At least two former student-athletes who competed at Division III institutions – including a former NCAA national office intern now working as a fund-raiser at Princeton – reportedly were among victims of a plane crash outside Buffalo, New York, Thursday night.

Lorin Maurer, manager of the Athletic Friends program at Princeton and a former Rowan swimmer who served as an NCAA promotions and events intern during 2003-04, and Madeline “Maddy” Loftus, a former ice hockey student-athlete at Buffalo State and St. Mary’s (Minnesota), were reported as being among 50 victims of the Continental Airlines crash in Clarence Center, New York.

Continental Connection Flight 3407 crashed into a home about 10:15 p.m. in wintry conditions on approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Victims included 49 passengers and crew members, as well as a resident of the home. As of early Friday afternoon, the airline had not released a list of passengers on the plane.

Princeton athletics officials reported Maurer’s death in a statement Friday.

Maurer, 30, was an all-New Jersey Athletic Conference swimmer and team captain at Rowan. After that, she was a graduate student in sport management and a women’s administration intern at Florida before joining the NCAA branding and communications group as a promotions and events intern.

She then served as assistant director of marketing at the Mountain West Conference before joining the Princeton development staff in June 2005.

“We are stunned, grief-stricken and angry that someone so young and full of promise and vitality was taken from us so suddenly and unexpectedly,” said Princeton Director of Athletics Gary Walters. “We can only think that we never appreciate what we have until it is taken from us.”

NCAA President Myles Brand also released a statement about Maurer's death.

“The entire NCAA national office is mourning the death of Lorin Maurer," he said. "Like so many of our interns, Lorin touched our lives with a level of enthusiasm and passion for intercollegiate athletics that lifts us up. We will keep her family and friends in our thoughts.”

The Buffalo News listed Loftus, 24, among passengers on the flight, attributing the information to friends awaiting her arrival in Buffalo.

Loftus attended Buffalo State during her freshman and sophomore years, then transferred in 2004 to St. Mary’s, where she played her junior and senior seasons. She served as a member of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s student-athlete advisory committee in 2005-06, and was instrumental in starting the Cardinal Athletic Council, a student-athlete group at St. Mary's.

“Maddy was the first senior to graduate from my program. She will always hold a special place in my heart,” said Terry Mannor, women's ice hockey coach at St. Mary's. “Everyone who knew her will remember someone full of life and compassion.”

Buffalo State released a statement saying that Loftus planned to participate in a women’s ice hockey reunion game Saturday at the school.