It was a historic weekend for the Atlantic East Conference this past Saturday as the conference hosted four teams for the first-ever NCAA-level women's flag football event.
 
Marymount joined Centenary, Immaculata, and Neumann as conference members competing for a championship.
 
The Saints took on Centenary in their semifinal matchup and finished with a 51-0 victory. In the championship, Marymount took down Immaculata with a dominant 52-0 showing.
 
Throughout the tournament, Marymount had touchdowns from Samantha Bulik (5), Cara Vollmer (4), Ella Morrison (3), Avery DeFazio (2), Cara Craig (1), and Emily Knabel (1). Samantha Bulik earned MVP of the tournament after her touchdown tallies, six flag pulls, and three interceptions.
 
DeFazio earned the prestigious Atlantic East Elite 20 Award, which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average competing at the finals site at each of the Atlantic East's 20 team championships. Knabel also boasts a 4.0 GPA but previously earned the award for women's basketball and was therefore ineligible for the flag football award.
 
The championship was a culmination of three weeks of practice and training under the guidance of head coach Michael Rivera. The championship appears to be the start of a bright future for the emerging sport.
 
"We're excited to see what else we can do with more time," said Knabel. "Three weeks [of preparation] this year and we won the conference championship. Our coaches know what they're doing and they're already talking about recruiting. They know girls from the area from coaching in the area already. I think we're going to be a powerhouse, it's just shaking out to be that way."
 
With such a short turnaround from the inception of the program to competition, Rivera and Vice President for Athletics Jill McCabe relied primarily on recruiting other student-athletes on campus to fill out the roster.
 
"It definitely helped having different skillsets from different sports," Knabel added, who was a key contributor for the Marymount women's basketball team this winter. "I wouldn't assume that Payton So was going to be our best blitzer and sack the quarterback every time she was out there. She's a swimmer, I didn't expect that. I think all of our talents kind of came together collectively from our different disciplines and we were able to do something really special."
 
"I was on the basketball team freshman year so it was nice to see a bunch of the girls from basketball again," said DeFazio, a member of the women's tennis team who actually won her matches on Saturday afternoon before driving to Pennsylvania to compete in the flag football championship. "Defensively, the basketball girls were really great. The softball players with the arms they had on them, they just like chuck the ball downfield and I thought that was super cool. I feel like everyone was kind of athletic in their own way and we were all able to put it together and make this great team."
 
Overall, the experience was positive for the entire program to make history on such a special stage.
 
"The feeling of winning a championship is surreal," said Knabel. "Each time is vastly different. Yeah, you get the shirt, you get to hold the trophy, you're taking pictures, your family's there. But it's just a reflection of how hard you've worked. And for flag football, it was getting up at 5:30-5:45 in the morning. It's not even bright outside, but we're going to go do this, it's fun, and we have the chance the do something great. So, I'm holding the trophy and I'm with my flag teammates and I'm like, "Okay, maybe it was worth waking up that early."
 
If you are interested in joining the women's flag football program at Marymount, contact head coach Michael Rivera by email at mrivera@marymount.edu or fill out the recruiting questionnaire here.
 
For the latest on Marymount Athletics, download the Marymount Saints app on the App Store or Google Play, stay tuned to MarymountSaints.com, and follow us on Instagram (@MarymountSaints). 
   
2024 Flag Football Roster
 
#1 Cara Vollmer
#2 Samantha Bulik
#4 Avery DeFazio
#5 Yesly Xante
#7 Mia Clevano
#8 Sofi Plotkin
#9 Riley McKeown
#10 Grace Damato
#11 Payton So
#21 Delaney Donaghy
#23 Ella Morrison
#31 Cara Craig
#34 Amanda coates
#40 Sheila Kiernan
#88 Emily Knabel
#99 Kayla Wilson