MAAC Recognizes 50 Women Leaders During 50th Anniversary of Title IX

EDISON, NJ (Mar. 30, 2023) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) along with its 11 member institutions are recognizing 50 impactful women leaders during the 50th Anniversary of Title IX and Women's History month. The 50 honorees include student-athletes, teams, coaches, and administrators throughout the Title IX era from all 11 current fulltime member schools. These dynamic pioneers contributed to their respective sport, athletic departments, and institutions while paving the way for women of the future to have inclusion and gender equity in collegiate athletics.
 
Canisius College 
Shauna (Geronzin) Green – Women's Basketball, 1998-2002
Shauna (Geronzin) Green was a four-year letterwinner for the Canisius women's basketball team from 1998-02, where she was a four-time All-MAAC selection, earning All-MAAC First Team honors three times. The program's career leader in points scored with 2,012, she led the Golden Griffins in scoring and rebounding in all four of her seasons on Main Street. The 1999 MAAC Rookie of the Year, she graduated from Canisius averaging 18.8 points per game and she grabbed 910 career rebounds. Both of those accomplishments are the most for any Canisius player since the program moved to the Division I level. A 2012 inductee into the Canisius Sports Hall of Fame, Green is currently the head women's basketball coach at the University of Illinois. She has also had successful head coaching runs at Division III Loras College and the University of Dayton. 
 
Katie (Miranto) Burd – Softball, 2005-08
The Canisius softball program is one of the most successful female athletic programs within the MAAC, and one of the most recognizable student-athletes to come from that program is Katie (Miranto) Burd. A four-year letterwinner for the Golden Griffins from 2005-08, she graduated from the College as the softball program's career leader in hits (227), runs scored (161) and total bases (343), while ranking eighth all-time in career batting average at .378. A three-time All-MAAC First Team selection, she was named the MAAC's Co-Player of the Year in 2008 and later went on to be honored as the 2008 MAAC Softball Championship MVP after the Griffs won the league title. That 2008 team set a school record with 39 wins, and the team posted an overall record of 116-77 to go with a 49-14 mark in MAAC play, with (Miranto) Burd in the lineup, resulting in three MAAC Tournament crowns. A three-time MAAC All-Academic Team honoree and a 2008 ESPN the Magazine/COSIDA Academic All-America selection, she closed her Canisius career by being just the second Griff to be named the MAAC Female Student-Athlete of the Year. She was inducted into the Canisius Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
 
Sister Maria Pares – Women's Basketball Coach, 1981-86
Sister Maria Pares served as the head women's basketball coach at Canisius from 1981-86, where she complied a career record of 108-39, good for a 73.5-win percentage. In her first season leading the Griffs, the Blue and Gold won 22-straight games en route to a 26-5 overall record and a fourth-place finish at the 1982 AIAW Regional Championship. The next season, the Griffs won 15 consecutive games and advanced to the NCAA Division II quarterfinal round with a record of 28-5. Sister Maria's 1983-84 squad capped a tremendous three season run with a 23-8 overall record and a second-place finish in the Upstate New York Conference. Sister Maria went on to serve as the head women's basketball coach at Marquette before returning to Western New York, where she won Buffalo Catholic League titles in volleyball, softball, basketball and badminton at Sacred Heart Academy. For her efforts leading the Canisius women's basketball program, she holds the honor of being the first female head coach to be voted into the school's Sports Hall of Fame, and she was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.
 
Mary Beth Riley – Cross Country/Track, 1987-91
Mary Beth Riley was honored as the first NCAA Woman of the Year in October of 1991 after she returned to the Golden Griffin cross country and track teams after successfully battling Hodgkin's disease. During the 1988 cross country season, the then-19-year-old Riley began feeling ill and eventually learned that she suffered from Hodgkin's disease, a form of lymphatic cancer. Even through nine weeks of chemotherapy, Riley stayed in school and competed in track. By early 1990, the cancer was in complete remission, and Riley went on to set a school track record at 800 meters during her senior season. Riley, who graduated with a 3.8 grade-point average, was also awarded with the Eastern College Athletic Conference's Award of Valor, which was presented in recognition of her successful fight against cancer. She was inducted into the Canisius Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.
 
Jénel Stevens – Women's Basketball, 2000-04 
Jénel Stevens, one of the most decorated female student-athletes in Canisius history, earned four varsity letters as a member of the Canisius women's basketball program from 2000-04. A three-time All-MAAC selection and the second player in program history to be named the MAAC Player of the Year, Stevens graduated from Canisius ranked in the top-10 in 10 different statistical categories in the school's women's basketball record book. After the 2003-04 season where she averaged 16.6 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, Stevens was honored as the MAAC Player of the Year and the league's Co-Defensive Player of the Year, making her the first player in program history to be tabbed as the conferences' top defensive player. She graduated from the program ranked fourth in career scoring with 1,590 points and her 876 career rebounds ranks third-best all-time in the school's record book. The first two-time Canisius Female Athlete of the Year honoree, Stevens was an assistant coach on the Griffs' 2005-06 squad that won the MAAC Tournament title and became the first NCAA Division I women's basketball program in Western New York to advance to the NCAA Tournament. She was enshrined into the Canisius Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.  


Fairfield University
Julie Brzezinski – Softball Head Coach, 1998-Present
Head Coach Julie Brzezinski had been the leader of Fairfield Softball for 26 seasons – in addition to eight prior years as the head coach at Campbell – racking up 900 victories in her career. The winningest coach in Fairfield history in any sport, Brzezinski has compiled more than 650 wins to date with the Stags. She is one of 16 active softball coaches in Division I to have topped the 900-win mark and ranks 41st all-time in Division I history.Under Brzezinski's leadership, the Stags have won seven MAAC regular season titles and won the MAAC Tournament in 2015 and 2017 to advance to the only two NCAA postseason appearances in program history.


