Men’s Cross country
With a cast of 18 experienced returners from last year and 11 freshman with great potential, the Huskies Men’s Cross Country team look to have one of the best teams in school history. The team comes into 2009 ranked 4th in the Pre-season U.
Riding a 17-game winning streak, the USM baseball team nabbed the #1 ranking in the country, according to the latest D3Baseball.com poll, only to lose against conference foe UMass-Boston three days later, 5-0 in Gorham. The Huskies then took two games from Rhode Island College to claim the Little East Conference regular season title, and the chance to host this year’s tournament.
Once the snow begins to melt and the ski resorts begin to close each spring, skiers flock to Tuckerman’s Ravine, a bowl on the east facing side of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire’s White mountains.
Tuckerman’s has long been a spring skiing Mecca for its notoriously challenging terrain and its reputation for annually holding skiable snow into June (recording an average of 55 feet of snow pack on any given year).
The beats of hip-hop music often reverberate throughout the Costello Sports Complex before the sun has even fully hit the horizon. And if you ever took the time to explore the rhythmic cadences, you might just find one of USM’s hidden athletic treasures: the cheerleading team.
Chris Esposito has put college on the back burner. The senior at Gorham High School, instead of attending university in the fall, will be pursuing his first love: cycling. But, instead of dreaming of the lush life of professional athletes, Esposito finds himself longing for a much different element of the lifestyle – an element that many people in the area find captivating.
Looking through women’s track results, it’s easy to get the impression that Bethany Dumas is a seasoned veteran.
She’s almost always an event winner and her prowess extends beyond a single event.
But if you think she’s a familiar face, you’re wrong. In fact, Dumas is new on the track scene, but she’s making her presence known.
USM’s baseball team powered its way to an impressive stretch of wins last week, highlighted in part by a 21-3 dismantling of local rival St. Joseph’s College on Thursday. The win was part of a six-win week for the Huskies, who pushed their win streak to 14 games after a double-header sweep of UMass Dartmouth (10-3 and 21-12).
If the USM men’s tennis team had stumbled this year, it would have been understandable. Long time head coach Phil Cole retired this year, leaving the head coaching position vacant. But the Huskies have been anything but dormant, especially last week. The Huskies picked up a pair of victories and played well in losses to Salem State and Western Connecticut.
The University of Maine dropped a bomb last week that has people all over the state reeling. Effective next year, the school will no longer offer varsity men’s soccer and women’s volleyball at the intercollegiate level.
And while some may chalk this up as a tale of the economic times, I happen to think the ramifications of this decision trascend dollars-and-cents cost saving.
When Alex Stigas moved to Portland she didn’t know many people, so she decided to find an activity that would get her out of the house and into the company of new friends.
Now she spends every Tuesday and Thursday doing just that. Except, instead of joining a book club or social network, she spends two nights a week banging heads with fellow Portlanders in the often misunderstood sport of rugby.
Last year at this time the USM men’s lacrosse team had mustered only two wins against eight losses. But this year has been a much different story. Led by a senior Preston Gilbert (Saco) and sophomore Tim Bryant (Peterborough, NH), the Huskies have settled to a respectable 5-5 mark on the season following Saturday’s heartbreaking loss to UMass Dartmouth 9-7.
UMass Dartmouth put up an early two goal lead against USM in Little East Conference lacrosse action and never looked back. The Corsairs maintained their lead despite the best efforts of the Huskies to post a 9-7 victory Saturday.
The Huskies climbed to within one goal four times in the match, including the final moments of the third quarter, but couldn’t get over the hump.
For anyone who has grown up playing baseball in the spring in New England, they can tell you that it’s not the most ideal weather for America’s favorite pastime.
With ball fields covered in late winter snow and beaten up by early spring rain storms, it’s difficult for the northern high school and college baseball teams to practice on their normal playing surfaces before the season kicks off.
Alongside an intense passion for a sport, almost always comes a sense of self-identification. When I say I’m a skier, I don’t simply mean that I enjoy sliding down hills on the snow. It means something deeper. It means that I enjoy the culture surrounding the sport, I appreciate its history, and I have let the sport permeate my concept of self-identification.
Men’s Tennis
Men’s Tennis rolls past UMass Boston
USM’s men’s tennis team, led by a senior Derek Stevenson (Raymond) and junior Josh Warren (Hermon), blanked UMass Boston in LEC tennis action 9-0 last week. Both Stevenson and Warren picked up singles victories while grabbing a first doubles match together.
USM is no stranger to talented baseball players. Over the years, the Huskies have even sent players to compete at the next level. This year is no different. Senior outfielder Anthony D’Alfonso (Westbrook) is looking to join the likes of Vinnie Degifico and Tip Fairchild as USM players to make a noise at the professional level.
The USM softball team has seen their fair share of struggles this season. Coming away with only one win during their annual spring outing in Florida and coming off of their 15th loss of the season against UNE, the team is striving to improve as quickly as possible.
The always slimy John Calipari slithered his way to another big deal last week when he left his post at the University of Memphis for the coveted position at the University of Kentucky.
With a huge contract – eight years and 34 million dollars – waiting for him in the Bluegrass State, Calipari left behind a core of talented players and the nation’s best recruiting class, which raises some precarious questions.
Lacrosse
Women’s LAX rallies, beats Western Conn.
Led by Jessica Martineau’s (Auburn) six second-half goals, the USM women’s lacrosse team rallied from five goals back to defeat Western Connecticut State University in their conference opener 16-14.
Climbing as high as seventh in national polls before even playing a game, the USM baseball had high expectations. But through the first 14 games of the season, they’ve lived up to all the hype.
After sweeping their nine games in Arizona, the Huskies returned to the East Coast riding a ten-game winning streak as they took on the number one team in the country, Eastern Connecitcut for a double-header on Saturday.
In August of 2007 the owner and builder of the Gorham Sports Center, Stephen Martin, began to explore the possibilities of turning the indoor turf field into a non-profit enterprise.
Martin founded a board of local coaches and businessmen who were interested in this community resource.
It’s been hard to miss that Portland’s newest acquisition: a minor league basketball team.
But what exactly is the NBA Developmental League?
The D-League, as it is affectionately called, was founded in 2001 as the NBA’s official minor league system. It was conceptualized in much the same way as other minor leagues like those in baseball and hockey, where players who aren’t ready for the highest level of competition are able to play and hone their skills.
A group of sports management students at USM have been given the opportunity of a lifetime. Working alongside Jon Jennings of the new Maine NBA Developmental team, the students in Joanne Williams’ sports marketing class have been getting first-hand experience and real-life glimpse of what it takes to start a professional sports team from scratch.
With the women’s basketball team bowing out of the NCAA tournament, it’s time to put our hopes into another prominent sports team: baseball.
It’s been 12 years since baseball won its second of two national championships, and I think it is about time for another one.