Photos: Jim Laskarzewski '86, Ivan Henwood '28, Emily Reilly P'27 & Jim Stankiewicz
COLCHESTER, Vt. - Nine Saint Michael's College student-athletes were among 117 selections across seven sports for a Northeast 10 Conference Academic All-Conference honor for the fall athletic season.
The NE10 Academic All-Conference teams, which were previously voted upon by athletic administrators at NE10 member schools, are now composed of student-athletes who 1) earned all-conference or all-defensive honors for their playing season, 2) have spent at least two consecutive full-time semesters at their institution, and 3) hold at least a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average.
Women's soccer tied Franklin Pierce University for the league lead with five honorees, in senior
Bella DelVecchio (Saugus, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) and sophomores
Scarlett Brookes (Rockaway, N.J./Morris Knolls),
Sarah Gormley (East Moriches, N.Y./Westhampton Beach),
Julia Palmese (Berlin, Conn./Berlin) and
Josie Rayhill (Kirkland, Wash./Lake Washington).
Four combined men's and women's cross country runners were lauded. Juniors
Fran Peterson (Barron, Wis./Barron) and
Meredith Reilly (Ashland, Mass./Ashland) and sophomore
Jersey Miller (Minneapolis, Minn./Saint Louis Park) represented the women, and junior
Adam Bilodeau (Lewiston, Maine/Lewiston) hailed from the men.
Women's soccer finished a historic season at 16-3-1, earned its initial postseason win and advanced to its first league semifinal since 1989. Brookes (3.98 GPA, accounting major) became the College's first soccer All-American - men's or women's - earning a spot on the United Soccer Coaches second team and Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2 CCA) third team. She was also D2 CCA East Region Player of the Year and NE10 Player of the Year. Palmese (3.42, biology) earned D2 CCA and United Soccer Coaches All-East Region second team nods and a spot on the NE10 All-Conference first team. DelVecchio (3.36, neuroscience) was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-East Region third team and NE10 All-Conference second team while being chosen for the New England Women's Intercollegiate Soccer Association (NEWISA) Senior Bowl. Gormley (3.89, neuroscience) and Rayhill (3.74, business administration) registered NE10 All-Conference second team citations.
Peterson (4.00, biology), Miller (3.93, political science) and Reilly (3.96, education studies/psychology/equity studies) helped women's cross country place third at the NE10 Championship while taking second, eighth and 19th place, respectively, at the meet. Peterson earned her third career NE10 All-Conference first team nod and landed the NE10 Elite 24 Award as the top scholar-athlete in the race. Miller placed on the NE10 All-Conference second team before capturing ninth at the NCAA East Regional Championship to secure U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) East Regional All-Region for the second time. Reilly was positioned on the NE10 All-Conference third team.
Bilodeau (3.90, business administration) also pushed men's cross country to third at the NE10 Championship. He landed an NE10 All-Conference third team nod after finishing 18th at the NE10 Championship.
