Rattlers Host Annual SAAC Retreat

SAN ANTONIO — The St. Mary's University Department of Athletics hosted the annual Lone Star Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) retreat this past weekend in San Antonio.
 
The event is a three-day retreat hosted by one of the Lone Star member institutions in July where each school is expected to send two SAAC representatives. This year, there were 26 student-athletes, including Stela Sifuentes (Eagle Pass, Texas) from women's tennis and Franklin Agu (London, England) from men's basketball for the Rattlers. StMU SAAC Advisors Marlon Furlongue, Associate Director of Athletics and Assistant Athletics Director Kristina Kish helped coordinate the entire weekend.
 
"We are thankful that we were chosen to host the LSC SAAC Retreat this past weekend," said Furlongue. "We would like to thank Commissioner Jay Poerner, Associate Commissioner Danielle Anderson and Associate Commissioner Amy Carlton for entrusting us to host the retreat."
 
On Thursday, the entire group took place in a Field Day competition, where they were split into four teams and competed in kickball, human ring toss, water balloon toss and sand volleyball to earn points.
 
Friday started with a presentation by Dr. Brandon Crooms, Assistant Professor of Sport Management at Trinity University who also specializes in Student-Athlete Development Training. The group then moved to the San Antonio Food Bank, working in the warehouse soring and packaging food items to the 29 countries they serve. The group helped to package 37,440 pounds of food for the day. The night concluded with dinner at Rock and Brews, followed by Andretti's.
 
 Saturday's business session closed out the retreat with the reps discussing the conference SAAC Operating Code, the LSC Championship Experience and other important topics. The LSC SAAC Cup was awarded to Lubbock Christian University. The SAAC Cup is awarded to the institution that accumulates the most points through fundraising for Make-A-Wish or local non-profits and community service hours throughout the academic year.
 
"It was a jam-packed weekend that kept both student-athletes and SAAC advisors engaged and enjoying themselves," Furlongue stated. "The SAAC reps came away with ideas and tips to improve their respective SAAC's and to enhance the student-athlete experience on their campuses. A big thank you to Dr. Brandon Crooms for providing an impactful and empowering presentation to the student-athletes on purpose-driven leadership."