EDISON, New Jersey – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) today announced its Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC) appointments for 2023. Alana Tavares from Marist College has been named as the committee Chair and Hailey Tolson from Quinnipiac University was selected as Vice Chair. Both positions are two-year appointments that begins at the start of the 2023 academic year and commences at the conclusion of the 2025 academic year.
Tavares has made great contributions both on and off the field in her time at Marist. She is part of the Honors program and is a Criminal Justice and Political Science major who has been named to the Dean's List in all three of her semesters at Marist. She was named to the MAAC Academic Honor Roll in 2022 and to the MAAC All-Academic Team in her first year eligible in 2023.
Tavares serves on Marist SAAC's Community Service Subcommittee and Student Government Association's Event Planning Subcommittee. She is also a member of Marist's Dance Ensemble. She participated with her teammates in a fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Hospital. In her hometown of Taunton, Massachusetts, she has volunteered her time at a soup kitchen for the past 10 years. She has also served as a coach with the Laxachusetts Girls Staff.
On the field, Tavares has seen significant action as a midfielder the last two seasons. She has appeared in 27 games with totals of seven goals, two assists, and nine points. Tavares totaled 18 ground balls, eight draw controls, and seven caused turnovers this season.
"I am genuinely honored to have been chosen for MAAC SAAC Chair by my fellow members of the student-athlete community," said Tavares. "It is truly spectacular to have the support and trust of each of the institutions in the conference. I believe student-athletes serve a bigger purpose than simply serving their respective sports, and this organization allows us to create change for the future of our sports and our overall well-being and success. I would like to thank the members of the MAAC, Elizabeth Donohue, my coaches, my teammates, as well as the members of Marist SAAC and the Marist athletic community for believing in me and trusting that I will represent our conference in the best way possible. The love, support, and guidance I received was tremendous and I cannot thank everyone enough for putting all their trust in me as Chair of MAAC SAAC. This is a special opportunity to work with members across the conference to achieve our goals of continuing to serve and to improve SAAC, and I cannot wait to build previous development and to continue expanding the experiences for all of our student-athletes alongside the other amazing members of the board. I want to thank all those who have worked so hard already to help our students-athletes; I can tell you that I have learned from working with the best. I promise that I will work diligently and to the absolute best of my ability, through my time and dedication to this position to create the best representation and experience for all."
Tolson began on SAAC during the 2022-23 school year as a general representative and had an immediate impact on the Diversity Equity and Inclusion subcommittee. Since joining Quinnipiac SAAC, Tolson helped Vice President of DEI plan multiple events within "Becoming Comfortable with the Uncomfortable" discussion series, as well as represented Quinnipiac as its SAAC representative for MAAC SAAC meetings in Atlantic City in March 2023.
In the community, Tolson coordinated her team's activity and participation in Boomer's Boo Bash, a community Halloween event hosted by QU SAAC, and participated in QU's inaugural Day of Service in Fall 2022. She also volunteered for Read Across America, part of QU Athletics Equity Week, and Hamden Public School's Literacy Week events where Quinnipiac student-athletes went to local schools to read to children.
A member of the Quinnipiac indoor track & field team that finished second at the MAAC Championships, Tolson is a biology major in the Dual Degree 3+1 Molecular Cell Biology Program. A member of the Pre-Med and Honors programs as well, she will go on after her Bachelor of Science to earn a Master of Science in Molecular and Cell Biology. She currently boasts a 3.5 cumulative GPA.
"I feel incredibly honored and privileged to have been selected as the MAAC SAAC Vice Chair," said Tolson. "I've found SAAC to be very fulfilling ever since I attended my first meeting. It feels amazing to be in a position where I can help create change to make the student-athlete experience the best it can possibly be for everyone within our conference. I am excited to continue the work Delia and Hunter started and expand upon it with Alana and I's ideas!"
For more information follow @MAAC_SAAC and use the hashtag #MAACSAAC.
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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