Katrina Fields – Women's Basketball, 1981-85
Katrina Fields was the first MAAC superstar for Fairfield Women's Basketball. She owns the Stags' career rebounding record with 1,210 and is Fairfield's second all-time leading scorer with 1,804 points. Fields is also Fairfield's leader in points per game at 18.2 and rebounds per game with 12.2. She was the 1982 MAAC Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-MAAC First Team honoree. Fields was inducted into the Fairfield Athletics Hall of Fame in 1990.


Kelly Horning – Women's Lacrosse, 2018-22
The only All-American in Fairfield Women's Lacrosse history, Kelly Horning earned that distinction from Inside Lacrosse in 2022 to a cap a standout five-year career with the Stags. She was a perfect 11-0 in MAAC Tournament games in her career, helping Fairfield to four straight MAAC Championships along with a trio of regular season titles. Horning is the Stags' all-time leader in ground balls (211) and caused turnovers (126) while also ranking third in career points (189) and second in goals (146). She was a three-time All-MAAC First Team honoree, the 2021 MAAC Midfielder of the Year and a two-time IWLCA All-Region selection.


Dianne Nolan – Women's Basketball Head Coach, 1979-07
Dianne Nolan was one of the pioneers of the Fairfield Women's Basketball program, serving as head coach for 28 years. She won 456 games during that tenure and led the Stags to three MAAC Championships and four NCAA postseason bids. Her 2000-01 team merited the MAAC's first-ever at-large bid after winning 25 games for the second straight year. In total, Nolan spent 38 years as a collegiate head coach, finishing with 575 career wins. She ranks as one of the 50 winningest coaches in NCAA Division I history. Nolan was inducted into the Fairfield Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.


Joanne Saunders – Volleyball, 1998-2001
Joanne Saunders is Fairfield Volleyball's all-time leader in kills with 1,799. Defensively, Saunders racked up 1,254 digs to stand as one of just seven Stags with over 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career – and one of only three to eclipse the 1,200 mark in both categories. Saunders was lauded for her efforts as a First Team All-MAAC selection in three consecutive seasons from 1999-2001. She was the Most Valuable Player of the 2000 MAAC Championship and was named AVCA All-Region in 2000 – the first-ever MAAC player to earn the distinction. Saunders' dominance translated into team success as she was a starter for four MAAC Championship and NCAA postseason teams. The Stags went 120-26 overall and 35-1 in MAAC play with Saunders on the court. The 2000 team made MAAC history as the first – and still just one of two – conference teams to win a set in the NCAA postseason. Saunders was inducted into the Fairfield Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.

Iona University
Kate Avery – Cross Country/Track and Field, 2012-2015
Iona University's first female national champion, Kate Avery finished first at the 2014 NCAA Cross Country Championship, while also becoming the first British woman to win the crown. The most decorated female student-athlete in Iona history, Avery's remarkable two-year career at Iona included five All-American honors, three MAAC Championship Most Outstanding Performer awards and a five MAAC champions. She was Iona's first-ever MAAC Female Student-Athlete of the Year, an award she won twice in 2014 and 2015. Avery was just the second MAAC performer to win it in back-to-back years. She set numerous Iona records during her time, including the indoor mile and 3,000-meter events and outdoor 5,000- and 10,000-meters. Avery was the first woman to run to post an indoor 3k time under nine minutes and her outdoor 5k record still stands by nearly 30 seconds and 10k by more than a minute. Following her time at Iona, she ran an Olympic standard time to qualify for the 2016 Olympic games but was not selected as one of two to represent Great Britain in Rio. 
 
Linda Bruno – Administrator, 1976, 1979 MSEd.
Linda Bruno's storied career as an athletics administrator began at Iona University as an assistant to the director of athletics/basketball coach, the late Jim Valvano. Bruno became Iona's first female athletics administrator and academic advisor to its student-athletes. Her presence at Iona was vital in shaping the institution's progressive department, particularly regarding women's athletics. Following Bruno's tenure at Iona, her career path took her - among other places - to a 12-year stint as associate commissioner of the burgeoning Big East Conference in the 1980s and a 14-year tenure as commissioner of the Atlantic-10 Conference. She served as member of Iona's Board of Trustees and its committees for both Athletics and Student Life/Mission and was a 1998 inductee into the Iona Athletics Arrigoni Hall of Fame. In honor of her parents, Bruno established the Michael and Lillian Bruno Endowed Scholarship at Iona, which is awarded annually to a deserving student. Bruno will retire this year after 11 years as commissioner of the Division III Skyline Conference.
 
Jeanne Morris '74/Janice (Ghiorsi) Crowley '76 – Women's Basketball
Jeanne Morris and Janice (Ghiorsi) Crowley were pioneers of women's sports at Iona University. When women first arrived on Iona's campus in Fall 1969, it was not until 1973 when women - who had been playing intramural basketball - organized an intercollegiate program. Co-captained by Jeanne Morris and Janice Ghiorsi, these women recruited a fellow student to coach the team. After their hard work and preparation, the Iona women's basketball team took to the court for its first game, February 7, 1973, against Manhattanville. The next season the program hired head coach Sandy Capifali to lead the program and gained its stride and went on to have a successful 12-2 record. In 2012, on the 40-year anniversary of Title IX; the duo was inducted together into the Iona Athletics Arrigoni Hall of Fame for helping to pioneer the first women's intercollegiate sport at Iona University. These women paved the way for the thousands of female student-athletes that have followed in their footsteps.
 
