August 2, 2010

Colleran, Finney Join Ivy League Staff

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Dan Colleran and Sarah Finney have been named Assistant Directors for Communications and Championships at the Ivy League Office, beginning August 2, 2010, Robin Harris, Executive Director of the Council of Ivy Group Presidents, announced today.

Colleran and Finney will have primary responsibilities coordinating the communications efforts for many of the Ivy League’s 33 men’s and women’s sports, while also assisting the administration and event operations for the League’s 12 championships.

“I am pleased to welcome Sarah and Dan to our staff and to the Ivy League,” said Harris. “Their significant, hands-on intercollegiate athletics communications experience will be a tremendous attribute as they work to support, feature and promote the athletics and academic successes of our student-athletes.”

Colleran comes to the Ivy League after having spent the last two years at the University of Notre Dame in its athletic media relations office. He handled media relations for the Fighting Irish men’s tennis team as well as for the men’s and women’s golf and fencing programs. In addition, he served as a secondary contact for the nationally ranked women’s soccer team. While at Notre Dame, Colleran helped with media relations duties surrounding home football games and also assisted the men’s and women’s basketball, lacrosse and men’s ice hockey contacts. His 2008-09 fencing media guide was selected as the top Division A fencing guide in the country in the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) publications contest. Colleran has worked in numerous media relations capacities at NCAA postseason events, including serving as the media coordinator at the 2008 NCAA women's soccer first-, second- and third-round games in Notre Dame, Ind., and serving as the assistant media coordinator for the 2010 NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Midwest Regional in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Colleran arrived at Notre Dame after spending two years as a graduate assistant in the Providence College sports information office while working on his MBA, which he received -- with a concentration in marketing -- in May 2008. As a graduate assistant with the Friars, he worked with numerous sports and served as the primary contact for the women's ice hockey and women's soccer programs. A native of Walpole, Mass., Colleran graduated from Providence with a bachelor's degree in English in 2006 and worked in the Providence sports information office as a student assistant from 2002-06. He has been a member of CoSIDA since 2008.

Finney comes to the Ivy League after having held the position of Assistant Media Relations Director at California State University, Bakersfield from 2007-10, serving as the primary media contact for baseball, men's soccer, wrestling, men's and women's swimming and women's golf. She also assisted with men's and women's basketball. She previously held the same position at Humboldt State University from 2003–07, serving as the primary contact for men's and women's soccer, volleyball, women's basketball, softball and women's rowing, while assisting with football and men's basketball. She was the host media coordinator for two NCAA Division II Softball Regional Tournaments and co-coordinated one Men's Basketball Regional Tournament.

As a student at Humboldt State, Finney was a member of the women's soccer team and worked as an intern in the sports information, marketing and event management offices. She graduated in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. An active member of CoSIDA since 2003, Finney has served on the Academic All-America committee since 2009.

Founded in 1954, the Ivy League includes Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Princeton and Yale Universities, Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania, and provides the country’s widest intercollegiate athletic opportunities for both men and women, with over 8,000 athletes competing each year. The Ivy League annually finishes among the top conferences in the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics competitive rankings, and Ivy student-athletes annually compile the country’s best records in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Academic Performance Ratings.