5 USM athletes garner honors

Five University of Southern Maine track and field athletes – one man and four women – earned all-East Coast Athletic Conference honors with their performances in last week’s conference championship meet in Springfield, Mass.

Sophomore pole vaulter Adam Haggerty’s sixth-place finish in the event gave Southern Maine its lone points of the meet. Hermon’s Haggerty cleared 14 feet, 3.50 inches.

On the women’s side, Abbey Ahearn, Sara Marzouk, Dianna Thibaudeau and Caitlin Handcock all finished in the top eight of their events to earn all-conference honors.

Ahearn, a senior, finished sixth in the javelin with a throw of 125 feet, 3 inches. Marzouk, also a senior, ran to fifth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 11 minutes, 23.08 seconds. Senior Thibaudeau was fifth in the 400 hurdles in 1:04.62 while Handcock, a freshman, tied for seventh in the high jump with a leap of 5-0.25.

Ahearn and Marzouk are provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division III championships in the hammer throw and steeplechase, respectively.

DeWitt earns all-academic honor

UMass Lowell sophomore Joey DeWitt of Ellsworth was named to the Northeast-10 All-Academic team, the conference announced Monday.

DeWitt, a criminal justice major with a 3.34 grade point average, earned All-American honors this past indoor season in the distance medley relay at the NCAA indoor championships. Running the 1,200 meter leg, he posted a time of 3:04.

In addition to his All-American status, DeWitt was a three-time All-New England standout, leading the River Hawks’ distance medley and 4×800 relay teams to second-place finishes as well as a fifth in the mile (4:13.00).

DeWitt also enjoyed a stellar cross country season, highlighted by all-conference honors and leading the River Hawks to an appearance in the NCAA Championships. He was 18th among 237 runners at the NE-10 meet and led the Hawks to second in the NCAA Regional with a 20th-place finish.