However, field hockey was dropped after the 2018 season with the MAAC field hockey league was effectively taken over by the Northeast Conference, which reinstated the sport the following year. The conference decided to no longer host a conference championship for men's rowing after the 2016 season, which is governed by the Intercollegiate Rowing Association. Over the conference's history, MAAC teams have achieved national acclaim in many sports. In the summer of 2002, the Marist men's varsity eight boat advanced to the semifinals of the Temple Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta. In 2007, the Marist women's basketball team advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship. The Red Foxes have recorded five NCAA wins since their run in 2007. In the fall of 2011, the Iona men's cross country team finished tied for ninth place at the NCAA Championship race, extending the Gaels' streak to 10 straight Top 10 national finishes. In basketball, MAAC teams have made a total of 80 NIT appearances and 50 NCAA basketball tournament appearances. Notable MAAC student athletes include Mary Beth Riley, a 1991 graduate of Canisius, who was the first recipient of the NCAA Woman of the Year Award and Erin Whalen, a member of the Iona women's rowing team who in the fall of 1998 was awarded one of the nation's 32 Rhodes Scholarships for academic achievement and civic leadership. The MAAC currently has 11 member institutions. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference sponsors championship competition in 10 men's and 13 women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference which are played by MAAC schools: Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference which are played by MAAC schools:    In 2012, Iona, who was inspired by one of their all around best players Sean Armand, which had lost in the semifinals of that year's MAAC tournament, received an NCAA at-large tournament bid. This was the second time the conference was awarded multiple men's NCAA bids. After St. Peter’s won the 1995 MAAC tournament, the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament selection committee awarded Manhattan College an at large bid. The Jaspers proved the committee correct by defeating Oklahoma in the first round. However, the same first-round success Manhattan enjoyed in the 1995 NCAA tournament could not be matched by Iona. In the 2012 NCAAs, the Gaels unexpectedly relinquished a 25-point, first-half lead to the BYU Cougars, falling 78–72 in Dayton, Ohio.