Around the region

• UConn guard Stephon Castle earned his ninth Big East freshman of the week honor on Monday, tying him with former Georgetown guard Allen Iverson (1994-95) for the second most in league history. Teammate Tristen Newton made the Big East weekly honor roll.

The Huskies (25-3) dropped from No. 1 to No. 3 in the Associated Press top 25 poll after splitting two games last week. Houston took over the top spot.

The UConn women’ (24-5) climbed five spots to No. 10 in the AP poll. Paige Bueckers was named to the Big East weekly honor roll after averaging 27 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists in two games.

• Graduate transfer Samuel Whittaker (East Lyme) earned the awards for most valuable track performer and most outstanding runner (distance) while helping Central Connecticut State University to second place in the Northeast Conference championships. He piled up 28 points for his team. Whittaker finished first in the 5,000 (14:26.78) and second in the mile (4:09.59).

Junior Tyrone Mack (Montville) took second in the shot put with a distance of 15.57 while senior Ryan McCauley (East Lyme) ran a leg on the winning distance medley relay team that set a meet record (10:05.67) and also placed fourth in the 800 (1:54.96).

In the women’s competition, sophomore Nuchwara Inthasit (Stonington) helped the Blue Devils capture the Northeast Conference championship. Inthasit placed eighth in the 60 dash in 8.01 and ran a leg on the fifth-place 4x400 relay team.

• Former Eastern Connecticut Conference players Dan Shane (Bacon Academy), Trevin Russ (Killingly), Brian Ingraham (Waterford), Kaden Murphy (Woodstock), Evan Gilgenbach (Griswold), Matt Ory (Waterford), Luca Muscarella (St. Bernard), Justin Baker (Killingly) and Dylan Meyer (Fitch) on the opening day roster for the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) baseball team in its inaugural season. The team is coached by Adam Goss, a Waterford native, and plays its season opener on Tuesday against Nichols College on its new home field.

Also at Saint Joseph in West Hartford, men’s basketball coach Glen Miller, a Groton native, has led the Blue Jays to a Great Northeast Athletic Conference championship and automatic bid to the Division III NCAA tournament. No. 24 Saint Joseph (24-4) plays Geneva College (24-3) in the opening round of the Ashland Regional in Virginia on Friday.

• Freshman Abbie Belleville (East Lyme) scored her first collegiate goal for the Endicott College women’s lacrosse team in a 16-8 loss to MIT last week.

• Katie Keating (East Lyme), a senior on the Stonehill College women’s swimming team, finished in a season-best 56.67 seconds in the 100 freestyle at the Northeast Conference Championships last weekend.

Also at Stonehill, sophomore Jordan Malloy (Bacon Academy) placed third in the one mile at the Northeast Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship. She crossed the line in a personal best 4:56.48.

• Transfer Kenny Heon (Montville), a former Mitchell College pitcher, is a member of the Rhode Island baseball team’s bullpen. He allowed one hit and walked one in a scoreless 2.3 innings in a 7-2 loss to Virginia Tech on Saturday.

• Sophomore Sarah Newton (Bacon Academy) scored a goal in the Springfield College women’s lacrosse season-opening 13-11 win over Endicott last week.

• Senior attacker Abigail Mountain (East Lyme) scored a goal in Wheaton College’s 14-13 loss to Worcester State in women’s lacrosse action last week.

• St. John Fisher University junior Tori LoPresto (Stonington), a member of the softball team, made the Dean’s List last fall and the Easton/National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American Scholar Athlete list.

Mariners riding a wave

• The Mitchell College baseball team, under the guidance of new head coach and Windham native Shawn Gilblair, opened the 2024 season by taking two out of three games against William Peace in Cary, N.C. Senior Robbie DelaCruz (Montville) is off to a hot start, going 5 for 12 with a triple, home run and five RBI.

Mitchell plays its home opener against Brandeis at 1 p.m. Sunday at Alumni Field

Camel highlights

• The Connecticut College women’s indoor track and field team finished a program-best seventh in the New England Division III championships last weekend. Emma Wheeler won the pentathlon with a program-record 3,330 points and Grace McDonough won the 1,000 (2:57.45) for the Camels, who scored 42 points. Alexa Estes placed third in the 800 meters in 2:15.93 while Edin Sisson took fourth in the 5,000 (17:50.12) and Abby Fernald finished fifth in the mile (4:58.28).

In the men’s competition, the Camels placed 15th. Brendan Melitt placed third in the 5,000 with a time of 14:41.50 and Ethan Bush was fifth in 14:48.02. Jonathan Norton took fourth in the 1,000 in 2:31.21.

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