Maggie Timoney – Women's Basketball, 1989, 1992 MBA
Maggie Timoney was inducted in 2001 to the Iona Athletics Arrigoni Hall of Fame as one of the greatest women's basketball players in the history of the program. A four-year standout for the Gaels, Timoney graduated as the Gaels' all-time leading scorer, tallying 1,894 career points. As a freshman, she was the 1986 MAAC Rookie of the Year and her 12.7 points per game average was the top freshman scoring average in Iona history. She led the team in scoring in each of her next three years, averaging 16.6 points per game throughout her career. As a sophomore, Timoney was named to the All-MAAC First Team after averaging 19.9 points a game. She also earned a spot on the conference's Second Team during her junior year. After graduation, Timoney served for two years as a graduate assistant coach for the Gaels from 1989-91 before beginning a highly successful business career.  On September 1, 2018, Timoney began her role as CEO of Heineken USA, the first woman to serve as CEO of a major American beer company.
 
Erin (Whalen) McGee, Esq. – Rowing, 1999
Erin (Whalen) McGee, Esq., was a rowing student-athlete and is the first and only Rhodes Scholar in Iona University history. When women's rowing became an NCAA and MAAC sponsored sport in 1997, McGee was one of the standouts for the Gaels during the late 1990's. She competed in three MAAC Championships during her time at Iona. She rowed in a very strong varsity four that won gold in 1997 and 1999 and bronze in 1998. McGee won two silver medals in the varsity 8 in 1997 and 1998. The Gaels finished runner up at the MAAC Championships in 1997 and 1998, the program's best-ever performance to date. After earning the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, she competed with the Oxford University women's lightweight 8 and won The Boat Race over Cambridge. The epitome of a student-athlete, McGee touched numerous aspects of the Iona community working as an usher at athletic events, tutoring students, donating time as a campus minister, editing the sports section of The Ionian, and thriving in the honors program as an English and communications major.


Manhattan College
Marianne Reilly – Women's Basketball, 1982
Reilly was a standout for the women's basketball team and was the first member of the program to crack the 1,000-point barrier. She also was the first female at Manhattan to be inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame before being inducted into the MAAC Honor Roll in 2014. Reilly would finish her outstanding career with 1,305 points and 860 rebounds. She also was a member of the first varsity women's team in school history in 1978-79 that the Manhattan College Athletic Hall of Fame would later cite. As a junior, Reilly led the Jaspers to their first-ever winning season (17-12), averaging 15 points and nine rebounds. In 2016, she returned to her alma mater as Manhattan's Director of Intercollegiate Athletics.
 
Sheila Tighe – Women's Basketball, 1984
Tighe scored 2,412 career points, the highest total ever compiled by a Manhattan College basketball player, male or female. She established eight Lady Jasper records, including most points in one game (45) and in one season (730). All-American selection in 1984. Former Northeast Player of the Year, as well as two-time Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year.
 
Aliann Pompey – Track & Field, 1999
The first Jasper female to win an NCAA title, Pompey also holds seven Manhattan records. Her 500m race indoors with a time of 1:09.38 is also an ECAC and NCAA Collegiate record. She and her relay team took the 4x400m Indoor Relay in 3:41.01. Outdoors, Pompey is tops for the 200m (23.59), the 400m (52.51), the 4x200m Relay (1:38.25), and the 4x400 Relay (3:39.64). She holds eight Individual Metropolitan Titles in the 200m and 400m and still holds the MAAC 400m Indoor and Outdoor records, as well as the Metropolitan Conference 400m Indoor and Outdoor records. She was named All-East in the 200m and 400m six times, and she was selected as one of the top 25 MAAC all-time performers in 2006. Pompey went on to compete in three Olympic Games and recently returned from the World Championships in Berlin, placing 11th in the 400m and has been world ranked in the 400m each year. She has competed in seven World Championships, took a Bronze Medal for the 400m at the Pan Am Games in 2003, and set five records for Guyana for both the 200m and 400m, indoors and outdoors. A Dean's List student, Pompey was a member of the National Society of Black Engineers and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and president of the African Caribbean American Club.


Marist College
Women's Basketball – 2006-07
This was the first MAAC basketball team to reach the Sweet Sixteen, accomplishing the feat as a #13 seed. The Red Foxes went 29-6 overall in the second of their nine straight MAAC championships between 2006 and 2014. They defeated Ohio State and Middle Tennessee State before their run came to an end against eventual national champion Tennessee. This team included four players who won MAAC Tournament MVP honors in their careers (Meg Dahlman, 2006; Rachele Fitz, 2007 & 2010; Sarah Smrdel, 2008; Julianne Viani, 2009) as well as three-time MAAC Defensive Player of the Year Alisa Kresge (2005, 2006, 2007). Fitz would go on to be named an Academic All-American and MAAC Student-Athlete of the Year as a senior. She became the first player in conference history to be named Player of the Year three times (2008, 2009, 2010 after winning Rookie of the Year in 2007). Fitz is only female athlete at Marist to have her number retired, and the only women's basketball player who has finished her career with over 2,000 points and over 1,000 rebounds. 
 
Elizabeth Donohue – Administrator, 2000-Present
Elizabeth Donohue is her 23rd year working in the Marist Athletics Department, which includes positions as Assistant Sports Information Director (2000-01), Compliance Assistant (2001-02), Director of Student-Athlete Enhancement (2002-05), Assistant AD/Senior Woman Administrator (2005-10), and Associate AD/Senior Woman Administrator (2010-present). Throughout her tenure, she has made an impact on the local and campus communities. She currently serves as chairperson for the MAAC Water Polo Committee and is vice chairperson for the MAAC Committee and Athletic Administration. In November 2020, Donohue was named an Athena Award Winner by the Dutchess County Chamber of Commerce. The Athena Award recognizes individuals who provide guidance, mentorship and encouragement to women in their personal and professional lives. Locally, she also serves on the Executive Leadership Team of the American Heart Association's Go Red program in Dutchess County and is co-chair of the Dutchess County Chamber of Commerce Health and Wellness Committee.
 
