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Student-athletes from all six fall teams earn all-academic honors

Complete listing.pdf

Eastern's honorees.pdf

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. -- A total of  32 Eastern Connecticut State University student-athletes representing all six fall sports earned spots on the Fall, 2011 Little East Conference All-Academic Team.

Seniors who were attaining spots on the fall academic honor roll for the maximum third time were Ryan Hughes (Cheshire) and Bryan Jorge (Bristol) of the men's cross country program, Sam Konopka (Hebron) and Jo-Ann Merheb (Bethel) of the women's soccer program and Carl Appel (West Windsor, NJ) of the men's soccer program.

Among the eight full-fledged LEC member institutions, Eastern recorded the second-highest total of all-academic team qualifiers in the fall.

Additional academic honor roll repeaters from last fall were junior Ryan Franklin (Glastonbury) from men's cross country, junior Denica Gagnon (Colchester) and senior Amanda Quinones (Trumbull) from women's cross country, senior Lyndsey Zavisza (Suffield) and junior Rochelle Normandin (South Windsor) from field hockey, juniors Jordan Munsell (Waterford) and Cory Tobler (Portland) from men's soccer, juniors Mackenzie MacLeod (Northfield) and Daniela Marchitto (Orange) from women's soccer, senior Gianna Trombino (East Moriches, NY) and junior Danielle Bourne (Branford) from women's volleyball. Senior women's volleyball player Kristianna Ibsen (Shelton) returned to the team after qualifying as a sophomore in 2009.

To qualify for the team, a student-athlete must have reached sophomore athletic and academic status with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.30.

In addition to their athletic accomplishments, five of the student-athletes were recognized by the conference for their on-field successes this past fall: Quinones ran to All-New England Alliance honors for the third time with an 11th-place finish in the conference championships Oct. 29; Marchitto was named LEC Offensive Player-of-the-Year and to the all-conference first team; Appel was the first-team All-LEC goalkeeper, and Tobler was named to the second team.

Eastern's total of 335 all-academic selections since the program's inception in the fall of 2007 ranks it second among the eight conference institutions - the second most in the conference - 44 more than the third-place institution.

In 2010/11, Eastern featured the most academic honor roll achievers in all three playing seasons, totaling 89; in 2009/10, Eastern won the inaugural Presidents' Cup for having the highest cumulative GPA of all conference institutions.

In her first season at Eastern in 2009, Amanda Quinones (Trumbull) (above) finished 140th in a field of 315 runners at the NCAA Division III New England Regional Cross Country Championships at Cumberland, ME. Saturday, the senior raced to a finish of 75th among 353 runners to lead the Warriors to a 33rd-place finish among 51 scoring teams at the regional championship, won for the fourth straight season by Middlebury College. The Panthers edged No. 1 nationally-ranked Williams College by five points. Also showing a vast improvement for the Warriors was  junior Cora Gingras (East Hampton), who knocked 35 places off her finish of a year ago in taking 153rd place over the 6,000 meter layout. Eastern's other returning upperclassmen improved their positions from a year ago, with sophomore Katie France (Portland) finishing 167th (203rd in 2010), sophomore Alexa Palasky (Griswold) 231st (255th in 2010) and junior Denica Gagnon (Colchester) 284th (287th in 2010).

NCAA Division III
New England Regional Cross Country Championships
at Brunswick, ME

