UMaine football’s Jim Rice leaves

ORONO – James Rice, a junior wide receiver on the University of Maine football team last fall, has left school under an agreement with the Penobscot County District Attorney’s office after allegedly sexually assaulting a female student on campus in December.

The 20-year-old Rice, of Amherst, N.Y., was questioned but not charged with a crime in connection with Dec. 3 incident, which allegedly occurred at Gannett Hall.

The victim, whose identity is not being released, was treated for minor cuts and abrasions at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor on Dec. 3. The hospital informed the university that the woman claimed to have been raped.

The case was investigated by the UMaine Department of Public Safety and the Penobscot County D.A.’s office, which reviewed the case for three months. Bill Laughlin, UMaine’s public safety investigator, said his office received the district attorney’s ruling March 19.

It read, “At this time we will not be charging the defendant with a crime. In the best interest of the victim, we have made an agreement with the defendant that he is not to return to the university while the victim is a student there and is not to initiate any contact with the victim.”

Laughlin said the alleged assailant and the victim in this case were acquaintances.

Rice, the Black Bears’ third-leading receiver last fall with 18 catches for 212 yards and a touchdown, could not be reached for comment. The business administration major reportedly left the university before Christmas break and did not return.

Assistant D.A. Alice Clifford explained that the case isn’t closed yet.

“In reviewing the evidence and talking to the victim, we decided it was in the best interest of the victim not to prosecute at this time,” Clifford said. “That doesn’t preclude the possibility of charges being filed at a later date.”

Clifford explained there is a six-year statute of limitations.

There will be mud and sloppy turf Friday at Lengyel Field, but it won’t be enough to keep the University of Maine softball team from playing its home-opening doubleheader against Hartford.

Maine coach Janet Anderson said her players are thrilled to finally be able to play on their home field after 31 games on the road.

“After seven weeks on the road, it is time to be home,” said Anderson, whose team is looking to snap a 10-game losing streak. “I thinkwhose team is looking to snap a 10-game losing streak. “I think we need to be here. The kids are really looking forward to this weekend.”

Maine is 10-20-1, 0-6 in the North Atlantic Conference. Hartford checks in at 8-13, 2-6 in the league.

The Bears have received solid pitching from Jen Burton, Mary Persson, and Vicki Brenner, who have combined for a 2.57 earned run averaged. But Maine is batting only .227 as a team and has committed 53 errors in 31 games.

Senior catcher Kelly Dow has set the tone with the bat, hitting .333 with a team-leading 14 RBIs. Sophomore shortstop Michelle Puls of Bangor checks in at .300, including two home runs and 11 RBIs.

Adrienne Shibles, a former basketball standout at Mount View High School in Thorndike and Bates College in Lewiston, has been named the head women’s basketball coach at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.

Shibles had served as an assistant coach at Elms College for one season before taking over as head coach midway through last season. Previously, she spent two seasons as an assistant at Colby College in Waterville and one at Babson College in Babson Park, Mass.

Shibles graduated from Bates as a 1,000-point scorer and the Bobcats’ all-time leading rebounder. She is poised to earn a master’s degree in exercise and sports studies from Smith College in Northampton, Mass., where she was an assistant soccer coach for two seasons.

Amy Winchester of Orrington, a senior at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., set a school record in the shot put while finishing third in last weekend’s Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville, Tenn.

Winchester, a co-captain for the Big Green, heaved the shot 50 feet, 3 1/4 inches in the open meet, which included top college competitors and Olympic hopefuls.

Winchester, who also throws the discus, hammer, and javelin, has qualified for the NCAA championships in the shot put. She was a former soccer, basketball, and track star at Brewer High School.