Melanie Bolstad – Head Diving Coach, 1987-2021
Thanks to the efforts of Melanie Bolstad over three-and-a-half decades, the Marist swimming & diving programs established a tradition of excellence. Bolstad teamed with Director of Swimming Larry VanWagner to win 36 conference championships – 30 in the MAAC, four in the Metropolitan Conference, and two in the ECAC. She coached 28 MAAC champion divers, 22 ECAC champions, the ECAC Male Diver of the Meet for five straight years (2016-20) and the ECAC Female Diver of the Meet for four straight years (2017-20). Bolstad also served as a club coach in her time at Marist, and she has taught classes in the Physical Education Department since 1989. Her courses have included Diving, Swimming, Lifeguard Training, Archery, Racquetball, and Volleyball. 
 
Amanda Koldjeski – Softball, 2001 
Amanda Koldjeski was Marist's first Academic All-American. She earned the honor as a senior in 2001. Over two decades after her graduation, Koldjeski still holds the program's career home runs record with 33. She also is tied for the program's single-season record for home runs with 15 in 2001. Koldjeski still ranks in the program's top 10 all-time in batting average (.335, sixth), doubles (34, tied for eighth), and runs batted in (117, tied for seventh). She was the only player in program history to be First Team All-MAAC four times in her career until Caroline Baratta accomplished that feat last year. 
 
Hailey Wagner – Women's Lacrosse, 2019 
Hailey Wagner was named an Academic All-American and MAAC Student-Athlete in 2019 as a senior. That year, she set a single-season NCAA record with 224 draw controls as she finished her career second in NCAA history with 573. Wagner finished her career ranked in the top 10 in five statistical categories, including games played, points, goals, and assists in addition to draw controls. She was the winner of Marist's President's Academic Achievement Award, which is presented to the female and male student-athletes with the highest cumulative grade-point averages at the Senior Awards Banquet. She majored in Biomedical Sciences and was part of Marist's Honors program.


Mount St. Mary's University
Lynne Robinson – Student-Athlete/Coach/Administrator, 41 Years
Robinson and the Mount have been intertwined for decades, as she is the daughter of Coach Jim Phelan and his wife Dottie. Attending the school, Lynne played basketball under the guidance of Rev. James Delaney and Fred Carter, as well as field hockey and tennis. Her professional career began upon graduation, serving as coach for women's cross country and track and field until 1988, when she earned promotion to assistant athletic director. She was selected to replace Harold "Chappy" Menninger as Director of Athletics for the 2007-08 academic year. Her tenure has seen the Mount increase its offering of varsity sports to 24, and its athletic population almost double over a six-year span. Teams have won 14 conference championships, most of them going to the NCAA Tournament in automatic bids. All along the way, Robinson has been involved in numerous campus, conference, and NCAA committees, including serving as an NCAA peer reviewer in the NCAA Division I Certification Program. She has served as the Vice Chair of the Athletics Advisory Board since its inception in 1996, and she was actively involved in the Mount's three successful NCAA certification reviews.
 
Vanessa Blair – Women's Basketball, 1992 
Vanessa Blair-Lewis is one of two Mount St. Mary's women's basketball players to have her jersey, #24, hoisted to the rafters of Knott Arena. A member of the Class of 1992, Vanessa maintains the school record in blocks at 242. She stands third in career rebounds (849), seventh in steals (241) and is ninth all-time in scoring (1,488). Recognized as the Northeast Conference Player of the Decade in 1996, Blair-Lewis earned placement on the conference's 20^th and 25^th Women's Basketball Anniversary teams and was twice named Player of the Year. Entering the coaching ranks after graduation, Blair-Lewis returned to her alma mater to lead the Mountaineers, with stops at Bethune-Cookman and George Mason, the latter of which is where she coaches today. 
 
Thea Ackerman – Track and Field, 1983
A member of the Class of 1983, Ackerman continues to hold the school record in the outdoor high jump with a mark of 1.80 meters, achieving the feat three times during the 1981-82 season. In both her junior and senior years, Ackerman achieved All-American status for the high jump. Her name is also etched into the indoor record book three times as well, including the second-best high jump mark of 1.81 meters, set in Annapolis in 1983. Ackerman also holds the fifth-best pentathlon score of 3,210 points, which was set during her sophomore year in Princeton, New Jersey. In the 55 meter hurdles, she ranks eighth with a converted time of 8.64 seconds. Thea received induction into the Mount Athletics Hall of Fame in 1990.
 
Naomi Campano Radio – Women's Lacrosse/Women's Soccer, 2005
Playing in two sports at the Mount, Naomi Campano Radio could be regarded as the top goalkeeper in the history of women's sports at the school. Most of her accolades came on the lacrosse field, where she continues to top the program record books with 770 saves, 41 victories and over 4300 minutes played. Picking up numerous awards, Campano Radio was a two-time at-large Academic All-American with the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA, 2004 and 2005) and an Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association Academic All-American nod in 2005. Academic awards crossed over into the Northeast Conference where she received the league's 2004 Scholar Athlete of the Year honor. On the field, Campano Radio was awarded the NEC Player of the Year award, along with a First Team All-Conference selection and the Tournament MVP award, all in 2004. For women's soccer, she remains fifth on the all-time list for saves (267) and sixth for wins (12). She received induction into the Mount Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016.
 
