UMaine player, coach invited to Olympic festival

Center Tim Lovell and assistant coach Grant Standbrook will join women’s basketball player Cindy Blodgett in representing the University of Maine at this summer’s U.S. Olympic Sports Festival.

Lovell, a junior center from Norwood, Mass., and Standbrook, UMaine’s primary recruiter, will participate in the competition, which is scheduled July 24-30 at the Denver Coliseum.

The 21-year-old Lovell is one of 80 college, high school and Junior-level players in the country invited to the festival. Half of those players, ages 19 and under, are candidates for the U.S. National Junior Team, while Lovell is trying to earn a spot on the 1995 USA Select Team.

The players were evaluated and selected for inclusion at the festival by a committee headed by two-time U.S. Olympic hockey coach Dave Peterson.

Lovell, who was Maine’s second-leading scorer with 23 goals and 25 assists last season, will play for Team North, coached by John Harrington. The scrappy 5-foot-9, 165-pounder was the MVP at the 1995 NCAA East Regional.

Among Lovell’s teammates on Team North are forwards Mike Grier and Chris Drury of Boston University, goaltender John Grahame of Lake Superior State, and defenseman Rick Mrozik of the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

Standbrook, who is heading into his eighth season as an assistant for the Bears, will be the assistant coach for the North squad. He also was an assistant on the 1976 U.S. Olympic Team.

Blodgett, a sophomore point guard, will play in the festival’s basketball competition, also in Denver.

Chris Imes, the senior captain who led the UMaine hockey team to a 31-6-6 record and a national runner-up finish last season, has been selected as the USA Hockey College Player of the Year.

Imes, from Birchdale, Minn., recorded four goals and 29 assists on his way to becoming a first-team All-America and an All-Hockey East pick. He was named to the all-tourney teams at the NCAA East Regional and at the NCAA Championship.

Imes, who played on the 1994 U.S. Olympic team, played on U.S. National Junior squads in 1991 and ’92. The USA Hockey honor is given to the top American-born player in college hockey as chosen by coaches and administrators from NCAA Div. I, II and III programs.

Former Bangor High School lineman Dan O’Connell will continue his football career next fall at Bates College in Lewiston.

O’Connell, a 6-3, 265-pound center, was a three-year starter for Coach Gabby Price and served as a captain last season. He also excelled in the classroom, earning Pine Tree Conference All-Academic first-team honors.

University of Southern Maine women’s cross country and track coach has announced that four eastern Maine athletes will continue their careers at the Portland school.

Jen Piper and Amy Turner of Brewer High School, Rena Lolar of John Bapst High in Bangor and Laura Smith of Hampden plan to compete for the Huskies beginning in the fall.

Turner is a sprinter, Piper specializes in the 400, Lolar throws the javelin, and Smith is a two-miler.

Jen Wardwell of Bucksport had a solid season last spring as a pitcher for the University of Connecticut softball team.

Wardwell, a sophomore righthander, compiled a 7-5 record and a 2.02 earned run average for the 37-20 Huskies, who lost to Princeton in the championship game of the NCAA Northeast Regional.

Wardwell appeared in 17 games, starting 12. She allowed 63 hits in 69 1/3 innings, striking out 28 and walking 23. She will go into the 1996 season as the No. 3 pitcher behind junior Bridgett McCaffery and senior Kara Chanasyk.