Run over 6,000 meters

1. Middlebury 55; 2. Williams 60; 3. MIT 134; 4. Amherst 142; 5. Tufts  U.181; 6. Wellesley 186; 7. Keene State 213; 8. Bowdoin 238; 9. Colby 242; 10. Brandeis U.253; 11. Bates 302; 12. Wesleyan  U. 328; 13. U.S. Coast Guard  Academy 449; 14. Westfield State U. 548; 15. U. of Southern Maine 574; t-16. UMass Dartmouth 587; t-16. Connecticut College 587; 18. U. of New England 629; 19. Springfield 646; 20. Worcester State U. 658; t-21. Salve Regina U. 669. t-21. Babson 669; 23. Lesley 683; 24. Smith 692; 25. Trinity (CT) 716; 26. Gordon 758; 27. Mount Holyoke 770; 28. WPI 772; 29. Bridgewater State U. 835; 30. Roger Williams U. 838; 31. Clark U. 850; 32. Wheaton (MA) 855; 33. EASTERN CONN.  908; 34. Husson U. 932; 35. Colby-Sawyer 980; 36. Johnson & Wales  U. 1,028; 37. Lasell 1,172; 38. Endicott 1,175; 39. Salem State U. 1,203; 40. Emmanuel 1,214; 41. U. of Maine-Farmington 1,218; 42. St. Joseph's (ME) 1,231; 43. Western New England U. 1,241; 44. Lyndon State 1,245; 45. Fitchburg State  U. 1,282; 46. Framingham State U. 1,293; 47. Norwich  U. 1,394; 48. Mass College 1,430; 49. Castleton State 1,437; 50. Johnson State 1,642; 51. Bay Path 1,657

EASTERN FINISHERS
(353 runners)

75. Amanda Quinones 23:21; 153. Cora Gingras 24:38. 167. Katie France 24:51; 231. Alexa Palasky 25:57; 284. Denica Gagnon 27:18;  286. Melissa Zablonski 27:23; 304. Kelly Labanara 28:00.

Senior Amanda Quinones (above) became the first Eastern Connecticut State University male or female to earn All-New England Alliance cross country honors as many as three times Saturday at the New England Alliance/Little East Conference Cross Country Championships at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.  Quinones finished 11th overall in a field of 140 runners  in the alliance scoring and eighth in a field of  55 in the Little East scoring with a time of  19:28 over 5,000 meters. . The top 20 finishers are accorded alliance honors. Quinones missed by one place and five seconds of becoming only the second Eastern female to achieve All-LEC  status in the past 13 years. The top seven finishers receive that honor. As a sophomore, Quinones was 17th overall in the alliance and was 12th as a junior last year.  Keene State won its  12th straight alliance  and  LEC titles, totaling less than half the points of the second-place finishers.

New England Alliance Championships

1. Keene State College 32; 2. Westfield State U.  64; 3. U. of Southern Maine  80; 4. UMass Dartmouth 108; 5. Worcester State 126; 6. Bridgewater State U. 155; 7. EASTERN CONN. 186; 8. Salem State  U. 262;  9. Rhode Island College 264; 10. Fitchburg State U. 271; 11. Mass. College of Liberal Arts 323; 12. Framingham State U. 332; 13. Mass. Maritime 339

Little East Conference Championships

1. Keene State College 24; 2. U. of Southern Maine 52; 3. UMass Dartmouth 63;

4. EASTERN CONN. 102; 5. Rhode Island College 134

EASTERN'S FINISHERS
Listed is scoring place in NE Alliance (140 finishers)/Little East (55 finishers)

11/8. Amanda Quinones 19:28; 28/16. Katie France 20:24; 38./21. Cora Gingras 20:50; 51/27. Alexa Palasky 21:32; 58/30. Kelly Labanara 22:14; 61.31. Melissa Zablonski 22:27; 67/33. Denica Gagnon 22:57;
.

Quinones wins women's race; freshmen pace men's team at finish line

Complete Results.pdf

MANSFIELD, Conn. --  Senior Amanda Quinones (Trumbull) won the individual title for the Eastern Connecticut State University women's cross country team but Rhode Island College captured the top three places in the men's competition Saturday morning at Mansfield Hollow State Park.

At left: Amanda Quinones

The Rhode Island men and women both defeated Eastern for the third straight year. The Eastern women were edged for the second straight year by a score of 27-28. A five-point winner over Eastern in 2009 and 2010, the RIC men's team recorded a  13-point, 21-34 decision this year.

In the only dual meet race for either team this year, Quinones (20:04) eased to the  individual title  in a field of  16 in the women's competition over the 5,000 meter layout. Quinones, who had finished second in this race in each of her two previous tries the last two years, outran RIC freshman Alyssa O'Connor.

For the women, the score was tied after each squad had put its No. 4 runners across the finish line, and was determined when RIC senior Brittany Richer outran Eastern first-year sophomore Kelly Labanara (Chaplin) for ninth place.