Niagara University
Kathryn Rafter – Women's Basketball, 1971-75
Rafter was a pioneer for women's sports at Niagara University and helped lead the initiative to officially sanction women's sports at NU and was a member of the women's basketball program from 1971-75. In 1974, Rafter became the first female student-athlete elected to the Athletics Advisory Council, which helped implement Title IX. She has continued to be a generous benefactor of the Purple Eagles women's basketball program and Niagara University. Rafter was inducted into the MAAC Honor Roll in 2015 and the Niagara Athletics Hall of Fame in 2021. Kathryn earned a B.S. in Transportation, Travel & Tourism from Niagara University and attended Harvard Business School's Executive Education Workshop for Human Resource Executives. Kathryn has spent 25 years helping executives and their teams accelerate essential transitions. She is called upon when organizations need to rapidly implement new strategies, embrace innovation, solve big problems, or ready the culture for the next wave of change. Woven into her work is the premise that lasting success is only possible if people are engaged meaningfully. She has helped companies of all sizes realize potential and deliver results. Her clients include IBM, Pepsi, Pacific Gas and Electric, Transamerica, McKesson, First Data Corporation, First American, Dell Financial Services, BNY Mellon, PWC, Delta Air Lines, Boston Scientific, CaridianBCT, Kimberly-Clark, the NCAA, BHP Billiton, and Space Center Houston. Her pro bono projects include Organization Sove Lavi -"Saving Lives" (Haiti), Provincetown Film Festival, Sammons Center for the Arts, Aids Support Group of Cape Cod, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. 
 
Brittany Bisnott – Women's Soccer, 2004-07
Bisnott was an integral member of the Niagara women's soccer program from 2004-07, accumulating 136 points and 60 goals during her tenure. She made an immediate impact for the Purple Eagles in 2004, being named MAAC Rookie of the Year and an All-MAAC Second and All-Rookie team selection. In 2005, she Earned All-MAAC First Team and MAAC All-Academic honors. She was an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team member while leading the Purple and White to their lone MAAC Women's Soccer Championship. Bisnott was the 2007 MAAC Offensive Player of the Year after recording 45 points and 21 goals, both career highs. In 2008, Bisnott was a First Team Academic All-America honoree and was one of 58 NCAA student-athletes awarded educational grants through the NCAA postgraduate scholarship program. Bisnott went on to George Washington University Law School, where she earned her juris doctor degree and was a Black Law Students Association member. For the last seven years, Bisnott has worked for the New York State Unified Court System, where she has served as the Support Magistrate in Albany, N.Y., for the last three years. 
 
Jessica Kemp – Women's Basketball, 2000-04
Jessica Kemp was a Niagara University women's basketball team member from 2000-04. She led the 2001-02 Purple Eagles in scoring, averaging 11.4 points per game, rebounds per game (5.8), and steals per game (2.4) while starting in 27 out of 28 games. Kemp started in all 29 games during the 2002-03 season, helping the Purple Eagles to a 20-9 record for the program's only 20-win season as an NCAA Division I program. She led the team in rebounds, averaging 5.5 per contest, and she was second on the team in points per game (11.4), steals per game (1.9), and blocks per game (0.3). She finished the regular season ranked 10th in the MAAC in steals per game, 3-point field goal percentage (32.5), and 3-pointers per game (1.38). She averaged 15.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in two games in the 2003 MAAC Tournament as Niagara advanced to the semifinals. During her senior campaign, Kemp became the 17th Purple Eagle in Niagara University women's basketball history to surpass the 1,000-career point mark. She led the team with a career-high 6.7 rebounds per game and averaged a career-best 2.5 steals per game. After her four-year career, Kemp ranked first in career games played (113), third in steals (244), fourth in 3-point field goal attempts (385), fifth in 3-pointers made (110), sixth in rebounds (628), eighth in field goal attempts (1,118) and 12th in scoring (1,157 points). She currently ranks in the top 10 in five career categories – steals (fourth), games played (sixth), rebounds (ninth), field goal attempts (10th), and 3-point field goal attempts (10th). Kemp's 1,157 career points rank 16th in program history. After college, Kemp played professional basketball in the Netherlands and England for two years. In 2009, she began working in the family business of financial services. In 2011, she founded Kemp Financial Group, Inc. and serves as president. Kemp is also a member of the Niagara University Board of Trustees.
 
Wendy Stone – Women's Lacrosse Head Coach, 2013-Present
Wendy Stone was named head coach of the Niagara women's lacrosse program on August 8, 2012, and is currently in her 11th season at the helm of the women's lacrosse program. Stone has taken a team that averaged less than three wins per season in the six years before her arrival to new heights, winning 69 games in her first ten seasons. After leading the Purple Eagles to their first .500 record in 13 seasons in 2016, including a then program-best 5-3 MAAC mark, Stone repeated the feat each of the next two years, becoming the only coach to post winning conference records in three consecutive seasons since Niagara first fielded a varsity women's lacrosse team in 1996. Additionally, she has guided the Purple Eagles to more postseason appearances (four) than all other head coaches combined (three). Before Stone's arrival, the Purple Eagles hadn't made the MAAC tournament since 2003. In her eight seasons as the head coach of the Purple Eagles, Stone has coached eight All-MAAC First Team selections. Niagara has also produced 17 All-MAAC Second, 16 MAAC All-Rookie Team selections, and 121 MAAC All-Academic honorees under Stone's guidance. Stone helped Michelle Messenger (2022) and Rachel MacCheyne (2018) become the program's first-ever IWLCA honorees. Messenger became the second Purple Eagle to win MAAC Goalkeeper of the Year in back-to-back seasons under Stone's tutelage. In addition to her work at Niagara, Stone has worked with the United States Women's Lacrosse World Cup team, where she was responsible for scheduling meals, transportation, housing, equipment, and uniforms. Before Niagara, Stone spent three seasons at Longwood University, first as an assistant in 2009 and 2010, before being named the interim head coach in 2011. Stone coached varsity lacrosse, varsity field hockey, and junior varsity ice hockey at the Berkshire School in Sheffield, Massachusetts, from 2006-09. She also taught English and history and was the assistant athletic director. Additionally, she has served as a coach and coordinator of the Lower New England teams for the US Lacrosse Women's Division National Tournament and the 2010 LadyRoc Rubies. Stone was involved in the formation of CityLAX, an organization that focused on the growth of lacrosse in New York City. She was a standout lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey student-athlete, and Williams College earning trips to the NCAA Tournament in each sport during her time there. 
 
