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WIAC Celebrating 50 Years of Sponsoring Women's Championships
As the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference celebrates 50 years of sponsoring women's championships (1971-2021), University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Athletics profiles women's leaders who helped blaze the trail for female student-athletes, coaches and administrators who are a part of Warhawk athletics in the present day. UW-Whitewater Athletics will recognize several of the institution's female leaders throughout the 2020-21 year.
Mary Ann Riccio served at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for 25 years until her retirement in 1990 and played an integral role of the formation of the Wisconsin Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WWIAC).
Riccio was a member of the three-person committee to draft the WWIAC's constitution in the fall of 1970 and represented UW-Whitewater on the WWIAC's first-ever governing body, which was formed in 1971. She was also the league's first Supervisor of Officials in volleyball, basketball and softball.
During her time at UW-Whitewater, Riccio served as an instructor in the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, teaching a variety of courses in team sports and elementary physical education. Upon retirement, she earned the title of Assistant Professor Emeritus.
Riccio was the first-ever coach of UW-W's women's basketball and field hockey teams. In her nine seasons at the helm of the women's basketball program (1966-75), the Warhawks accumulated a record of 54-32 (.628 winning percentage), setting the stage for the program's first-ever bid to the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Division III Tournament in 1976.
Riccio also worked as the Intramural Sports Director for seven years and served on many department, college and university committees.
Riccio was inducted into the UW-Whitewater Athletics Hall of Fame as the Distinguished Service Award recipient in 1995. She received the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's Special Recognition Award for her unique contributions and service to the conference during the 1985-86 academic year.
Riccio moved to Bonita Springs, Fla., following her retirement and remains active in her community as a volunteer. In 2014, she was featured in Southwest Florida's News-Press for her organization of the Worthington Women's Golf Association annual Christmas benefit for Christian Brother's Mission. Riccio was awarded the 2017 Course Rating Volunteer of the Year Award by the Florida State Golf Association for her work as a Course Rating Captain.
