America East Conference has announced the addition of a women’s golf championship, bringing the total number of sports championships offered by the conference to 22. The decision to add women’s golf was made by a vote of the directors of athletics at the conference’s annual meeting in Burlington, Vt. July 1-3.
Three America East schools— University at Albany, Boston University, University of Hartford— currently sponsor women’s golf. Hartford will serve as host of the 2004 America East Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships at Blackledge Country Club in Hebron, Conn. Dates for the 36-hole tournament are set for May 3 and 4. Hartford previously hosted the men’s golf championship, which began in 1988, from 1991-96, the latter two years at Blackledge.
America East also finalized its championship schedule at the annual meeting when it was decided by the directors of athletics that University of Maine will play host to the 2004 America East Baseball and Softball Championships. Maine will host the baseball championship for the second time in three seasons and third time since the conference began sponsoring its own championship in 1993. The four-team double-elimination tournament will be held May 27-29 at the 4,000-seat Mahaney Diamond on campus in Orono. The Black Bears will play host to the America East Softball Championship for the first time since the conference started a championship in 1992. Kessock Field, which opened in 2000 and is adjacent to Mahaney Diamond, will be the site of the four-team, double-elimination tournament May 13-15.
The conference also voted to return to the Connecticut Tennis Center in New Haven for the men’s and women’s tennis championships April 30-May 2. It will mark the fourth-straight year the conference titles will be determined there.
The America East championship schedule begins with the men’s and women’s cross country championship at Albany November 1.
The men’s and women’s swimming and diving championships will return to the Stanley M. Wallace Pool on the University of Maine campus. The three-day event will be held February 20-22. It will be the fourth-straight year and eighth time in 14 years that the conference championship has been held at Maine.
The men’s and women’s indoor track and field championships will be held at the Boston University Track and Tennis Center on February 20 and 21. It will mark the second-straight year at that facility, which opened for track competition on December 6, 2002. Boston University hosted 13 of the first 14 men’s championships and 12 of the first 13 women’s championships at the historic Boston Armory.
Boston University will again serve as host of the Choice Hotels International America East Men’s Basketball Championship. The first-round, quarterfinal and semifinal games will be held at Walter Brown Arena on the Boston University campus March 5-7. The championship game will be held at the home court of the higher remaining seed Saturday, March 13 at 11:30 a.m. That game will be televised on ESPN. It will be the third-straight year the early rounds of the championship have been held in Boston. Northeastern University was the host in 2002 followed by Boston University in 2003.
The Friendship Cottage Cheese America East Women’s Basketball Championship will return for the third-straight year to The Chase Family Arena at the Sports Center on the Hartford campus March 10-13.
The men’s and women’s outdoor track and field championships will be held at Northeastern University’s Solomon Track in Dedham, Mass. May 1 and 2. Solomon Track, site of each of the first 13 America East Outdoor Track and Field Championships, last hosted the championships in 2001.
Six America East Championships will be determined at home sites of the higher seeds.
The top four teams in field hockey will meet at the home site of the highest seeded team with an artificial turf surface November 7 and 9. The six-team women’s soccer championship will hold first-round games November 4 at campus sites with the semifinals and the championship game to be played at the No. 1 seed November 7 and 9. The six-team men’s soccer championship will consist of first-round games November 5, semifinal games November 8 or 9 and the championship game November 15 or 16. All games will be played at the home site of the higher-seeded team. The four-team volleyball championship will be November 22 and 23 at the No. 1 seed.
The semifinals of the four-team men’s lacrosse championship will be held May 5 at the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds with the championship game slated for the higher remaining seed on May 8. The four-team women’s lacrosse championship will be held May 6 and 8 at the No. 1 seed.
Recommendations for championship format and sites are made by votes of the coaches in each sport. Those recommendations are forwarded to the Committee on Championships and Competition (CCC), consisting of an athletics administrator at each of the 10 member institutions, for discussion. The CCC then forwards its recommendations to the directors of athletics, for final approval.
America East will consist of 10 institutions in 2003-04: Albany, Binghamton University, Boston University, Hartford, Maine, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC); University of New Hampshire, Northeastern, Stony Brook University and University of Vermont. Quinnipiac University is an associate member in men’s lacrosse.