Quinnipiac University
Mary Ann Powers – Acrobatics & Tumbling Head Coach, 26 Seasons
Mary Ann Powers is currently in the middle of her 26th season as head coach for Quinnipiac Acrobatics & Tumbling in 2022-23. Powers has coached at several levels including Pop-Warner, All-Star level 6 squads and at the university level. Her greatest career achievement lies in her success with Quinnipiac University, where the team has remained a top-ten nationally ranked team since 2005. In 2009, Powers became one of the founding coaches of the National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association (NCATA). In 2020, Powers' hard work along with her fellow co-founders reached new heights as the sport was adopted as an emerging sport for women by the NCAA. Quinnipiac has been competitive nationally in every season since the NCATA's creation. Powers has led the Bobcats to the NCATA semifinals in eight of the last 11 seasons and has made to NCATA Championship meet appearances, most recently in the 2018 season.
 
Becky Carlson – Rugby Head Coach, 12 Seasons
Carlson is in her 12th year at the helm of the Quinnipiac Women's Rugby team in 2022-23, leading the transition from a new varsity program into a three-time national champion. Carlson has been a key advocate for women's NCAA rugby and equality in athletics for over a decade. As the original head coach of the Quinnipiac women's rugby team added in 2011, Carlson boasts back-to-back-to-back Division I NIRA national championship titles in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Under Carlson's tutelage the program has been to nationals 6 out of 7 seasons and named 13 All-Americans. In Carlson's first year as head coach in 2011, the Bobcats became the second Division I NCAA rugby program in NCAA history. Quinnipiac currently remains the only NCAA women's rugby program in the nation to begin without a prior existing club program.
 
Becca Main – Field Hockey Head Coach, 28 Seasons
In 2022, Quinnipiac field hockey head coach Becca Main completed her 28th season at the helm of a program that she has built into a perennial power that translated into an invitation to join the BIG EAST Conference for the 2016 season. During Main's tenure in Hamden, she has coached 89 All-Conference players, 23 NFHCA Mideast All-Mideast Region selections, three Northeast Conference Players of the Year, three NEC Goaltenders of the Year, one Rookie of the Year and a Defensive Player of the Year, as well as three NEC Tournament MVP's and seven NFHCA North-South Senior Game participants.  A 1994 graduate of Penn State, Main was a four-year standout for the Lady Lions, earning Mideast Regional All-America status three times and leading the team to three Final Four appearances. The Big Ten Conference "Defensive Player of the Year" recipient in 1993, Main also earned NFHCA All-America honors in both her junior and senior campaigns.


Sarah Fraser – Deputy Director of Athletics/SWA, Fifth Year
In her role at Quinnipiac, Sarah Fraser oversees the department's sport management, academics, student services, athletic communications, business operations, equipment services and employee relations efforts.  She is also involved in strategic planning. Fraser came to Quinnipiac from Brown University where she served as the senior associate director of athletics for compliance.  Fraser graduated from Dartmouth in 1998. At Dartmouth, she was an All-American in ice hockey while also competing on the track and field team. Upon the completion of her collegiate eligibility, Fraser played for the 1999 United States National Team that won the silver medal at the IIHF World Championship.


Rider University
Agnes McGlade-Berenato – Women's Basketball and Women's Volleyball Head Coach, 1981-1985
Berenato coached at Rider for four years from 1981 to 1985 and compiled a 60-55 record in basketball, 68-49 in volleyball, and helped Rider women's sports move from Division II to Division I of AIAW (1981), and from AIAW to NCAA (1983). Her basketball team was 26-7 in 1981-82, reaching the Eastern AIAW Division II Championship Game, one game away from the National Tournament. Her volleyball team was 20-8 in 1982 and 27-10 in 1983, Rider's first season in the East Coast Conference and the NCAA. Berenato left Rider in 1985 to join Georgia Tech, where she became head women's basketball coach in 1989. Her Georgia Tech teams were nationally ranked and Berenato was named the state of Georgia women's basketball Coach of the Year. She'd later become head coach at both Pittsburgh and Kennesaw State. In 2017, Berenato traveled to Guyana and Suriname as a Sports Envoy for the U.S. State Department's Sports Diplomacy Office. During her visit, she conducted basketball clinics and programming related to youth empowerment. In so doing, Berenato helped contribute to Sports Diplomacy's mission to build understanding, awareness, and skills for youth from under-served communities.
 
