In only her third track and field competition for UMass Dartmouth, first-year student-athlete Natarsha Silva (Brockton, MA) broke an 11-year school record in the long jump and qualified for the NCAA Division III Nationals. Silva captured the long jump at the Connecticut College Invitational on April 12 with a leap of 18-1, breaking the previous record of 17-7 1/2 set in 1986 by Denise Finkle. In addition to her efforts in the long jump, Silva also took first place in the 100 meters with a winning time of 12.75. Teammate Becki Robitaille (New Bedford, MA) finished third in 13.46.

Silva wasn't the only member of Coach Jon Hird's team to bring home a first-place finish at New London, CT last week. Co-captain Julie Briggs (Jefferson, MA) won the hammer competition with a throw of 126-0. Among the Corsairs other top competitors, Jennifer Raxter (Fall River, MA) was second in the discus (110-5) with Briggs third (96-10), Maura McDonald (Greenfield, MA) finished second in the 3000 meters and Karla Jarquin (Shrewsbury, MA) placed fourth in the javelin at 98-10.

At the Trinity College Invitational on April 5, Raxter was third in the discus (110-4), while Jarquin was fourth in javelin (106-5) and McDonald placed fifth in 1500 meters (5:00.31).

Will Whiting (Attleboro, MA) was UMass Dartmouth's lone top three finisher at the Connecticut College Invitational held on April 12. Whiting finished third in the javelin with a throw of 146-4. On April 5th at the Trinity College Invitational, Keith Rose (Harwich, MA) was the Corsairs' top finisher, bringing home second in the javelin with a throw of 195-3. Mitch Sousa (Fall River, MA) finished third in the triple jump (42-9 1/2) and teammate Bill Langfield (Somerset, MA) placed eighth with a throw of 39-6.

Through its first five matches, Coach Warren Preti's tennis team has been as close to perfect as it could be. UMass Dartmouth has won 27 of 28 singles matches and has compiled an 11-3 record in doubles matches enroute to a 5-0 mark.

After opening their season with an 8-1 victory over Western Connecticut, the Corsairs swept past UMass Boston (9-0), Nichols College (8-1), and Worcester State (6-0) before knocking off Little East Conference rival Plymouth State, 7-2 on April 13. Three players, Eric Coraccio (Westford, MA), John Guilfoy (Mansfield, MA) and Mike Ring (Peabody, MA) have perfect 5-0 singles marks, along with Nathan Brinker (Dudley, MA), Michael Gomes (Dartmouth, MA), and Ryan Todd (Wrentham, MA) who are each 3-0. In doubles competition, the team of Anthony Baldman (Dedham, MA) and Alex Castner (Westford, MA) are 2-0, while Preti has fielded 11 other doubles teams during UMass Dartmouth's early season matches.

At the #1 singles position, Guilfoy has been especially solid for UMass Dartmouth, winning all five of his matches in straight sets. Opponents have won no more than four games against Guilfoy in any match this season. The #2 singles slot has been held by both Todd and Corracio in the early going. Todd's first three wins were straight set victories and Coraccio has added a pair of his own straight set wins in his last two outings at #2 after playing the first three matches at #3 and winning each in similar fashion.

Since bringing home a 7-4 record from California, the Corsairs, ranked as high as 9th nationally at one time and fifth in New England this week, have had mixed results since returning home. UMass Dartmouth has a 5-4 record through the first two weeks back in New England and a 12-8 overall record.

After taking three in a row from Rhode Island College last weekend, Coach Bruce Wheeler's Corsairs faced a brutal schedule, taking on four of the top eight teams in New England within a span of six days. When it was all over the Corsairs had posted impressive victories over second-ranked (in New England) Brandeis (9-7) and split an LEC double header with top-ranked Southern Maine, winning the opener, 13-4, before losing the night cap, 6-2. The Corsairs had also dropped a tough game to #3 Amherst College (8-5) and were swept in an LEC doubleheader at #8 Plymouth State on April 13 (7-6, 4-3).

