Auburn’s Jillian Richardson earned All-America honors by finishing in the top 40 at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships over the weekend.
Richardson, a Bates College junior, placed 33rd at Saturday’s race in Louisville, Kentucky, finishing the 6-kilometer course in 21 minutes, 42.7 seconds.
The former Edward Little High School standout, who earned four Sun Journal All-Region Athlete of the Year honors (three for cross country, one for indoor track and field), was chosen as the NESCAC runner of the week twice this season.
Bates College runner Jillian Richardson (411), a former Edward Little High School standout from Auburn, received All-America honors by placing 33rd at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday. Mark Evrard/d3photography.com
Richardson has been the Bobcats’ top finisher in each race of her two-year college career.
Richardson’s teammate, senior Tara Ellard (21:50.2), also is an All-American after placing 39th. The 17th-ranked Bates women’s team finished 16th at the national championships, the program’s third-highest finish.
The Bates men finished 26th.
NESCAC FOOTBALL: Three Bates football players received all-conference honors from the New England Small College Athletic Conference on Tuesday.
Junior linebacker Tony Hooks was named to the first-team defense. He led the Bobcats in tackling for the second consecutive season, finishing with 92 — which also was tops in the NESCAC. He also had 4.5 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss, which rank in the top 10 in the conference.
Bates’ Tony Hooks (5) celebrates after making a big play against Colby at Garcelon Field in Lewiston on Oct. 30. Theophil Syslo/Bates College
Junior cornerback Mohamed Coulibaly was picked for the second-team defense and senior quarterback Brendan Costa for the second-team offense.
Coulibaly ranked third on the Bobcats with 29 solo tackles and fifth with 41 tackles overall. He also intercepted a pass and had four pass breakups.
Costa, who returned for a fifth year at the school after the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out what would have been his senior season in 2020, wrapped up his brilliant career with a record-breaking season. He set new Bates single-season records for total offense (2,063 yards) and passing yards (1,680).
Bates College senior quarterback Brendan Costa runs upfield against Amherst at Garcelon Field in Lewiston in September. Costa ran for 50 yards and completed 25 of 48 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns. Theophil Syslo/Bates College
His 495 yards rushing led Bates. In fact, Costa, who became Bobcats staring QB early in his freshman season in 2017, led the Bobcats in rushing in each of his four seasons.
In Bates’ 33-10 win over Tufts — the Bobcats’ first time beating the Jumbos since 2013 — Costa racked up 367 yards of total offense (254 passing and 113 rushing), which garnered him Division II/III Gold Helmet by the New England Football Writers.
FIELD HOCKEY ALL-REGION: Bates’ Riley Burns earned another postseason honor this week. The senior midfielder was named NCAA Division III First Team All-Region by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association.
Burns is a first-team midfielder for Region II, one of six regions in the NFHCA’s alignment.
Earlier this month, Burns was named All-NESCAC second team and announced as a selection for the NFHCA Division III Senior Team.
MOSS RECOGNIZED: Terion Moss’ 48-point performance caught the attention of the North Atlantic Conference.
UMaine-Farmington senior guard was named NAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year earlier this week after scorching Southern Maine with 48 points in a 91-73 victory Saturday in Gorham. Moss, who is from Portland, made 17 of 25 field goals, including 8 for 12 from 3-point range, and 6 of 7 free throws.
The 48 points is a new UMF record, surpassing the 44 points scored by Daren Meader on Jan. 8, 2000. Moss’ output is second in the NCAA Division III this season, behind only the 55 scored by Jackson Sartain of John Carroll University (Ohio).
Moss followed his 48-point game with a 46-point outing in Tuesday’s 92-82 win over St. Joseph’s.
HONOR FOR HARRIS: Lewiston High School graduate Victoria Harris was selected as the Little East Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for her performance in the University of Southern Maine’s game against Bowdoin last week.
Victoria Harris of the University of Southern Maine goes up for a layup during a women’s basketball game. Jason Johns/USM Athletics
Harris, a senior, scored a game-high 18 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in a the Huskies’ loss to the 13th-ranked Polar Bears. She also blocked three shots.
The double-double is her first of the season and sixth of her career.
Harris, the 2017-18 Sun Journal Girls Basketball Player of the Year, leads USM with 10.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game this season.
HUSSON FIRST-TEAMERS: Lisbon graduate Tyler Halls and Lewiston graduate Garrett Poussard, both seniors, are among seven Husson players selected for the Commonwealth Coast Football all-conference first teams.
Halls, a receiver and team captain, earned his second all-conference nod after catching 58 passes for 957 yards and seven touchdowns. He ranked first in CCC Football in receiving yards, yards per game (95.7) and yards per catch (16.5), and second in receptions. Against Plymouth State on Sept. 11, Halls set a new Husson record with 14 catches in one game — breaking his own record of 13 UMass Dartmouth in 2019.
Husson wide receiver Tyler Halls, a Lisbon High School graduate, looks to shed a UMass-Dartmouth defender during a season-opening game Sept. 4 in Bangor. Photo provided by Husson University/Eric Ogden
Halls, who transferred from Western New England prior to his sophomore season, concludes his career as Husson’s all-time career leader in receptions (157), receiving yards (2,332) and receptions per game (5.06). His 20 career TD catches ranks second in Eagles history. He also is fifth in all-purpose yards (2,424).
