A pair of former Hockomock girls basketball standouts were honored by D3Hoops.com this past week. North Attleboro alum Meg Ronaghan, who now stars at UMass Dartmouth, was named to the D3Hoops.com All-Northeast Region Second Team. Canton graduate Olivia Murphy, who is now at UMass Boston, was selected to the All-Northeast Region Third Team.
On the boys side, current Bridgewater State Bear and former Mansfield standout Michael Lofton raked in a handful of accolades recently. Lofton was named the MASCAC Player of the Year after averaging a league best 20 points per game and a league best 10 rebounds per game. Lofton was also named to the D3Hoops.com All-Northeast Region First Team, just the fourth player in school history to do so. He was also selected to play in the NABC Reese's D3 College All-Star Game which takes place on Saturday, March 21st at 12:30 PM. Lofton finishes with the most blocks in school history (153) and second in rebounds (896).
Former HockomockSports.com Boys Basketball Player of the Year Sam Bohmiller is headed to the D3 Final Four with Babson. The former Franklin star his a pair of clutch free throws in the Beavers' win over Trinity. Up by three, Bohmiller sank both of his free throws to put Babson up two possessions and the Beavers were able to hold on. Now, Bohmiller (5.6 PPG) and Babson are playing Augustana (Ill.) in the Final Four today at 5:30.
When it comes to the D1 NCAA tournament, the Hockomock League will be represented by King Philip graduate Jake Layman. Layman garnered third team all-Big Ten honors as voted on by the media. After averaging 12.8 points per game, 5.9 rebounds per game and had 26 blocks on the season, Layman and Maryland take on Valparaiso today at 4:40.
Franklin grad Chris Rodgers looks set to be a vital part of WPI going forward. In his freshman year Rodgers averaged 4.6 points per game and averaged over two rebounds and one assist per game. Also playing for WPI, Stoughton grad and former HockomockSports.com Boys Basketball Defender of the Year Marcus Middleton played in 17 games this season.
Ashley Snyder was selected to the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Academic All-Conference team. Snyder appeared in 24 games this winter for the Beavers, including 14 starts and averaged 3.5 points per game and 3.3 rebounds per game.
Last year's HockomockSports.com Girls Basketball Player of the Year Karlie O'Discoll was third in scoring for Caldwell with 8.3 points per game and also grabbed 3.3 rebounds per game. O'Driscoll was the ECAC Rookie of the Week in mid-February.
Oliver Ames graduate Nicole Bostic was named to the 2014-2015 MASCAC All-Conference Second Team. Bostic led all Framingham State players with 13.4 points per game and she also averaged 5.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game.
Taunton graduate Angie Martinez continues to be a top player for Mount Ida. This season, Martinez averaged a team-best 12.6 points per game along with a team-high 12.6 rebounds per game.
Former King Philip swimmer Aaron Gustafson, now at Texas, earned an invitation to the NCAA Championships for swimming. Gustafson, a junior that was named All-America, is seeded 21st with a time of 46.26 in the 100 backstroke.
Quinn Merrigan capped off a strong freshman year at Gettysburg College with a pair of wins at the NCAA Division III East Regional. Merrigan, a former Canton grappler, went 2-2 on the day - the best finish among the Bullets. Merrigan finished as Gettysburg's wins leader with a record of 22-15. It was the best total for a Gettysburg first-year wrestling since 2011-12.
Another former Hockomock wrestler that is experience success is Foxboro alum Vic Avery. Avery had over 150 wins in his career at Foxboro and is now in the quarterfinals in the NCAA Division I National Championships. Avery, wrestling at 184, punched his ticket to his first ever quarterfinal appearance by upsetting 4th-seeded Jake Dechow of Old Dominion. Avery takes on Oregon State's Taylor Meeks today.
Bentley's Connor Hichens had a good showing at New England Championships. The former Sharon Eagle placed 22nd overall in the triple jump, clearing 42'2".
Mansfield's Jen Esposito had a pair of wins at the Coastal Carolina Invitational last weekend. Now running for Elon University, Esposito claimed the 400M Hurdle crown with a time of 1:00.26. Esposito was also part of the 4x400 relay team that finished first with a time of 3:55.69, one of the program's best times.
Former Hockomock League MVP Brendan Skidmore is off to a solid start with Binghamton this season. After a stellar career at Franklin, Skidmore is batting .250 so far this season, starting in 11 of the Bearcat's 12 games. Earlier this month, Skidmore went 3-4 with five RBI and hit his second career home run to lead Binghamton over Virginia Military Institute.
David MacKinnon, another former league MVP and OA graduate, is batting .300 so far this season for Hartford. MacKinnon has an impressive .462 on-base percentage and leads the Hawks in walks with 14. Not surprisingly, MacKinnon also leads Hartford in runs with 10.
Sharon's Nate Pederson had a strong showing in relief for Keene State earlier this week. Pederson came in with the Owls up and had a perfect inning, including a strikeout to help preserver Keene State's lead over Lesley. Pederson wasn't the only Hock alum in the game as Foxboro's Mike Slaby is patrolling the infield for Lesley. In the game, Slaby had a hit and a run. On the season, Slaby is batting .333 and has a .462 on-base percentage. Although he didn't play in the game, Milford's Bryan Hildebrand is pitching for Lesley this season. Hildebrand has pitched six innings so far this season and has four strikeouts.
Attleboro's Zach George had a strong showing for Worcester State against nationally-ranked Southern Maine. With the Lancers down 3-1, George had a bases-clearing double that gave Worcester State the lead for good. On the season, George is batting .290 and had five RBI this season. Franklin's Jared Kuzio has made two appearances this season for the Lancers as well, including one start.
Former Mansfield standout Bri Chiusano continues to contribute for Coastal Carolina. Chiusano is batting .338 in 25 games played, has a .430 on-base percentage and is 19/20 on steal attempts so far.