Methuen diver Kijanka qualifies for NCAAs

Springfield College's Meghan Kijanka was selected the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Women's Diver of the Week after an impressive performance against Smith.

The senior quad-captain from Methuen won the 1-meter diving with a 249.89, and was second on the three-meter with a mark of 227.92. In the 1-meter, Kijanka, a two-time honorable-mention All-American, qualified for the NCAA Division 3 Nationals.

The elementary education/math major is a dean's list student.

Hillies pipeline to Springfield

Head coach John Taffe, a star on Haverhill's 1978 state championship team, hasn't forgotten his roots with three Haverhill natives on the roster: senior quad-captain Meghan Feran, junior Aimee Doe and freshman Molly Potter. Junior Meredith Trumbull of Merrimac also swims for the Pride.

Against Smith, Doe won the 1,000 freestyle, Potter grabbed fourths in the 200 and 500 freestyles,

Feran placed fifth in the 200 freestyle and third in the 200 breaststroke and Trumbull was second in the 100 breaststroke and 200 backstroke.

Doe owns school records in the 200 freestyle (1:54.18) and 400 freestyle relay.

For the men's team against Holy Cross, senior Matt Fitzgerald of Pelham won the 1-meter and placed second in the 3-meter diving, junior Mike DeMellia of Haverhill was on the winning 200 medley relay team and placed third in the 50 freestyle. Sophomore Timothy Russell of Andover placed fifth in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes.

Fitzgerald, a tri-captain who attended Lowell High, is a returning honorable-mention All-American.

He was named a Scholar All-American by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America .

Freshman double trouble

Salve Regina freshman field hockey player Kelly Burke of Georgetown was named Commonwealth Coast Conference Rookie of the Year and all-conference.

Burke netted 15 goals in 19 games.

Pizzo kicks in

Sophomore offensive lineman Matt Dugan of Methuen and junior offensive lineman John Barbagallo of North Andover have seen considerable action for the 7-2 Springfield football team, which played Plymouth State in the ECAC Northeast Bowl yesterday.

Sophomore kicker Giuliano Pizzo of Methuen has made all four of his field goal tries including a 42-yarder. He's 23 of 28 on PATs.

Conor McKinney of Londonderry is a freshman reserve quarterback.

Freshman guard Colby Verge of Derry is a reserve guard on the Springfield basketball team. He's seen action in two of the first three games.

Turning to cross country, Pride freshman Nate Pinciak of Methuen (29:31.8 for 8K) finished in 117th out of 296 runners at the ECAC Division 3 Championship.

Sophomore Justin Daamen of Merrimac was a reserve midfielder for the soccer team.

Sophomore field hockey goalie Alison McCarthy of North Andover (2.89 goals against, .788 save percentage while splitting time in net) and senior starting back Kerry Haugh of Andover (1 goal this fall) starred for the 12-9 field hockey team.

Haugh and McCarthy were two of the six Springfield players named to the NEWMAC All-Academic team.

Honorees must have at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA.

Junior midfielder Jen Courossi of Methuen (7 starts, 1 assist) and senior starting back Jess Prencipe, a co-captain from Andover, helped the women's soccer team to a 12-5-3 record. Both also made the NEWMAC All-Academic soccer squad.

UNH aids Coppola

UNH freshman running back Derek Coppola of North Reading has a generous bunch of teammates. They raised over $1,000 to help send him to Atlanta to visit his ailing brother a few weeks ago. Jared Coppola, a talented running back at St. John's Prep, is rehabilitating at the Shepherd Center after fracturing his c5 cervical vertebra in a preseason scrimmage.

Derek told the Foster's Daily Democrat, "It meant a lot. ... It was great. I couldn't wait to go see him. I'd been waiting for a month to go see him. My family and I really appreciated it.''

Thumbs up for Gordon

Freshman linebacker Matt Gordon of Methuen notched 15 tackles, 12 assists, 2.5 tackles for a loss and one sack this fall at St. Anselm's. The rugged Gordon played much of the year with a broken bone in his thumb.

Memorable debut

Franklin Pierce freshman defenseman Brendan McCarron of Andover had a goal and an assist in a season-opening 5-4 OT win over Johnson and Wales. The Central Catholic product has a team-high 14 penalty minutes through seven games. ... URI forward Ashley Evangelista was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team in women's soccer. The Central grad netted two goals and four assists.

More Cavanaugh honors

Greg Cavanaugh capped his senior season by being named to the All-GNAC team and to the GNAC All-Tourney team. The senior defender from Bradford helped lead the St. Joseph's of Maine soccer team to the conference title and its first NCAA Tourney berth.

Quite a career

Two-year co-captain Chelsey Feole of Windham wrapped up a Hall-of-Fame-caliber career for the Boston College field hockey team.

Feole is second in career goals with 56 and career points with 134. Feole set BC single-season records this year with 26 goals and 64 points (26-12—64).

The 5-foot forward made the 18-player All-ACC team and her 3.2-points-a-game was third in the country. The ninth-ranked Eagles were ousted in the first round of the NCAA tourney.

Where there's a Will

Framingham State freshman midfielder Will Menter of Haverhill was chosen second-team All-MASCAC. Framingham defensive end Corey Steele, a junior from Andover, was named to the second team in football.

Secretary of defense

Endicott defender Caitlin Peters of Salem, who played every minute for the league's top-ranked defense, was named to the All-Commonwealth Coast Conference women's soccer team. Peters, one of only two frosh selected to the first team, proved again why she was worthy when she broke a 5-5 penalty kicks deadlock to send Endicott to the second round of the Division 3 NCAA tourney.

Division 1 family

Sophomore field hockey backs Julie and Chelsea Sickel of Plaistow are making names for themselves at Kent State. Chelsea started 15 games and her twin sister started four games for the 12-8 Golden Flashes. Both made the NFHCA Division I National Academic team last fall.

Few if any families in area history can match the Sickel clan's feat of having three Division 1 athletes competing simultaneously.

Derek Sickel is a 165-pound junior wrestler at the Citadel. His 24 wins (24-18) were second most for the Bulldogs last year. He's 2-2 this season.

All told, five Sickels have competed in Division 1 as older sisters Kadi (Iowa) and Lauren (Providence) also starred in the Division 1 field hockey ranks.

Pilgrim power

Senior midfielder Peter Koskores of North Andover led a large contingent of local soccer players this fall at New England College. The two-time co-captain was named second-team All-Commonwealth Coast Conference for the second straight year. He scored five goals with four assists this fall.

Other local Pilgrims were freshman midfielder Evan Liotta of Salem, freshman midfielder Mark Mangini of Derry (11 starts, 2 goals, 1 assist), junior defender Jon Wentworth of North Andover (17 starts) and senior defender Scott Ryan of Pelham (17 starts, 1 assist).

Freshman forward Tamra Comerford from Sanborn scored a team-high seven goals in 19 games for the women's team.

Freshman Hilary O'Brien of North Andover was a reserve midfielder for the NEC field hockey team. She scored one goal.

All-New England

Curry senior linebacker Scott Driscoll of North Andover and his former high school teammate Matt Zahoruiko, a senior linebacker at Bentley, were chosen to the 31-player All-New England Division 2/3 football team.

They were joined by Merrimack's James Suozzo (quarterback), Chris Laham (wide receiver) and David Bellmont (offensive line).

Sports

Search Results

Related Photos

Discussion

Ex-Hillie great has Hillie connection at Springfield

Site Map

Contact Us