At right: Lee Cattanach

Running her first race of the season, Eastern freshman Ashley Westman (Newington) finished a solid fifth - third among Warriors behind Quinones and junior Cora Gingras (East Hampton).  Also placing among Eastern top five scoring women was sophomore Alexa Palasky (Griswold). Eastern  was without sophomore No. 3 runner Katie France (Portland).

Coming off an eighth-place finish last Saturday at the James Earley Invitational at Westfield, MA, RIC was powered Saturday by the 1-2-3 finish of junior Conor McCloskey and freshmen Shawn Stadnick and Ian LaPlume.

McCloskey (24:03), second to teammate Mike Macedo last year and third to Eastern's Dave Hunt and Macedo in 2009 in this race,  won by 48 seconds over Stadnick (24:51) and more than a minute over LaPlume (25:07).

Eastern featured three freshmen leading the way for the team in  Lee Cattanach (New London), David Klein (New Milford) and Austin Baldour (Newtown). Cattanach (25:18) was fourth overall, Klein (25:19) fifth and Baldour (25:22) seventh. Also figuring in the scoring for the Warriors were junior Tim Callahan (Portland)  and junior Ryan Franklin (Glastonbury). Callahan (25:29) was eighth overall, Franklin (25:57) tenth.

The Eastern men and women compete in the Little East Conference/New England Alliance Championships at North Dartmouth, MA.

The Warriors' No. 8 runner at race last year, Gingras is second Saturday

BOSTON --  Eastern Connecticut State University junior Cora Gingras (East Hampton) improved her lot on the team by six spots from a year ago Saturday when the women's cross country team placed 18th in a field of 23 teams at the Codfish Bowl at Franklin Park.

At right: Cora Gingras (Stephen Goomrigian photo)

Running over 5,000 meters, Gingras was second only to senior Amanda Quinones (Trumbull) among Eastern runners, scoring 75 points and finishing 121st overall in a field of 251 with a time of 21:50. Last year, Gingras was Eastern's eighth finisher in a time of 25:49.

Quinones scored a team-low 35 points, crossing the tape 44th overall in a time of 20:19 (53 seconds better than 2010). She was the 11th Division III runner at the finish in a race which was a mix of Division I, II and III programs, local running clubs and high school prep schools, and community colleges, along with several unaffiliated runners. The top 12 runners across the line were either members of Division I or II program or local racing clubs or ran unattached.

Quinones was the second Little East Conference participant at the end, following only UMass Dartmouth senior Courtney Testa, who was 33rd in a time of 20:04. Quinones had run two seconds faster than Testa at last Saturday's UMass Dartmouth Invitational.

At left: Warriors prepare for the start of the race at Franklin Park (Frank Poulin photo).

In addition to Gingras and Quinones, others improving their times of a year ago included sophomores Alexa Palasky (Griswold) and Wendy Bouton (Stratford). Palasky was Eastern's fourth finisher, scoring 102 points in a time of 22:31, and Bouton was its No. 7 finisher, scoring 141 points in a time of 2539.

Sophomore Katie France (Portland) followed Quinones and Gingras at the tape, scoring 96 points in a time of 22:20. Freshman Emily Sniffin (Danbury) was Eastern's final scorer with 137 points in a time of 25:10, with junior Denica Gagnon (Colchester) sixth among Eastern competitors  in a time of 25:22.

Eastern competes in the James Early Invitational Oct. 8 at Stanley Park in Westfield, MA.

Run over 5,000 meters
Top Ten

1. Boston U. 47; 2. Greater Boston Track Club 50; 3. Stonehill College 72; 4. Tufts U. 101; 5. Bates College 155; 6. Adelphi U. 213; 7. Merrimack College 234; 8. Bentley U. 243; 9. Massachusetts Dartmouth 284; 10. Philips Exeter Academy 335;
18. EASTERN CONN. 445  (23 teams scored points)

Eastern's Finishers
(251 runners finished race)

44 (35)  Amanda Quinones 20:19;121 (75) Cora Gingras 21:50; 153 (96) Katie France 22:20; 163 (102) Alexa Palasky 22:31; 224 (137) Emily Sniffin 25:10; 225 (138) Denica Gagnon 25:22; 228 (141) Wendy Bouton 25:39; 233 (--) Brittany Lane 26:01.

