USM’s Marble, Fifield honored Colby skier wins national title

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The University of Southern Maine and Bates College have certainly put their stamps on the New England-Northeast hoops scene and D3hoops.com has noticed.

The Huskies’ Ashley Marble has been named D3hoops.com Northeast Region Player of the Year, USM coach Gary Fifield is the Northeast Region Coach of the Year, and Marble was also selected for the D3hoops.com Northeast All-Region first team.

Marble a junior forward from Topsfield, is also one of 40 finalists for the NCAA Division III Kodak/WBCA All-America Team.

Bates teammates Meg Coffin and Sarah Barton were also named to the first team.

USM senior forward Megan Myles of Auburn was named to the women’s second team.

The D3hoops.com Northeast All-Region men’s team was also well represented by Mainers as Colby-Sawyer College senior guard-forward Andrew St. Clair of Pittsfield was named to the first team for the second straight year and Colby College junior center Drew Cohen was named a second team selection.

St. Clair closed out his college career as the only Colby-Sawyer player to record 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in his career. Cohen led NCAA Division III teams nationally in blocks with 4.83 per game and 111 total.

Marble leads USM in scoring (17.3), rebounding (9.5) and shooting (54.3 percent). Coffin led the Bobcats in points (17.1 per game), rebounding (11.0), steals (2.3) and blocks (1.6) while also setting a school record for field goal percentage at 59.2 percent. Barton led the New England Small College Athletic Conference in assists (7.1 per game) and 3-point shooting percentage (41.9).

Myles is USM’s second-leading scorer (12.8 points) and rebounder (5.6) and leader in blocked shots (35) and steals (64).

Fifield is a 12-time Little East Conference coach of the year and this year’s WBCA Region One Coach of the Year. His Huskies are 31-1 and playing in the Final Four.

Lathrop takes national title

Colby College senior Abbi Lathrop capped a memorable week at the NCAA Skiing Championships in Steamboat Springs, Colo., by becoming the first Colby skier to win a national championship while competing against Division I opponents.

The senior from North Conway, N.H., won both runs of the giant slalom to earn her fourth straight All-America honor in the event and finished seventh in the slalom to earn a second All-America honor.

Lathrop, who is the fourth Colby athlete to win an individual national title, won the giant slalom with runs of 1 minute, 7.69 seconds and 1:09.16. She and her twin sister Jenny were All-Americans three years ago in giant slalom as freshmen. Jenny left Colby after her sophomore year and made the U.S. National “C” Ski Team. Their father Jeff is a 1968 graduate of Colby and a former White Mules ski coach.

In the slalom, Lathrop finished 10th in the first run, but blazed down the hill with the fastest second run at 41.24 seconds for a two-run total of 1:23.83.

The top eight in each event qualify for All-America honors.

Norsworthy triple All-American

Kelly Norsworthy, a sophomore at Colby College, earned All-American honors with two second-place finishes and a seventh place as well at the NCAA Division III Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Minneapolis, Minn., on Saturday.

Norsworthy had a Colby-record time of 2 minutes, 18.18 seconds in the championship final of the 200-yard breaststroke to finish second and earn her third All-American finish. The sophomore also finished second in the 100 breaststroke and seventh in the 200 individual medley. She also swam the second leg of Colby’s 18th-place 400 free relay and the second leg of the team’s 17th-place 200 free relay team.

Bates College freshman Kelsey Lamdin was sixth in the 3-meter platform diving competition with 433.40 points and also earned All-America status.

Bates 12th at NCAA ski finals

Bates College finished 12th overall at the NCAA skiing championships in Steamboat Springs, Minn., last weekend.

Bates scored 189 points to finish third among traditional NCAA Division III schools.

The best performance for the Bobcats came in the giant slalom, where Megan Papineau, Whitney Fahy and Liz Thompson put Bates in sixth overall as Papineau was 17th in 2:25.54, Fahy was 22nd (2:27.34) and Thompson was 24th (2:28.63).

Senior Seth Hubbard of Farmington led the Bobcats’ charge in the 20-kilometer classic race with a 24th-place finish in 59:18.6. In the women’s slalom race, Papineau was 25th, while Sean McKenna led the men’s team in slalom with a 31st-place finish.

Ellsworth’s Macbeth shines

Bates College senior Keelin Godsey finished second in the women’s shot put at the recent NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships in Northfield, Minn., with a throw of 46 feet, 101/4 inches to earn All-America status.

Bates classmate Adam Macbeth of Ellsworth also earned All-American honors with a seventh-place finish in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.83 seconds.

Colby College sophomore Jess Minty finished as an All-American for a second straight season with an eighth-place finish in the women’s 800-meter run (2:19.80). Last year, she was second in the 800.

The University of Southern Maine had one All-American at the meet as junior Melissa Bellemore finished seventh in the pole vault with a vault of 3.55 meters (11-73/4).

Huskies pick three captains

University of Southern Maine’s softball team has selected its tri-captains for the 2006 season – seniors Caterina Riitano of Sangerville, Katie Mainville of Coopers Mills and Christen Lachapelle of Farmingdale. This is the second year Riitano and Lachapelle have been captains, but this is Mainville’s first time.