Jazmine Fenlator – Track & Field, 2007
Fenlator was elected to the Rider Athletics Hall of Fame on her first year of eligibility. A two-time Rider Female Athlete of the Year, Fenlator took part in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi as a member of the United States bobsled team and went on to compete for Jamaica in the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Olympics.  Rider's first NCAA Track & Field Regional automatic qualifier, Fenlator earned All-East honors eight times, in the shot put, weight throw and the discus, setting Rider records in all three events along with the hammer. Fenlator was named one of the top 25 athletes in the first 25 year history of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Kelly Hall-Stiles – Field Hockey and Softball, 1985
For three consecutive years, Kelly Hall was awarded All-East Coast Conference honors in both field hockey and softball, and was a three-time Rider Female Athlete of the Year award winner. As a junior, Hall led the entire ECC in scoring in field hockey, and as a senior, led the entire ECC in batting on the softball team. As a sophomore, Hall had the second highest batting average in the country at .488. Hall graduated holding Rider field hockey records for career scoring (58 goals, 130 points) that stood until 2004 and still owns a share of the single season scoring record with 21 goals that was tied in 2004 by Christina Ang.  Hall held Rider softball records for hits in a career (137) and single season (47) that stood until 1989. Despite playing in pain with a broken bone in her back, which required her to wear a restricting back brace, Hall became the first Rider athlete to have her uniform number retired (#19) in both softball and field hockey.

Stella Johnson – Women's Basketball, 2016-20
Johnson rewrote the record book during her four years in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, compiling 2,167 points (most in program history), 336 steals (most in program history), 428 assists (third in program history), and 750 rebounds (seventh in program history). Johnson earned postseason conference honors in each of her four years, being named to the MAAC All-Rookie Team as a freshman, earning Second-Team All-MAAC honors as a sophomore, and First-Team All-MAAC honors following her junior and senior seasons. Johnson is the Broncs only two-time MAAC Player of the Year and Rider's first-ever All-American in women's basketball. Johnson was the driving force behind the first team in program history to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in 2020. This culminated in her becoming the 29th pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft by the Phoenix Mercury. Johnson later appeared in WNBA games for the Chicago Sky and Washington Mystics. She became the first-ever Rider women's basketball student-athlete to have her number retired on Nov. 7, 2022. 

Lori Hussong – Field Hockey Head Coach, 2000-2022
Hussong led the Rider Field Hockey team to unprecedented success in her 23-year career with the Broncs. Hussong and her long-time assistant Dan Hussong retired with a 294-151 (.661) overall record, including a 130-36 (.783) conference mark before retiring following the 2022 season. Her .661 winning percentage is currently 11th among active Division I coaches and her 294 wins rank 12th among all active Division I coaches. The six-time Northeast Conference Coach of the Year and one-time Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year led 13 Rider teams to either a Northeast Conference (NEC) Championship, a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) regular season title or an NEC regular season title. All 23 teams have qualified for the conference playoffs (MAAC/NEC) with 13 reaching the conference title game. Hussong and the rest of the Rider staff were selected as Mid-Atlantic Coaching Staff of the Year by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) following the 2020-21 season. Eight times the teams that Hussong coached reached NCAA play, with six NCAA play-in appearances and two NCAA Tournament appearances.
 
Saint Peter's University
Sharon Pastore – Women's Basketball, 1973
Pastore was a true pioneer of women's sports at Saint Peter's. She was a member of the third class to graduate women in the day session. She and the other pioneering women of her time stood up for what they believed was fair and equitable, especially on the court or in the field. In 1971, Sharon and her teammates peacefully protested in the middle of a men's basketball game for uniforms and the right to play basketball in the gym like the men's team. The team ultimately received both requests. After graduating from Saint Peter's, Pastore had an esteemed career at AT&T and has served as a member of Saint Peter's Board of Trustees.   
 
Tania Kennedy – Women's Basketball, 2009 
Kennedy was consistently an ALL-MAAC player during her time at Saint Peter's; 2006-07 All-MAAC Third Team, 2007-08 All-MAAC First Team and 2008-09, All-MAAC Second Team. During that time, she was also named MAAC Defensive Player of the Year. Upon graduation, she joined the MAAC as Assistant Director of Championships. Tania was inducted into Saint Peter's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014 and named to the MAAC 40th Anniversary Women's Basketball Team in 2020. She is currently Director of Championships at the Big East.
 
Kathleen (Katie) Kopacz – Track and Field/Cross Country, 2001
Kopacz was the Most Outstanding Female Runner at the 1999-2000 Indoor Championship. She won two MAAC indoor titles in the 5,000m and set the conference record at the time at the 1999-2000 indoor championship. She also won the 3,000m race in 2001-02, qualifying for the NCAA Championships that year while becoming the first athlete in school history to do so. As of 2020, she was the school record holder in the 3000m, 5000m and 10Km races. She was inducted into the Saint Peter's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007 and was named to the MAAC 40th Anniversary Indoor Track and Field Team. After Saint Peter's she received a master's degree and doctoral degree and currently teaches high school in Jersey City.
 
Christina Vilsaint – Track and Field, 2014
Vilsaint was an integral piece of the Saint Peter's women's track & field teams that claimed five MAAC team titles between 2011-2013. With her in the lineup, the Peacocks won the 2011, 2012, and 2013 Indoor Championships, and the 2011 and 2012 Outdoor Championships. Individually, she was a five-time MAAC Champion, claiming gold medals in the weight throw, shot put, and hammer. She was also named the MAAC Most Outstanding Field Performer at the 2012 MAAC Outdoor Championships. As of 2019 she held Saint Peter's records in the weight throw and hammer throw events. Academically, she earned a spot on the MAAC All-Academic team twice. She was inducted into Saint Peter's Hall of Fame in 2019 and was named to the 40th MAAC Anniversary Outdoor Track and Field Team. Vilsaint continues the Jesuit tradition as being a woman for others as a nurse in New Jersey.


