Bedard, Fox, Ledbetter, Dye gain league honors> America East recognizes top players

The University of Maine men’s basketball team put a player on each America East all-star team and one on the all-rookie squad, but the Black Bears weren’t around to enjoy the moment Thursday night.

While the annual awards banquet was being held in Newark, Del., the Bears were completing a storm-induced travel nightmare in Baltimore, waiting for a bus to ferry them to the University of Delaware.

Junior guard Andy Bedard was named a first-team all-league selection, while fellow Boston College transfer Nate Fox, a junior, was a second-teamer. Senior forward Allen Ledbetter made the third team and freshman Huggy Dye was picked to the league’s all-rookie squad.

Delaware forward Mike Pegues was selected as the winner of the Kevin A. Roberson Player of the Year award. Drexel’s Joe Linderman and former Maine star John Gordon were also first-team all-conference picks. Northeastern’s Jean Bain was the league’s top rookie.

Maine coach John Giannini was pleased with the selection of three players to the all-conference teams, but admitted that the snubbing of Dye by league coaches irked him.

“Huggy had better numbers with less minutes on a better team,” Giannini said. “I don’t know how you can vote against that.”

Bedard averaged 16.6 points and 6.6 assists per game for the Bears in his first season at Maine.

The 6-foot-1 point guard from Rumford has handed out 172 assiseason, which puts him just six shy of the record Casey Arena set during the 1993-94 season.

Bedard is averaging 6.6 assists per game, and if the Black Bears win their Saturday quarterfinal matchup with Hartford, he’ll get two chances to reach the mark.

Bedard is also on track to set a school mark for the highest assists-per-game average. Old Town native Jeff Sturgeon set the record by handing out 6.3 apg in 1982-83.

Fox, a 6-8 power forward from Plainfield, Ill., finished the year as Maine’s top scorer and second-leading rebounder. He averaged 17.8 ppg and 8.0 rpg.

Ledbetter, a 6-6 center from Gary, Ind., is the second-leading rebounder in school history and surpassed the 1,000-point, 1,000-rebound mark in his last game. He averaged 10.8 ppg and 8.4 rpg on the year.

Dye averaged 9.9 ppg and 2.4 rpg as the Bears’ sixth man.

CORRECTION: It was incorrectly reported in Thursday’s paper that UMaine catcher Kregg Jarvais had surgery on his right elbow. Jarvais did not have surgery.

Amy Taylor, a senior guard at Bates College in Lewiston, recently became the ninth player in Bobcats history to score 1,000 career points.

The former Orono High standout recorded No. 1,000 on a 3-pointer during Bates’ Feb. 19 victory over Amherst. It seemed an appropriate way to accomplish the feat, as Taylor is the Bobcats’ all-time leader in 3-pointers with 103.

Coach Jim Murphy’s 19-3 Bates squad, ranked fourth in New England, is awaiting word on whether it will make a third consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Searsport’s Seth Brown has been named the new head women’s soccer coach at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D.

Former Maine Maritime Academy and Husson College coach Bill Ashby was the men’s first-year soccer coach this past fall and Brown was his assistant as well as the men’s JV coach.

Brown played for Ashby at MMA and he also coached the Bucksport High School boys team for two years.

“I’m looking forward to this. It’s very exciting. We have a chance to have a very successful season next fall,” said the 25-year-old Brown. “I’m going to see if I can get some girls from Maine or from the east coast to come out here.”

The University of Mary is an NAIA school that does give out athletic scholarships.

Brown replaces Paul Stubbs, who resigned after guiding the team through its first five seasons as a varsity program. Stubbs never had a losing season.

Sophomore Sarah Oldenburg of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., has qualified provisionally for two events in the NCAA Division III Championships.

During the New England Division III women’s championships, the former Bangor High star finished sixth in the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 1:00.09 and took seventh in the 100 freestyle in 54.16.

Oldenberg’s 100 fly time tied a 10-year-old school record.

She also placed sixth in the 50 free in 25.05 seconds.