The Colby College community is mourning this week after the accidental drowning of longtime Waterville resident Thomas Kopp.

Kopp, 69, was on a camping trip Saturday with his son and three grandsons when their boat was swamped by a wave on Great Pond in Belgrade. The other members of the party survived the accident.

Kopp was the senior associate dean of admission at Colby, where he had worked for almost 30 years.

Prior to joining the Colby admissions department in 1983, Kopp was a successful athlete and coach. He arrived at Colby in 1978 as an assistant football coach. Kopp briefly served as the Mules’ head coach.

The Connecticut native was an all-state selection at running back for Naugatuck High School in 1956. He went on to earn three varsity letters at the University of Connecticut.

Kopp played quarterback, leading the Huskies in passing during the 1960 season, and also was the punter. He helped UConn win two Yankee Conference championships and was a captain as a senior.

Kopp also was a catcher on the UConn baseball squad that went to the 1959 College World Series.

After graduation, he served as an assistant football coach at UConn and later was the defensive backs coach at Dartmouth College under Jake Crouthamel from 1971-79.

Kopp also worked in the Minnesota Twins organization, according to his resume.

Karlsson joins Bentley staff

Former University of Maine basketball player and associate head coach Kathy Karlsson has joined the coaching staff at Bentley College in Waltham, Mass.

The Auburn native is now working for head coach Barbara Stevens, the winningest coach in Division II women’s basketball history, at the Division II school.

“We’re very fortunate to have Kathy Karlsson on our coaching staff,” Stevens said in a press release. “With the wealth of experience she possesses, we’re excited about all that she can bring to our program.”

Karlsson, 38, previously coached six seasons in the Northeast-10 Conference as an assistant under Anne McInerney at Merrimack College. She followed McInerney to UMaine when McInerney became the Black Bears’ head coach in 2005.

Karlsson spent two seasons as the associate head coach at UMaine. Her time there was marred by here arrest last November for operating under the influence of alcohol.

She was subsequently suspended for three games by UMaine athletic director Blake James, but returned to the bench and finished out the season.

Karlsson played three seasons at UMaine, graduating in 1991 with a B.A. in education. She later earned a master’s in human movement and physical education from Boston University in 1992.

MMA’s St. Pierre, Allen honored

Maine Maritime Academy volleyball standouts Nicole St. Pierre of Baileyville and Becca Allen of Bucksport have earned ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American District 1 College Division honors.

St. Pierre earned first-team honors while Allen was tabbed for the second team. This marks the first time in school history an MMA athlete has earned an Academic All-America honor.

Colby names assistant coaches

Former Mt. Blue of Farmington running standout Erin Archard and former Gardiner boys basketball coach Dana Doran are among six new assistant coaches at Colby College this winter.

Doran, who played college ball at the University of Maine and Lafayette College, will join the men’s basketball program along with Mike Kerner, who is an assistant with Colby’s crew programs.

Archard, a 2007 graduate of Middlebury, was an assistant cross country coach this fall. She will help out with the men’s and women’s indoor track and field programs.

The Mt. Blue product led the Cougars to three Class A state championships and later paced Middlebury College to a pair of national championships.

Other additions include Zachary Gray (men’s and women’s swimming), Ryan Kelly (men’s and women’s Nordic skiing), and Kerry Leonard (women’s ice hockey).

Colby to play all games on road

The Colby men’s and women’s basketball teams will play their home gams at neutral sites this winter while the new court is installed at Wadsworth Gymnasium.

The Mules men open their home schedule Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. against UMaine-Fort Kent at Thomas College in Waterville.

On Nov. 26, the women’s and men’s teams entertain the University of New England of Biddeford at the Augusta Civic Center. Game times are 5:30 for the women and approixmately 7:30 for the men.

Colby’s old court needed to be replaced due to water damage sustained last spring.

Mules heading to Nationals

The Colby women’s cross country team’s fourth-place finish at last weekend’s New England Division III NCAA Qualifier earned the Mules a trip to Saturday’s national championship meet at Olaf (Minn.) College.

The Mules also will send individual men’s qualifier John Swain.

Other individual qualifiers from Maine institutions include Matt Dunlap of Bates and Southern Maine’s Curtis Wheeler.