Siena College 
Vicki (Aromando) Bersch – Women's Basketball & Softball, 1978-82
The first woman to be inducted into the Siena Hall of Fame in 1987, Aromando graduated as the second all-time leading scorer in Siena Women's Basketball program history with 1,594 points. She was twice named an All-American by the American Women's Sports Federation while leading the team in scoring for three straight seasons from 1979-81. Along with being the first woman in program history to score 1,000 points, Aromando helped lead the Lady Indians to a New York State Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (NYSAIAW) championship title in 1982. A multi-dimensional force at Siena, she became the first female student athlete in the history of the college to receive Academic All-America honors in 1980 as a CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team selection. She was also a member of the softball team for two seasons, ending her career with a .528 career batting average.
 
Jane Buratto – Field Hockey, 1978-82
Buratto was a member of Siena's first intercollegiate field hockey team in 1978 and was the program's first star in the sport. An inside forward on the offensive line, she led the team in scoring her first three seasons, and finished second her senior year despite missing half of the season with an ankle injury. She served as a team captain in each of her four years at Siena. In a 42-game career, she scored 33 goals and graduated as Siena's career leader in goals scored and second in points scored. She also excelled in the classroom as well, graduating as her class's valedictorian. She was enshrined in the Siena Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990. 
 
Gina Castelli – Women's Basketball Head Coach, 1990-2012
Castelli served at the helm of Siena Women's Basketball for 22 seasons from 1990-2012 and left as the winningest coach in program history with 336 victories. A five-time MAAC Coach of the Year honoree, she guided the Saints to seven MAAC regular season championships and the program's only MAAC title and NCAA Tournament appearance to-date in 2001. She twice earned Division I Coach of the Year honors from the Basketball Coaches Association of New York, while forty-one of her players were named all-conference with seven being named MAAC Player of the Year. Castelli is enshrined in the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. 
 
Joyce Eggleston – Administrator/SWA/Coach, 1978-2014
Eggleston spent more than three decades as a vital part of the Siena Athletics Family. First hired as Siena's Women's Athletic Coordinator in 1978, she also served as the first head coach of the field hockey program (1978-92), head coach of the softball team (1979-82, 1984-89), and as an assistant coach with the women's basketball program (1978-85), before transitioning exclusively to an administrative role. Eggleston spent the final 15 years of her 36-year tenure as Siena's Associate Director of Athletics, Senior Woman Administrator, and the College's first NCAA Division I Compliance Officer, before retiring in 2014. Under Eggleston's direction as senior woman's administrator, she helped grow Siena's Division I women's athletic programs to include the additions of women's golf (1996), women's lacrosse (1997), women's swimming and diving (1999), and women's water polo (2001). She was selected to the MAAC Hall of Fame Honor Roll in 2018. 
 
Burgandy McCurty – Volleyball & Women's Lacrosse, 2006-10
Arguably the top attacker in Siena Volleyball history, McCurty used her time at Siena (2006-09) to lead the Saints to MAAC Tournament Championships & NCAA Tournament appearances in 2006, 2007 & 2008, and was a three-time MAAC Offensive Player of the Year from 2007-09. A four-time First Team All-MAAC selection, she was also the 2006 MAAC Rookie of the Year, the 2008 MAAC Tournament MVP, and a two-time MAAC All-Tournament Team selection, McCurty remains the program's all-time leader in kills (1945), kills per-set (4.27), attack percentage (.353), points (2194) and points per-set (4.82), and is inside the program's career top-10 ranks in 10 different categories. Additionally, she displayed the top-two single-season outputs in kills, attack percentage, points, and points per-set, as well as the top output in kills per-set. A program-record 13-time MAAC Player of the Week selection, she stands as the only repeat winner of the Siena Female Athlete of the Year award, taking home the honor in 2008 & 2009. McCurty also played on Siena's women's lacrosse team during her senior season. She was honored as a First Team selection on the MAAC's 35th Anniversary Fall Sports Team in 2016, and currently serves on Siena College's Board of Trustees.
 
MAAC
Barbara Church – Administrator, 1990-2015
A member of the MAAC staff from 1990 until her retirement in 2015, Barbara Church worked as an administrator within the MAAC for 38 years, first at Saint Peter's for 13 years and later at the conference office for 25 years. At the conference office, she managed the MAAC budget and financial operations, had oversight of the Conference's compliance program, and served as the HR Administrator and the Senior Woman Administrator. With the help of Church's leadership, the MAAC continued the growth and expansion of women's conference sponsored sports to include rowing, water polo, lacrosse and field hockey during her time.  Beyond administrative duties, Church served as a mentor for many young interns, providing hands-on training and networking opportunities. During her career, Church was active on the state, regional, and national levels. She was the past president of the New Jersey Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (NJAIAW) and the Collegiate Athletic Administrators of New Jersey (CAANJ). She has served on numerous Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) committees, on the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee, the NCAA Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet, the NCAA Student-Athlete Re-Instatement Committee, and the NCAA Certification Committee. In 1993, Church was inducted into the Saint Peter's College Hall of Fame, in 1997 was the recipient of the NJAIAW Special Achievement Award, and in 1999, received the CAANJ Garden State Award for substantial and enduring contributions to the development of intercollegiate athletics in the state of New Jersey. In 2001, Church was selected as the recipient of the ECAC Katherine Ley Award. This award is presented annually to honor a female athletics administrator who demonstrates the values and characteristics displayed by Katherine Ley through leadership ability, dedication to women's issues and presence as a role model for women in intercollegiate athletics. 
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 42nd year of competition during the 2022-23 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona University, Manhattan College, Marist College, Mount St. Mary's University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter's University, and Siena College.
 
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