Local College Roundup: Conn's LeDuc finishes third in NESCAC cross country meet

Brunswick, Maine - Connecticut College senior Michael LeDuc was third in 24 minutes, 39 seconds Saturday on the 8K course at the New England Small College Athletic Conference men's cross country championship.

LeDuc earned first team All-NESCAC recognition for the third straight season.

Bowdoin's Colby Horowitz posted a time of 24:26 to win the race on his home course. Tufts placed five of its runners among the top 20 to win the team title with 66 points. Conn was eighth with 199 points.

Also for Conn, Patrick Dermody was 34th place with a time of 25:29, followed by Andrew Duarte (43rd, 25:46), Andrew Majkut (68th, 26:31), Brad DeMarco (85th, 26:54), Tristan Cole (87th, 26:56) and Tim Murtagh (96th, 27:12).

In other meets:

• Coast Guard junior Gary Ezzo placed third overall (25:54) and made the all-conference team as the Bears placed fourth at the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference championships at Smith College in Northhampton, Mass. MIT won its 15th consecutive NEWMAC title (15 points), while Coast Guard had 95 points. Other top finishers for Coast Guard were junior Ryan O'Neal (22nd, 27:07.54) and sophomores Joe O'Connell (24th, 27:13.17) and James Martin (27th, 27:31.61).

• Mitchell College came in third at the NECC championship at Harkness Memorial State Park. The Mariners had 67 points as Lesley won with 17, taking four of the top five spots. Making the top 10 for Mitchell were Spencer Daniel (9th, 30:59) and Andrew Castagna (9th, 31:12), making them second-team NECC selections. Michael Edwards was 14th and Zach Hoch from Fishers Island was 16th for Mitchell.

Women's cross country

• Coast Guard sophomore Bethany Gollin placed 28th (19:42.50) as the Bears placed fifth (148 points) at the NEWMAC Championships. Top-ranked MIT had the top eight finishers and won its sixth straight championship (15 points). The Bears' other top finishers were senior Sarah Blatt (33rd, 19:59), junior Meghan Kalinowski (37th, 20:01.27), sophomore Kendall Auth (20:18.55) and freshman Emily Quallen (50th, 20:24.18).

• Mitchell College finished second for the second straight year at the NECC championship at Harkness Memorial State Park. The Mariners had 71 points as Lesley won with 16. Stonington's Sheilah Newcity was Mitchell's top finisher, coming in 8th at 22:14. Other top finishers for Mitchell were Bridget Burns (10th) and Katie Buchanan (13th). Mitchell coach Todd Peretz was honored as the NECC Coach of the Year and Newcity made the second team.

• Ariana Beers, a freshman, finished 17th for Connecticut College at the NESCAC championship, covering the 6K course at Bowdoin College in 22:22. It was the highest finish for a member of the Camels since Maura Danahy was fourth in 2001. Conn was 10th with 285 points. Williams College successfully defended its team title by placing three of its runners among the top five. Other top finishers for Conn were Michelle Wesley (89th, 24:05), Emily Winter (91st, 24:11), Nicole Adam (101st, 24:36) and Anna Laurence (103rd, 24:43).

Women's soccer

• Coast Guard scored once in each half and closed out its season with a 2-0 win over WPI in a NEWMAC game. Emily Marks and Liz Kenis scored goals, Kristen Euchler and Kelsey Freeman had assists and Holly Moore made seven saves for Coast Guard (3-13, 1-8).

• Mitchell jumped out to a 2-0 lead and held on to beat Bay Path 2-1 in a NECC game. Alexandra Charles and Samantha Cilenti scored goals, Malorie Klieber had an assist and Kaylee Woodford made four saves for Mitchell (4-9, 4-5).

• Williams, the No. 2 seed, used three first-half goals to defeat No. 7 Conn College 3-0 in the first round of the NESCAC playoffs. Williams (11-3-1) began its scoring in the fifth minute. Natalie Signor made six saves in the first half for Conn (5-8-2).

Men's soccer

• Erik Littlehales' second-half goal lifted Mitchell College to a 2-1 win over Regis in a NECC game. Mitchell (7-7, 5-2) clinched the second seed in the NECC tournament and a first-round bye. Michael Berthiaume also scored and Ramazan Sinani made three saves for Mitchell.

• Babson scored four times in the second half and beat Coast Guard 4-0 in the NEWMAC and regular-season finale for both teams. Coast Guard (4-1-1) earned the No. 2 seed in the NEWMAC tournament and plays No. 3 Springfield at Babson on Saturday.

• Williams, ranked ninth nationally, won its seventh straight game, beating Conn College 2-1 in the NESCAC tournament quarterfinals, but needing to come from behind to do so. Eighth-seeded Conn took a 1-0 lead at the 26-minute mark of the first half on a goal from Billy Hawkey, giving No. 1 Williams (13-0-2) its first deficit of the year at home. Chris Seitz scored the tying goal before halftime, however, for Williams and the Ephs' Patrick Ebobisse scored just 1:45 into the second half for the game-winner. Conn finished the season 5-4-6.

Volleyball

• Coast Guard lost to Springfield 3-0 in its regular-season finale. Kerrian Mason had 11 kills, Kelsey DePorto had nine kills, Samantha Marmolejo had 13 digs and Anne Brazier had four blocks for Coast Guard (17-13, 6-3), which is the fourth seed in the NEWMAC tournament and hosts No. 5 WPI Tuesday.

• Regis College won a critical New England Collegiate Conference matchup, defeating Mitchell College 25-19, 25-20, 24-26, 21-25, 15-11.

Mitchell (6-15, 3-5) was led by a career-high 17 kills from senior Arianna Thomas, who also finished with 27 digs, while junior Nicole Terni of Montville had a season-high 41 assists.

Mitchell is slated to play in the quarterfinals of the NECC Championship on Tuesday, the Mariners' first appearance since 2009.

• Caroline Martin had 11 kills, Katie Ketcham 33 assists and Carly Guiducci 16 digs as Connecticut College topped Western Connecticut State 25-20, 16-25, 25-17, 25-21. Conn is 22-2. Griswold graduate Nina Wojtkiewicz had 26 digs for Western (18-12).

Conn also beat UMass-Dartmouth 3-0 as Anelise Hohl had 10 kills and Rachel Schroff added eight kills and nine digs. Conn is the top seed and hosts the NESCAC tournament next weekend and plays No. 8 Colby Friday.

Men's swimming

• Derrian Duryea was part of two winning relay teams that led Coast Guard to a third-place finish at the season-opening Union Relays.

Duryea was the first leg of the 300 yard breaststroke relay team with Michael Piantedosi and Timothy Dion that finished first with a time of 3:12.29. Duryea was also part of the 200 yard medley relay with Jacob Kramb, Christian Brindamour and Ryan Buys that was first at 1:39.81. Coast Guard also won the 200 freestyle relay. Adam Hoburg, Alex Dona, Kevin Smith and Brindamour finished at 1:29.31.

Women's swimming

• Chantel Ferguson was part of two second-place relay teams, leading Coast Guard to a third-place finish at the Union Relays. The 400 yard medley relay team of Ashley Ezell, Darlene Sao, Ferguson and Terri Jozsa finished second with a time of 4:14.41. Ferguson, Ezell and Megan Toomey were second in the 300-yard butterfly at 3:11.71.