Husson golf team preparing for NEGCA event

loading...

The Husson College golf team is preparing for Monday and Tuesday’s New England Golf Coach’s Association Tournament at the Captain’s Golf Club in Brewster, Mass., after a regular season in which the team won eight tournaments and had a combined head-to-head record of 70-5.

“They can play. It’s really something to watch. They are very skilled and competitive and good kids,” coach Bruce MacGregor said.

Four of the team’s five golfers were selected to the five-man Sunrise Conference all-star team.

Corey Pion, a senior from Vassalboro and the team’s captain, was named Sunrise Conference Player of the Year.

Also named to the team were juniors Corey Poulin of Jackman and Joe Finemore of Sydney and freshman Ross McGee of Fairfield.

McGee was also named the conference rookie of the year.

Junior Shane Ross of Pittsfield is the team’s fifth starter.

“Corey Poulin has been the medalist in five of the eight tournaments we’ve played and Corey Pion was medalist at the Sunrise tournament,” MacGregor said.

Husson won the Maine Intercollegiate Championship last month at Riverside Municipal Golf Course in Portland, shooting a team total 278.

“In our last eight rounds, the team has averaged 295,” MacGregor said. “That’s a 73.8 stroke average per player.”

The Braves will play in the NAIA Region X tournament at a Cape Cod course in the spring where they hope to qualify for the nationals for the fourth straight year. Pion participated in the individual championships there two years ago.

Following next week’s tournament, the team will begin fund raising for a trip to Florida in March. The team will play in a tournament there and hopes to schedule other matches.

“We’re making the transition from NAIA to NCAA so we’re playing more NCAA schools [on the trip],” MacGregor said.

Clement leads Thomas Hall

Dover-Foxcroft’s Dave Clement, the Thomas Athlete of the Year in 1971, was one of four recent inductees into the Thomas College Hall of Fame.

Clement, a 1971 Thomas graduate, starred for the basketball and baseball teams. He currently ranks eighth on the all-time Thomas scoring list for basketball and led the school to its only conference championship in 1969.

Bob Woodbury of Brunswick, Jeff Willett of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and Robert Meader of Portland were also inducted into the Thomas Hall.

Woodbury, who is not a Thomas alum, served as the sports director for WTVL radio of Waterville from 1969-84 when he broadcast many Thomas games. He also covered many sporting events as a sportswriter for the Central Maine Morning Sentinel in Waterville from 1984-96.

Meader, a 1969 Thomas graduate, played basketball, soccer and baseball at the school. He is 15th on the all-time men’s basketball scoring list and captained the team for two seasons. He was also team captain in soccer.

Willett, a 1995 Thomas graduate, was a member of the school’s golf team which competed in the NAIA national golf tourney. He is currently a caddie for PGA Tour pro Steven Gangluff.

Benoit headlines Bowdoin Hall

Olympic marathoner Joan Benoit Samuelson headlines the inaugural class of the Bowdoin College Athletic Hall of Honor which will hold an induction ceremony at the Brunswick-based school on Oct. 19.

Samuelson, who won the gold medal in the first Olympic women’s marathon in 1984, is a 1979 Bowdoin grad and a Cape Elizabeth native. She is also a two-time Boston Marathon winner and earned the Sullivan Award in 1985 as the top U.S. amateur athlete.

Also being inducted are three-sport star Jill Bermingham Isenhart (Class of 1986), hockey standout Ken Martin (1969), three-sport standout C. Nels Corey (1939), and hockey coach Sidney Watson.

Colby to honor Smith

Patricia Valavanis Smith, a past top athlete at Colby College, will be honored as the Colby C Club Woman of the Year at the Colby Night dinner Friday at 6 p.m. in the Cotter Union’s Page Commons Room.

Valavanis Smith held 12 school records in women’s basketball at the time of her graduation in 1980 and still ranks fourth all-time in career scoring with 1,165 points.

In softball, Smith had a 35-4 record and threw two no-hitters while leading Colby to three Maine state championships.