Imagine a school that had a two-time track national champion, a nationally ranked soccer team, a nationally ranked women’s water polo team, a softball team that beat a nationally ranked team at their home and has the highest scoring team in college basketball. What is even more impressive is that this school did all of this in one year.

To top it off even more, the school had an alum record the final out in the World Series that same year.

This school is real and if you have not figured it out this school is Iona College.

These accomplishments make one wonder why this program would be in the MAAC. Certainly it is understood the location, school size and financial reasons must go into it.

What I find to be annoying is that our neighbors over at Fordham enjoy being in the respected Atlantic 10 and they are not even at our level. Further, St. Bonaventure is in this conference and they have only 2000 students at their school.

One of the biggest injustices many of our top athletes also face is the recognition they do not receive.

I am a huge basketball fan, but come on- there are teams other than the basketball team on campus. There really is a lack of respect by officials and students on campus. Two -time national track champion Leonard Korir should have a gold statue and his own locker room he can share with his track buddies who happen to be some of the greatest athletes in the world.

Korir has run the fastest times in the world and is the only national champion Iona has ever had. Iona literally has a student walking around with Olympic level talent and what does he get? At the very least he should get a plaque with his picture on it this semester considering all the attention certain other teams get.

Going back to the conference discussion, I feel being in the Atlantic 10 would give our teams more respect and recognition they deserve.

My point can be seen in how our basketball team just got upset in the MAAC Championships. They dominated the conference the whole year and were the top ranked team. We ended up losing, however, and now our fairly excellent season has been thrown out the window and we are considered a bubble team at best.

We would not be in this problem if we were in the Atlantic 10. The conference is better known and it would have bolstered our standing.

The Gaels can compete in this conference, because this season Iona beat Saint Joseph’s and Richmond, who are upper echelon teams in the Atlantic 10.

If a move out of the MAAC was possible, I believe it would be a huge step for not only our athletic program, but also for our school.

To contact The Ionian’s Christopher Sponn, e-mail him at [email protected]