April 18, 2002

Poughkeepsie, NY - The Marist College tennis and crew teams will kick off the spring championship season this weekend competing in their respective Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships.

The first conference championship of the spring to kick off is the men's and women's tennis tournament, Friday, April 19 at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY. The tournament, which runs through Sunday, April 21st, will feature all 10 members of the conference. The team champion of both the men's and women's tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Marist men's team earned the top-seed in its bracket, after posting a 9-0 mark against league schools this season. The Red Foxes open play on Friday at 3:00 pm, taking on the winner of the first match of the tournament between the seventh seed, Iona, and the number 10 seed, Rider. The Marist men have won the MAAC Tournament in each of the last three seasons, and made the ensuing trip to the NCAA Tournament.

The women, who were 6-3 in league play this season, are the number four seed in the tournament. The Red Foxes, who finished seventh in the 2001 MAAC Tournament, will take on the fifth seeded Jaspers of Manhattan, at 11:00 am on April 19th.

The 2002 MAAC Rowing Championship will be held on Saturday, March 20th, on the Orchard Beach Lagoon, in New Rochelle, NY. Both the men's and women's crew teams will be defending their 2001 MAAC title. The men captured all six events in which they entered last season. The women scored 154 points in earning the league title, defeating second place Fairfield by 56 points.

Marist College is in its fifth season as a member of the 10-member, Division I MAAC and has shown continued prominence, capturing the conference's Commissioners Cup, for overall athletic excellence, in each of the last three academic years.