Kariya Academic All-America pick

University of Maine sophomore center Martin Kariya, who led the Black Bear hockey team to a berth in the NCAA Tournament’s quarterfinals, has been selected to the Verizon Academic All-American University Division Men’s Fall-Winter At-Large third team.

He has a 3.75 grade point average in mathematics and was one of only four sophomores honored among the 36 student-athletes chosen.

Kariya was Maine’s leading scorer with 36 points on 12 goals and 24 assists in 39 games. He was tied for fourth on the team in plus-minus at plus-five and was tied for 11th in Hockey East in overall points. In Hockey East regular-season games, he was tied for eighth in the league in points with 23 (7 & 16) in 24 games. Maine finished 20-12-7.

“This is humbling. I didn’t expect it,” said Kariya. “My focus has mainly been on hockey. But school is very important, too. It’s awfully hard [to balance the two]. You have to manage your time.”

He cited his quality secondary education in North Vancouver, British Columbia, and the fact his parents [T.K. and Sharon] are both teachers who stress education as two of the reasons behind his academic success.

He is the fourth member of his family to attend Maine behind hockey stars Paul and Steve and field hockey standout Noriko Kariya.

He is the first Maine player this year to receive CoSIDA Academic All-American accolades but the Black Bears have placed four student-athletes on the Verizon Academic All-District teams.

Wide receiver Phil McGeoghan was picked to the football District 1 team; field hockey goalie Danielle Burke, cross country runner Vanessa McGowan and Kariya were District 1 first-team selections on the Fall-Winter At-Large teams.

Condon earns Colby senior award

Presque Isle’s Kim Condon was named the recipient of Colby College’s Pamela Hoyt-Sanborn Award given to the senior female student-athlete for her inspirational leadership and sportsmanship.

Condon finished as the school’s seventh all-time leading scorer with more than 1,000 points despite an injury-marred career that limited her to 21/2 seasons.

Condon, a government major with a minor in art, captained this past season’s team to the ECAC New England championship.

The other senior award winners were football-hockey player Drew Johnson (Donald P. Lake Award) and women’s lacrosse player Angela Pappas (Marjorie D. Bither Award) for athletic ability, leadership and academic accomplishment; soccer defender Sara Lovitz of Fairfield and men’s basketball player Samuel Clark of Woolwich, who won the E.W. Millett Awards for those who have contributed the most to athletics; diver Stephen Feldman, who won the Norman White Award for inspirational leadership and sportsmanship; and women’s lacrosse player Valerie Cooper, who received the Warren J. Finegan Award for significant behind-the-scenes contributions to the success of Colby athletics.