Local college notes

Tracking the Bears

• Coast Guard Academy swimming coach John Westkott needs two victories to reach 150 career wins. In his 13th season, he leads the men and women against Clark Saturday in the final home meet this season. He's posted 101 wins with the men's team and 47 wins with the women. Under Westkott's guidance, the men have won six New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference championships. He's been named NEWMAC Coach of the Year five times.

• Freshman Nate Giorgio is the top-ranked wrestler in New England at the 125-pound weight class and stands seventh in the nation. He owns a 20-4 record with seven pins. So far this season, Giorgio earned Most Outstanding Lightweight at the Roger Williams Invitational and won the New Standard Invite at York (Pa.) College.

Other CGA wrestlers having solid seasons include senior Pat Leavitt (184) and junior Colin Schuster (157) who both are 12-7 overall. The Bears compete in the All-Academy Championship Feb. 5 at the Air Force Academy.

• Here's a great chance to watch both Coast Guard basketball teams play on one night. The Bears host a NEWMAC doubleheader Wednesday against Wheaton. The women play at 5:30 p.m. and the men tip-off at 7:30.

Sophomore Kaitlin Ward averages a team-high 12.8 points and freshman Brittney Zimmerman scores 11.6 per game for the women while freshman Jamie Waterman leads the team in rebounding at 6.5 per game. The Bears, who started five freshmen on Saturday, have experienced some growing pain, going 5-9 overall and 1-9 in the NEWMAC.

Junior Greg Marshall is the top scorer for the men, averaging 15.6 points, and freshman David Anderson is top rebounder at 6.5 per game to go with 12.3 points while Kevin Sowers (10.8 pts) also scores in double figures. The Bears are 6-9, 0-5.

Camel notes

• Connecticut College sophomore Julia Pielock earned the New England Small College Athletic Conference swimmer of the week award. She won 50, 100 and 200 freestyle races for the 21st-ranked Camels in a win over Wesleyan Saturday.

For the 25th-ranked men's team, Tim Walsh recently provisionally qualified for the 2012 NCAA Championship in the 100 backstroke.

• The women's basketball team is in third place in the NESCAC at 4-2 and stands at 13-3 overall. Sophomore Tara Gabelman leads the league in double-double games with 10 and also ranks first in rebounds per game at 10.9 and second in scoring at 15.8. She also resides in the top 10 in blocks (sixth, 1.13), free throw percentage (sixth, 60.0) and field goal percentage (seventh, 47.4).

Freshman Carlee Smith is second in assists with 5.25 while senior Jenn Shinall is first in 3-point field goals per game (2.81), third in 3-point field goal percentage (41.3) and fourth in steals (2.69).

• The men's team may be struggling at 6-12 overall, 0-6 in conference play, but they're sinking their free throws at a league-leading 76 percent.

• Sophomore Mike Sinsigalli has the hot scoring touch, contributing goals in four of the last five games for the men's hockey team. The Camels are 4-10-2, 2-7-1.

• The women's hockey team is attempting to make program history by posting a winning record in two straight seasons. The Camels are 8-5-2 overall after going 12-11-2 last season. They're unbeaten in their last six games and stand at 5-4-1 in NESCAC play. Sophomore Courtney Dumont leads the team in scoring with five goals and eight assists and junior Ariel DiPasquale has eight goals.

Mariners making waves

• Sophomore Joshua Ford, a 6-foot-4-inch forward, is the top rebounder in the New England Collegiate Conference, averaging 11.6 per game. He also averages a team-best 13.0 points. Senior Paul Jefferson ranks third in NECC in 3-point field goal percentage at 43.6.

• For the women's team, freshman guard Sheanna James is fourth in the conference in scoring at 14.5 points per game and freshman Zilka Navarro is third in 3-point field goal percentage at 32.2.

Around the region

• Norwich Free Academy graduate Kastine Evans is a starting guard for the nationally-ranked Kentucky women's basketball team. A sophomore, she has appeared in all 20 games, starting 18, and averaged 7.4 points and 4.2 rebounds in 25.6 minutes per game.

• Addison Koelle, a junior from Groton, placed third in two events in the Maryland swimming team's 202-97 win over West Virginia Saturday. She finished in 2:02.69 in the 200 butterfly and in 57.62 in the 100 butterfly.

• At Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Christine Rochester, a sophomore from Waterford, is a member of the acrobatics and tumbling team. She was an All-ECC and all-state cheerleader for the Lancers.

Lyman Memorial graduate Kelly Sorrell, a graduate student, is competing on the indoor track team. She was the 2005 State Open high school cross country champion and a three-time Class SS champion.

• Sam Alexander, a senior from Waterford, finished third in the 3,000 meters (8:21.50) for the Central Connecticut State University track team in the Albany (N.Y.) Great Dane Classic Friday.

- Gavin Keefe