Husson’s Pilsbury gets NAIA All-America spot Sophomore scorer (25 ppg) named to Third Team

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Husson College sophomore Robert Pilsbury impressed fans and coaches all season long with his long-range shooting skills and explosive offensive abilities. This week the nation’s coaches rewarded Portland’s Pilsbury by naming him a third-team National Intercollegiate Athletic Association All-American. Pilsbury averaged more…
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Husson College sophomore Robert Pilsbury impressed fans and coaches all season long with his long-range shooting skills and explosive offensive abilities.

This week the nation’s coaches rewarded Portland’s Pilsbury by naming him a third-team National Intercollegiate Athletic Association All-American.

Pilsbury averaged more than 25 points per game while leading the Braves to a 21-5 record and a berth in the NAIA Division II national tourney in Point Lookout, Mo.

Pilsbury capped his first year at Husson by scoring 43 points in a 92-79 loss to St. Mary (Kansas) College in the tourney’s first round.

Husson has placed several players on the NAIA honor rolls over the years, but Pilsbury joins a select group of Braves who have been named to one of three 10-member All-American squads.

The other Braves who have won similar honors: Raymond Alley, who was a first-team NAIA All-American in both 1993 and 1994, and Chris Funk, who was a third-teamer in 1999.

This year 68 more players garnered honorable mention status. Among those were Maine Athletic Conference players C.J. Vose and Shaun Tomblin.

Vose, a sophomore at St. Joseph’s College in Standish, and Tomblin, a senior at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, were honorable mention All-American selections.

Leavitt headed to USM

Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield’s Amanda Leavitt will join a host of former Eastern Maine basketball standouts at the University of Southern Maine next year.

She’ll know most of the team when she suits up for the Huskies next fall, with players such as Camden-Rockport grad Meg Cressler, Orono’s Jessica Libby, Bangor’s Kara Crockett, Nikki Allen of George Stevens Academy in Blue Hill and Larisa Sobey of Bangor Christian. But that wasn’t the main reason she’ll play for coach Gary Fifield at the school in Gorham.

“They play a lot out of state, and I didn’t want to just play in-state,” Leavitt said Wednesday. “And my parents can come and watch. … I know a lot of the players, yeah, but the team is really good and I get along with the coach. I like him and I felt comfortable with everyone.”

Leavitt, a top-notch shortstop for MCI, also wants to play softball at USM.

The 5-foot-6 guard earned honorable mentions for the Eastern Maine Class B All-Tourney team and last year’s NEWS All-Maine squad. She was the second-leading scorer in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference this year (20.4 points per game) and was named to the KVAC All-Defensive team.

USM was the only school Leavitt visited, although she did garner some interest from Michigan and Colgate.

“I really didn’t go into it as far as I should have,” she said.

Wiberg named MSCC All-Star

Eastern Maine Technical College’s Nick Wiberg and Brad Galley recently played for the Maine Small College Conference all-star team when it earned a win over an all-star team from other New England states.

Wiberg a senior from Stonington, was named the most valuable player of the game. He has been nominated as a National Small College Conference All-American.

Galley, a senior from Campobello, New Brunswick, joined Wiberg as a Yankee Conference and MSCC all-star selection.

Zane gains NSCAA national post

Gary Zane, the athletics director at Unity College, has been selected as the first vice president of the National Small College Athletic Association.

Zane was elected during the organization’s annual meeting held recently in Tampa, Fla. His duties for the NSCAA will include supervising women’s eligibility for member schools.

Zane, who also coaches the men’s soccer team at Unity, serves as the chairman of the Yankee Small College Athletic Conference.

The NSCAA is a national organization dedicated to promoting athletic competition at colleges with less than 1,000 students.

Maine players on NEWBA squad

Colby College of Waterville, Bates College of Lewiston and Bowdoin College of Brunswick each have placed one player on the New England Women’s Basketball Association Division III All-Star Team.

Sarah Walsh of Colby and Kate McLaughlin of Bates each were named to the All-NEWBA First Team, while Kristi Royer of Bowdoin was a second-team choice.

Three players from Maine schools also will compete in the 19th NEWBA Division III Senior Classic Game scheduled for Saturday at Western Connecticut State University.

Carolyn Brown of St. Joseph’s College in Standish and Jen Hallee of Colby will play on the White squad, while Rebecca Roak of the University of Maine-Farmington will compete on the Dark team, which will be coached by Gary Fifield of the University of Southern Maine.

Trenkle sparkles for Bowdoin

Lora Trenkle of Surry recently wrapped up a memorable freshman basketball season at Bowdoin College in Brunswick.

The smooth-shooting guard, a former star at George Stevens Academy in Blue Hill, helped spark the Polar Bears to a 21-8 record, the best in the program’s history, and a spot in the NCAA Division III sectional semifinal.

New York University beat Bowdoin 64-60 in the Round of 16.

Trenkle was named the New England Small College Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year after averaging 13.4 points per game for Bowdoin. The all-conference second-team pick also led the league in free throw percentage at .880 (110-for-125) and ranked fifth with a .461 field-goal percentage (124-for-269).

Trenkle averaged 4.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists for the Polar Bears.

Blanchard solid as freshman

Brianna Blanchard recently completed a strong freshman season at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H.

The 6-foot shooting guard out of Presque Isle High School led the Hawks in scoring with 13.6 points per game and was selected as the Northeast-10 Conference Freshman of the Year while earning a spot on the all-conference third team.

Blanchard registered a team-high 52 steals and contributed 5.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while helping Saint Anselm post a 14-14 record. She shot 32 percent from the 3-point arc, connecting on 54 attempts, and ranked fifth in the league with 2.0 per game.


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