Husson student-athletes flying high in the classroom

After reviewing the spring 2007 academic statistics, Husson College officials, faculty members and coaches are flying high over the grade point averages of the Eagles’ student-athletes.

Almost half (47.6 percent) of the students involved in Husson’s 11 athletic programs obtained a spring GPA of 3.0 or better and 51 of them achieved high honors status (3.5 or better).

In all, 134 student-athletes had a GPA of 3.0 or better.

“I’d say it’s an example of the gradual progress all our programs have made over the last three years since we started tracking it,” said Husson sports information director and varsity men’s basketball coach Warren Caruso. “I think it’s proof of the quality of the student-athletes we’re attracting to our school.”

Caruso’s program is one of two to boast more than one student-athlete with a 4.0 GPA with junior accounting majors Nick Henry of Penobscot and Joe Kane of Bradford. The other program is men’s soccer with freshmen Bradley Ala of Caribou (physical therapy) and Hiroki Ueda of Shizuoka, Japan (finance).

“A lot of those 4.0 students are in accounting and nursing and physical therapy,” Caruso said. “It’s a pretty broad range of studies and many of them are very demanding.”

The other 4.0 student-athletes and their sports are junior business administration major Sam Adolphsen of Union (baseball), senior sports management major Erin Brown of Belfast (field hockey), senior elementary education major Kaylin Caron of Sandown, N.H. (women’s soccer), senior business administrative major Mike Simpson of Auburn (football), and sophomore physical therapy major Michelle Varney of Houlton (softball).

“I think the thing we really respect about all our student-athletes, but these in particular, is how they’ve balanced their studies with varsity sports participation,” said Jonathan “Gabby” Price, Husson’s athletic director and varsity football coach. “It’s quite an accomplishment.”

The combined 2007 spring GPA for all school athletes was 2.91. Husson’s women athletes were 3.06 while the men were 2.81.

“It’s a tremendous effort by our student-athletes and it’s something we take a lot of pride in,” Price said. “This is just an example of how we’re trying to raise the bar for everyone across the board.”

Thomas’ Pierce goes pro

Thomas College senior James Pierce is making his debut as a professional baseball player this summer in the new Israel Baseball League.

The Dorchester, Mass., native was an infielder on Thomas’ baseball team.

Despite being a Catholic who doesn’t speak Hebrew or have any family connections in the Middle East, Pierce tried out for the team last summer at the Dan Duquette Academy in Massachusetts. He made the roster of Bet Shemesh Blue Sox and signed a $2,000, two-month contract including housing and a plane ticket.

The league began play June 24 and the Blue Sox won their first nine games. Signing a pro contract makes Pierce ineligible to play ball for Thomas, but he still plans to return to Thomas’ Waterville campus late next month to resume his studies.

Through Sunday, Pierce was batting .206 with two home runs and 11 RBIs in 22 games with the Blue Sox. The second baseman had 13 hits, 11 walks and 16 strikeouts in 63 at-bats. Bet Shemesh was leading the league with a 16-7 record.

Nor’easters get a Mulligan

Former Wabash College assistant coach Jason Mulligan has been hired as head men’s basketball coach at the University of New England in Biddeford.

The Highland, Ind., native and Olivet Nazarene University graduate was an assistant at NCAA Division III Wabash for six seasons. He served as recruiting coordinator, defensive coach, strength and conditioning coach, and summer camp coordinator.

Mulligan earned a master’s degree in education from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Bates senior bests top American

Bates College senior Ricky Weisskopf, a three-time College Squash Association All-American, scored one of the biggest wins of his squash career last week at the Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Weisskopf defeated top American player Julian Illingworth 9-3, 9-0, 9-5 in the Pan Am Games team competition last week to give El Salvador its only point in a 2-1 loss to the United States squad. Weisskopf then suffered a 9-4, 9-3, 9-4 loss to Mexico’s Eric Galvez the next day in a 3-0 Mexico victory over El Salvador.

In the individual competition, top seed Shahier Razik of Canada beat Weisskopf 9-0, 9-2, 9-1 in the first round. Galvez beat Illingworth in the championship final.

Weisskopf is from San Salvador and has competed for his national team since he was 16.