Poussard notches his first All-CCC Football honor after the best season of his college career. He ran for 100 yards or more four times, including 176 against Dean on Sept. 17, and finished with 723 yards rushing and seven touchdowns on 178 carries in 2021. In the final game of the season, in which he ran for 106 yards against Western New England, Poussard became the 10th Husson player to surpass 1,000 yards rushing in their career.
Other Husson first-teamers are senior Frank Curran, who also was named the CCC Football Defensive Lineman of the Year, sophomore quarterback Nic Visser, senior tight end Aidan Hogan, senior right guard Juwan Moore and junior linebacker Tucker Buzzell.
SCLAFANI ALL-REGION: Oxford Hills graduate Dom Sclafani has been chosen for the men’s cross country all-region team by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Sclafani, a senior at Wheaton College who was the 2017 Sun Journal All-Region runner of the year, earned the USTFCCCA honor by placing in the top 35 at regional race. Sclafani came in 13th at the NCAA Division III East Region Championship on Nov. 13, finishing the 8-kilometer course at Franklin Park in Boston in 26 minutes, 11.7 seconds.
Sclafani, who is from Harrison, qualified for the NCAA Division III championships in Louisville, Kentucky, but did not finish the race.
Sclafani, a chemistry major, also placed 11th at the New England Women’s & Men’s Athletic Conference Championship on Oct. 30, earning all-conference accolades with a mark of 25:44.2 on the eight-kilometer course in Wellesley, Mass.
University of Maine at Farmington goalie Jonah Sautter, who graduated from Lisbon, was named to the NAC first team. UMF Athletics photo
UMF SOCCER: Jonah Sautter of Lisbon was named to the NAC men’s soccer first team as a goalie for UMaine-Farmington.
Sautter, the 2017 Sun Journal All-Region Boys Soccer Player of the Year, started 12 games in goal for the Beavers and recorded 35 saves while allowing only 14 goals (1.15 goals against average and .714 save percentage) in 1,110 minutes. He had two shutouts, including one against Husson in the in the NAC semifinals, helping UMF advance to the NAC title game.
Sautter’s teammate, Gracien Mukwa, a freshman from Portland, was named NAC Rookie of the Year. Mukwa was the Beavers’ leading scorer in 2021 with eight goals and six assists.
UMF women’s soccer player Audrey Fletcher, the 2018 Sun Journal All-Region Girls Soccer Player of the Year as a junior at Monmouth Academy, was named to the NAC second team by the conference’s coaches. The midfielder was second on the Beavers in scoring with eight goals and three assists.
UMF senior forward McKenna Brodeur (Messalonskee) was chosen as the NAC Player of the Year, and Beavers coach Molly Wilkie as Coach of the Year.
Joining Brodeur on the all-conference first team is UMaine-Farmington senior defender Elena Guarino (Messalonskee).
NECC FIELD HOCKEY: Turner’s Ginny Twitchell of UMF was chosen as the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Rookie of the Year by the conference’s field hockey coaches.
Twitchell, a freshman midfielder who played at Leavitt Area High School, scored six goals, which ranked in the top 10 in the league, and assisted on three others.
Several players who starred at area high schools join Twitchell on the All-NECC team, including her UMF teammate Alex Bessey. Bessey, a senior forward from Jay who was a multi-sport standout at Spruce Mountain High School and then Central Maine Community College, tallied 14 goals and three assist to garner her second All-NECC field hockey honor.
Husson junior forward Adelle Foss, who played high school sports at Spruce Mountain and Mt. Blue, also makes the first team after leading the NECC-champion Eagles with 13 goals and ranking second on the team with four assists.
Also on the All-NECC team are UMF’s Lydia Wasina, Thomas’ Britney Gregoire, Lindsey Gregoire and Julia Reny, and Husson’s Maya Joy and Kimmie Goddard.
Britney Gregoire of Kennebunk is the NECC Player of the Year, while Manhattanville’s Raquel Brown is the Defensive Player of the Year, and Thomas’ Andrea Thebarge is Coach of the Year.
UMF’s Emily Corbett, who played at Oxford Hills, was selected for the sportsmanship team.
Winthrop’s Katie Perkins was named to the NECC All-Tournament Team after helping Husson win the championship.
CMCC SOCCER: A trio of former Lewiston High School standouts now playing at Central Maine Community College have been named to the Yankee Small College Conference men’s soccer all-conference team.
Abdibaari Hersi, Abdilahi Abdi and Suab Nur were honored for their efforts in helping the Mustangs reach the national championship tournament.
The CMCC women’s soccer team also had a pair of honorees, including first-year goalie Emma Johnson, who previously starred at Monmouth Academy.
Samantha Belardo of Russell, Massachusetts, who earned USCAA All-America recognition in 2019, also was chosen for the All-YSCC team.
VOLLEYBALL POY: Central Maine Community College freshman Tiara Begishe last month was named the Yankee Small College Conference Volleyball Player of the Year.
Begishe, who is from Kayenta, Arizona, also was named to the all-conference first team. She is the first volleyball player in CMCC history to earn all- conference honors.
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