in national postseason play. In 2018, Quinnipiac Women’s Basketball picked up its third NCAA Tournament win in the last two years. The Bobcats defeated Miami in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 1 UConn in the Second Round. In 2017, Quinnipiac won its first NCAA Championship game in program history and became the first MAAC women’s basketball program to advance to the Sweet 16 since Marist in 2007. The Bobcats defeated Marquette and Miami en route to their Sweet 16 appearance against South Carolina. In 2015, Siena’s Women’s Basketball team became the first MAAC Women’s Basketball program to make it to a postseason championship game. The Saints advanced all the way to the title contest of the Women’s Basketball Invitational (WBI) where Siena fell to Louisiana-Lafayette. In 2007, the Marist Women’s Basketball team advanced to the Sweet 16 before falling to the eventual National Champion, Tennessee. The Red Foxes have recorded an additional five NCAA wins since their run in 2007. Saint Peter’s Men’s Basketball team claimed the 2017 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) title, to become the first MAAC program to win a national postseason championship since Siena’s Men’s Basketball team in 2014. The Saints earned the league’s first basketball postseason championship in its history by winning the 2014 College Basketball Invitational (CBI). In 2013, the MAAC had a record six Men’s 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. Leader in Innovation Adding to its reputation as an innovator, the MAAC Council of Presidents approved Esports as a league sport in June 2019. The MAAC will conduct regular season and post-season league competition in multiple games including Rocket League, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, Overwatch, and Fortnite. The 2020 MAAC Esports Championship will be hosted on March 13 and 14 at Adrian Phillips Theater at the Jim Whalen Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. It will be held concurrently with the basketball championships being hosted at the arena. 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

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. 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

@MAACSports | #MAACTF

@MAACSports | #MAACTF

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