America East Conference has announced its 2004-05 championship schedule following formal approval by a vote of the directors of athletics at the conference’s annual meeting in Boston July 12-13.
University of New Hampshire will host the conference’s first postseason event when the men’s and women’s cross country championships are held on the Durham campus October 30. New Hampshire previously hosted the event in 1992 and 1997.
University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) was awarded the men’s and women’s swimming and diving championships, which will be held at the UMBC Natatorium February 18-20. The facility, which includes an eight-lane pool and separate diving area, will host its first America East Championship, although it has been the site of several conference championships in the past.
The men’s and women’s indoor track and field championships will be held at the Boston University Track and Tennis Center February 18 and 19. It will mark the third-straight year at the state-of-the-art 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.
Binghamton University will serve as host of the Choice Hotels International America East Men’s Basketball Championship. The first-round, quarterfinal and semifinal games will be held March 4-6 at the $33.1 million Events Center on the Binghamton campus in Vestal, N.Y. The championship game will be held at the home court of the higher remaining seed Saturday, March 12 at 11:30 a.m. That game will be televised on ESPN.
The Friendship Cottage Cheese America East Women’s Basketball Championship will return for the fourth-straight year to The Reich Family Pavilion on the University of Hartford campus March 9-12.
The conference also voted to return to the Connecticut Tennis Center in New Haven for the men’s and women’s tennis championships April 29-May 1. It will mark the fifth-straight year the conference titles will be determined there.
The men’s and women’s golf championships will be held May 2 and 3 at Orchard Creek Golf Club in Altamont, N.Y. The University at Albany will serve as host.
The men’s and women’s outdoor track and field championships will be held May 7 and 8 at the Binghamton University Track Stadium on campus in Vestal, N.Y. It will mark the first time the event has taken place at Binghamton.
Stony Brook University will host the softball championship for the second time in three seasons. The four-team, double-elimination tournament, which will be held May 12-14, was also held at the Stony Brook Softball Complex in 2003.
Centennial Field in Burlington, Vt. will host the final America East championship of 2004-05. The four-team, double-elimination baseball tournament returns to the University of Vermont complex May 26-28. Centennial Field also hosted the conference championship in 2003.
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 5 and 7.
The six-team women’s soccer championship will hold first-round games November 2 at campus sites with the semifinals and the championship game to be played at the No. 1 seed November 5 and 7.
The six-team men’s soccer championship will consist of first-round games November 6, semifinal games November 10 and the championship game November 13 or 14. All games will be played at the home site of the higher-seeded team.
The four-team volleyball championship will be November 19 and 20 or November 20 and 21 at the No. 1 seed.
The semifinals of the four-team men’s lacrosse championship will be held May 4 at the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds with the championship game slated for the higher remaining seed on May 7.
The four-team women’s lacrosse championship will be held May 5 and 7 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 2004-05: Albany, Binghamton, Boston University, Hartford, University of Maine, UMBC, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Stony Brook and Vermont. Quinnipiac University is an associate member in men’s lacrosse.