By Jonathan Mizger '13

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. -- Amanda Quinones, the only senior on the Eastern  women's cross country team, has done many things to further reach her goal for the year of qualifying and competing in the NCAA Division III national championships.

A third-year transfer from Division I Rider University, Quinones has said that she wants to be really competitive in the Little East Conference championships in late October, get close to placing in the NCAA Division III New England Regional, and get as close as she can to qualify for nationals meet, scheduled for Nov. 19 at Winneconne, WI.

In cross country last year, Quinones came in first  in the Fitchburg State University Jim Sheenan Memorial Classic with a time of 21:18. This year, she was on top of her game against and finished first again with a time of 21:02.

Amanda Quinones (at right in photo at right)

Also an indoor and outdoor track participant, Quinones says that has trained harder from last year to this year. "This summer I ran twice as much as I did last summer", she pointed out, "I ran a little less than 70 miles a week (this past summer). I ran a lot to improve my endurance". Her training is starting to pay off, and this has the coaches interested in her performance for the season. 

"I think she's doing great," says 11th-year head coach Frank Poulin, "She had a great summer, she put a lot of miles in,  and it is paying off."

Quinones ran cross country and indoor and outdoor track at Rider following high school graduation in 2008. After deciding to leave the Lawrenceville, NJ school after one year, she happened to visit the Eastern campus unannounced while visiting the area one day in the summer of 2009. She liked what she saw, enrolled that fall, and eventually changed her major from Biology to Communication. . 

Along with her talent comes great responsibility as a leader. While there are no "officlal" team captains, the Trumbull native is making quite an effort to lead her young teammates as the lone senior, and have them give it their all as much as she does.  "(Amanda) gets the whole team believing in themselves as much as Amanda believes in herself," said sixth-year assistant coach Brent Terry. "She goes beyond just being talented; she works hard and gets everybody to succeed as well".

Quinones has been inspired to run by Terry. "Honestly, I have  never had a coach believe in me as much as Brent does," she says. "He is probably the biggest inspiration, here, ever, really."

Last Saturday, Quinones became the first Eastern female in 18 years to break 20 minutes at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Cross Country Invitational in leading the team to its highest team placing since 2003. She clocked in with a time of 19:23, finishing 27th  overall. Quinones's time was better by 52 seconds from her time last year at the same event, and also improved her finish placement from 90th last year to 27th this year.

Quinones's hard work in the offseason is paying off with success in her first two events. She hopes to build off each event with an added confidence boost in her next events this year. Quinones and her teammates will be competing at the Codfish Bowl at Franklin Park in Boston on Saturday in their third and final meet of September.

Behind Quinones, they post highest finish in eight years at meet

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. --   Senior Amanda Quinones (Trumbull) became the first Eastern Connecticut State University female to break 20 minutes at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Shriners' Cross Country Invitational Saturday in at least 18 years in leading the Warriors to their highest team finish since 2003.

At left: Amanda Quinones at UMD (Frank Poulin photo)

In a field of 37 teams, Eastern placed 20th overall with 533 points, with MIT cruising to the easy team win in totaling only 25 points by capturing five of the first nine places.

Over the 5,000 meter campus course, Quinones became the first Eastern female to break 20 minutes since Caroline Johnson was clocked in 19:33 in 1993 in a 39th-place finish among 94 competitors. Quinones' 27th-place finish in a field of 258 Saturday is the highest by an Eastern female on record in this race.  Quinones knocked 52 seconds and 63 places off her performance from her  junior season last year. As a first-year sophomore in 2009, she was timed in 20:47 in a 127th-place finish.

Sophomore Katie France (Portland) ran an almost identical time from her freshman season. She was timed in 20:43 in a 106th place finish, with junior Cora Gingras (East Hampton) 118th in a time of 20:53, sophomore Alexa Palasky (Griswold) 143rd in a time of 21:14, freshman Melissa Zablonski (Colchester) 169th at 21:43 and junior Denica Gagnon (Colchester) 206th in a time of 22:56. Palasky and Gagnon both improved by 25 seconds over their efforts of a year ago.

