New London — The Coast Guard Academy has named Bill Randall, a 1982 graduate of the academy and a member of the school’s athletic hall of fame, as the director of rowing. He will oversee both the men’s and women’s programs.

Randall, a retired commander in the Coast Guard, was in the stroke seat for the Bears’ varsity 8 which won the Dad Vail Regatta in 1981.

He was a member of the 1987 U.S. National team that competed in the Rowing World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark and was the Elite Quadruple Scull National Champion in 1986 and the Masters National Champion in the quadruple scull in 2003.

“We are very pleased to be able to bring someone of Bill Randall's caliber on board here at the Coast Guard Academy to serve as our director of rowing,” Tim Fitzpatrick, Coast Guard athletic director, said in a press release. “… When I interviewed Bill, he told me that his two passions in life were rowing and the Coast Guard, and as our director of rowing he will undeniably have ample opportunities to pursue both relentlessly. This is a big day for CGA."

Randall has been the boys’ crew coach at Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va. for the past six years. He has also worked the U.S. Junior National Team Junior B Development Camp for the past seven summers and worked with the Resilient Rowing Club (juniors) for the past two falls allowing high school students to row during the fall season.

Randall coached previously at Coast Guard, overseeing the varsity lightweights from 1994-96 and the freshman rowers from 1992-94 while he was an assistant professor in electrical engineering. The Bears’ freshman lightweight eight took a silver medal at the 1994 National Championship Regatta.

“I’m very excited for Bill to be able to come back to Connecticut to take over at the helm of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy rowing team,” said Steve Hargis, the East Lyme High School athletic director, a former teammate of Randall’s and the junior men’s national team head coach. “His knowledge of the sport from both the athlete and coach perspective, his understanding of the requirements of a cadet-athlete at the academy today and his continued involvement in the sport for the past 35 years will serve Bill and the program very well.”

Potvin scholarship winners

• Twenty local high school athletes were honored Sunday at Dodd Stadium as the 2015 Christopher Potvin Scholarship recipients. Award winners were:

Griffin Beaney (Waterford), Tim Bouchard (St. Bernard), Katie Christensen (East Lyme), Brent Conderino (Waterford), Brianna Cottrell (Montville), Dylan Engels (Westbrook), Owen Guillot (Killingly), Ian Kilcoyne (Stonington), Connor Lewis (Waterford), Jamie Littlefield (Waterford), Daniel MacLean (NFA), Deanna McCarvell (New London), Michael McDermott (Waterford), Michael Nossek (Stonington), Hannah O'Brien (Old Lyme), J. Hunter Roman (New London), Blake Smith (Lyman Memorial), Thomas Sutera (Waterford),  Joshua Vincent (New London) and Alison Wilkinson (Fitch).

Women's soccer

• Connecticut College sophomore forward Livi Block recently helped Team USA win a gold medal at the European Maccabi Games in Berlin, Germany. Block was thrilled to be a part of the largest gathering of Jewish people in Berlin since World War II and it was a nice bonus that her team was able to win the gold and come out on top.

"Having the opportunity to meet and compete against athletes from all over the world, who are united not only by their love of the game but also by their religious and cultural heritage was an extremely unique and moving experience," Block said in a statement released by the school. "For the games to be held in Berlin, once the center of the Nazism, makes a powerful statement against anti-semitism."

Block finished with one goal and one assist for the United States, which won all four games and defeated Sweden 2-0 in the gold medal game. Block scored four goals and added two assists as a freshman for Conn, the New England Small College Athletic Conference champion last season, including the game-winning goal against Swarthmore in the opening round of the NCAA Division III tournament.

Conn opens its 2015 season on Wednesday, Sept. 9, at Roger Williams.

Men's soccer

• UConn was selected as the favorite to win the American Athletic Conference in 2015 in a vote of the league's coaches. The Huskies, who won the regular-season title in 2014, had two first-place votes and 44 points, edging Tulsa (43) and South Florida (41) in the preseason vote. UConn was 6-1-1 in the AAC during the regular season. In addition, midfielder Kwame Awuah, defender Jake Nerwinski and midfielder Cheikh Stephane Coly were named to the preseason All-AAC team.

The Huskies opened the exhibition portion of their schedule Sunday night with a 2-1 victory over Rider behind goals by Awuah and freshman forward Abdou Thiam. They play their final exhibition game on Saturday against Syracuse at Joe Morrone Stadium at 7 p.m. Admission is free.