Tracking the Bears

• Coast Guard Academy landed eight players, including six on defense, on the All-New England Football Conference team.

Senior defensive end Aaron Black and junior strong safety Joe Rizzardi were named to the first team for the second straight season while junior linebacker Kyle Wood also made the first team.

Senior linebacker Victor Rizzardi, senior defensive end Joel Wyman and junior free safety Mark Behne earned spots on the second team.

The Bears allowed a league-low 105 points in seven conference games this season.

"The defensve played outstanding all season long and having six players named to the all-conference team on the defensive side of the ball is well deserved," coach Bill George said in a release. "This was one of the better defenses that we have had here in my 16 years. They kept us in every game."

Junior punter Tyler Henning, who had a league best 41.3 yard average, was a first team pick while sophomore wide receiver Bryan Popp made the second team.

Camel highlights

• Senior midfielder Astrid Kempainen starred for the Connecticut College women's soccer team, on and off the field.

She earned the program's second New England Small College Athletic Conference Player of the Year award, helping lead the Camels to a program-record 16 wins and an NCAA tournament appearance.

They beat Swarthmore College, 3-1, and lost a second round game to Montclair State, 1-0 (2OT) last weekend. Kempainen, a biology major and Dean's List student, also is having a terrific career in the classroom. She is in the running for a spot on the Academic All-American team, which will be announced on Friday.

• The women's cross country team is sending a runner to the NCAA Division III Championships for the first time since 2002. Sophomore Ashley Curran qualified by finishing 11th in a personal best 22 minutes, 16 seconds, on Saturday at the regional meet in Williamstown, Mass. She also is the first Camel to earn All-New England honors since Jill Sergi, who's also from Franklin, Mass, in 2008. Curran and coach Ned Bishop will head to Mason, Ohio, for Saturday's national championship.

• Senior midfielder Heidi Halsted received National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-New England West Region second team honors. A co-captain, she had one goal and two assists while starting every game. She also is an All-NESCAC fall academic team selection.

• Women's basketball head coach Brian Wilson recently added Brian Fleming and Leah Rubega to his coaching staff. Rubega, a Norwich native, was an All-NESCAC player during his playings days at Bowdoin College.

Fleming served as the girls' basketball coach at Glastonbury High School and spent last season working with the Connecticut Sun in a role as a practice player and statistical analyst.

"It's wonderful to have the opportunity to be back in the basketball environent that I love," Rubega said in a released statement. "Growing up, I went to the Connecticut College basketball camp every summer, later helping coach it, and then also played in the NESCAC so it's rewarding to be able to help out."

Conn will travel to Mitchell College today for its season opener. The Camels won 14 games, including a program-best six NESCAC wins.

The Mariners are 0-1, losing their season opener to Albertus Magnus on Saturday. Sophomore Jessica Shepherd scored a career-high 24 points for Mitchell.

Mariners riding a wave

• Mitchell College senior Parris Hill is off a terrific start for the men's basketball team. He averaged 29 points, 8.5 rebounds and four steals last weekend for the Mariners who went 1-1 last in the Ramada Roundball Invitational at the University of New England.

He scored a tournament-record 36 points in a 95-73 rout of Maine Maritime in Sunday's consolation game. He was named to the all-tournament team.

Junior Donavan McClean is averaging 23 points and 5.5 rebounds after two games.

Around the region

• Freshman Zach Kosakowski of East Lyme is competing for the St. Michael's College swimming and diving team. He swam a leg on the 400 medley relay team in a meet against Clarkson last week.

• Massachusetts Maritime senior quarterback Jon Trudel, a Ledyard High School graduate, capped a fine career with a strong performance in a 31-21 win over Bridgewater State Saturday in the 36th Annual Cranberry Bowl.

He completed 22-of-32 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns, scoring from four, nine and 93 yards. He also rushed for 68 yards and caught a 21-yard pass.

• Sophomore Lindsay Schneider of East Lyme was one of WPI women's soccer players to earn New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference academic team honors. Qualifying student-athletes must possess a minimum grade point average of 3.5 after the 2014 spring season.

• University of Hartford sophomore Jeff Tryon of Montville was named to the America East All-Championship team. He scored his team's only goal in a 2-1 loss to University of Maryland-Baltimore County on Saturday.

- Gavin Keefe