Quinones, who won the individual title last Friday at Fitchburg State, was the second Little East Conference participant to cross the line Saturday, following University of Southern Maine sophomore Morgan Beede, who was 20th overall in a time of 19:17.

The team finish is the highest since 2003 when it was 19th overall. However, only 28 teams competed that season.

Eastern competes in the Codfish Bowl at historic Franklin Park in Boston Saturday at 11 a.m.

    Top Ten Teams

1.MIT 25; 2. U.S. Coast Guard Academy 209; 3. Wellesley College 114; 4. Brandeis U. 148; 5. Salisbury U. 160; 6. UMass Lowell 179; 7. Bentley U. 264; 8. College of the Holy Cross 282; 9. WPI 286; Conn College 314.
20. EASTERN CONN. 533.

Eastern's Finishers

27. Amanda Quinones 19:23; 106. Katie France 20:43; 118. Cora Gingras 20:53;  143. Alexa Palasky 21:14; 169. Melissa Zablonski 21:43; 206. Denica Gagnon 22:56.

Senior runs away from 37-person field to pace Warriors in opener

FITCHBURG, Mass. - Eastern Connecticut State University senior Amanda Quinones (Trumbull) easily defended her individual title at the Jim Sheehan Memorial Cross Country Invitational, breezing to a two-minute victory in a field of 37 women's cross country runners Friday afternoon at Coggshall Park.

At right: Amanda Quinones

Quinones was one of four Eastern runners finishing in the Top Ten in the season-opener, posting a time of 21:02 over the 3.1 mile layout, winning by just under two minutes over Chelsey Peso of Worcester State. Quinones was timed in  21:18 a year ago when she outran  a field of 41 in a 36-second victory

Joining Quinones in the Top Ten from Eastern were junior Cora Gingras (East Hampton), and sophomores Katie France (Portland), and Alexa Palasky (Griswold). Gingras was fifth in a time of 23:28, France seventh at 23:45 and Palasky ninth at 24:03.

Worcester State University defended its team title by edging Eastern by six points in the five-team field.

With freshman Melissa Zablonski (Colchester)  finishing 11th overall as Eastern's fifth scoring runner, Eastern put its five scorers ahead of Worcester's fifth, but the Lancers dominated the front of the pack behind Quinones by grabbing the 2-3-4 positions.

Eastern competes in the Massachusetts Dartmouth Invitational Saturday at 11:15 a.m.

 Six student-athletes earn spots on fall team for maximum third time

Complete listing.pdf

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. --  Eastern Connecticut State University finished atop the list when the  Little East Conference office released the  2010 All-Academic team for the fall season.

At left: Rachel Cocola

.Thirty-one of the 186 student-athletes honored were members of Eastern's six fall intercollegiate teams - two more than runner-up Keene State College and three more than the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Keene also sponsored six intercollegiate teams in the fall while UMass Dartmouth fielded teams in all seven Little East falls sports.

Thirteen members of the Eastern cross country program (seven men and six women) earned all-academic distinction, with seven coming from the women's soccer team, four from men's soccer and women's volleyball and three from the field hockey program.

To earn a spot on the all-academic teams a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.3, and be a full-time member of a varsity team.

Earning LEC fall academic honors for the maximum third times in their careers were
six seniors: Amanda Ericson (Bolton) and Ashlee James (Franklin) from the women's cross country program, Rachel Cocola (South Windsor) from field hockey, Stephanie Norell (Stratford) and Lauren Hickey (Southwick, MA) from women's soccer, and Christina Schirone (Pelham, NY) from women's volleyball.

The conference sponsors falls championships in the sports of men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, field hockey, women's volleyball and women's tennis. The conference began honoring  all-academic teams during the 2007-08 academic year.

Last fall, Eastern placed 25 student-athletes on the fall all-academic team - the second-most of any LEC institution. It had 25 on the 2008 fall team and 20 on the inaugural fall team in 2007.

In 2009/10, 64 Eastern student-athletes were named to the fall, winter and/or spring LEC All-Academic Team - a total which placed it just one selection behind the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and the University of Southern Maine, which shared second place in the listing.