Solid pitching and timely hitting were the keys to UMass Dartmouth's three-game sweep over RIC on April 5-6. In the opener, Steve Pereira (New Bedford, MA) improved his record to 3-0 with a complete game six-hitter. Last week's LEC Rookie of the Week Jeff Cross (Holden, MA) (2-3, 1 RBI) and Isidro Fonseca (New Bedford, MA) (2-2, 1 RBI) helped the Corsairs take a come-from behind victory. In the second game, it was Sean Donovan's (Quincy, MA) turn to pitch a complete game, picking up his second victory by holding RIC to five hits. John Connolle (Auburn, MA) blasted his first home run of the season and was a perfect 3-3, while Pat Schultz (Wareham, MA) was 3-4 with an RBI. Steve Lauzon (Lincoln, RI) evened his record at 2-2 as the Corsairs edged RIC, 8-5 on April 6. Fonseca led the 10-hit attack with a perfect 3-3, Pereira was 2-4 and Andre Gabrejelski (Methuen, MA) was 1-4 with two RBI.

Brandt Wajda (Milford, MA) (2-1) picked up the win in relief of Pereira in the 9-7 win over Brandeis on April 8. Schultz (2-4, 3 RBI) hit his seventh home run and Pereira (1-4, 2 RBI) added his fourth of the season to lead the Corsairs to their fourth straight win. Two days later, Amherst College broke the UMass Dartmouth win streak with an 8-5 decision in Amherst. Donovan took the loss for UMass Dartmouth. Mike O'Leary (W. Roxbury, MA) was 2-4 with a pair of RBI.

In first game against Southern Maine at Gorham on April 12, the Corsairs exploded for 13 hits in a 13-4 win, snapping the Husky's ten-game winning streak. A three-run first and five more in the fourth, including a two-run home run by Eric Alberto (Fall River, MA), his third of the season, and a bases-clearing triple by Pereira sparked the Corsairs. O'Leary also added his third homerun of the season. Lauzon went the distance to up his record to 3-2. In the night cap, Southern Maine scored three in the fifth inning and held UMass Dartmouth's bats to only eight hits, including Fonseca's second home run, in a 6-2 decision. Ryan Pinto (New Bedford, MA) (1-2) picked up the loss for UMass Dartmouth.

The week ended on a sour note for UMass Dartmouth when they were swept by Plymouth State College on April 13. The Panthers came up with three runs in their last at bat to tie the opener and win the game in the bottom of the eighth. Alex Tikonoff (Middleboro, MA) was tagged with the loss in relief of Pereira. On offense, Pereira was 2-5 with an RBI and Connolle was 2-2 with 3 RBI. A three-run third was all Plymouth State needed to take the nightcap, 4-3. Brian Sullivan (Wareham, MA) and Cross had home runs for UMass Dartmouth, but the Huskies' pitching held the potent Corsairs to only three hits.

After dropping three in Florida and single games back in New England against Stonehill College (4-0) and Tufts University (3-2), Coach Marilyn Ritz's Corsairs captured their first two wins of the young season by sweeping UMass Boston (14-4, 11-2). But UMass Dartmouth was swept by Southern Maine two days later (10-7, 1-0), falling to 2-7 overall.

In the 4-0 loss to Stonehill College, UMass Dartmouth was held to only three hits. The Corsairs got a pair of runs on four hits against Tufts but lost a squeaker, 3-2. Audrey Sanford (Tiverton, RI) pitched very well for UMass Dartmouth, holding Tufts to three runs on only two hits. Sanford helped her own cause on offense with a hit in three trips plus an RBI and Jill Byam (Lakeville, MA) was 1-3 with an RBI.

UMass Dartmouth finally got everything working in the double header sweep at UMass Boston on April 10. Sanford earned both victories, going five innings in the opener for a 14-4 win and five more in the second game, an 11-2, five-inning win. The Corsairs used 12 hits to score 14 runs in the first game. Kary Kieltyka (Westport, MA) was a perfect 3-3 with an RBI to lead the Corsairs' offense. Jen McGuinness (E. Taunton, MA), Amanda Fraser (Cataumet, MA) (2 RBI) and Jude Menz (Braintree, MA) (2 RBI) were 2-4, while Byam went 1-3 with three RBI. UMass Dartmouth's offense kept rolling in the second game, pushing across 11 runs on 14 hits. Byam led the Corsairs with 4 RBI, while Maureen Maloney (Blackstone, MA), Becky Medeiros (Fall River, MA) (2-2, 1 RBI), McGuinness and Byam had two hits each. Byam had a pair of doubles producing four RBI for the Corsairs.

In the Southern Maine opener, the Corsairs scored four runs in their final at bat but fell short of the comeback, 10-7. In the nightcap, Sanford, who's record fell to 2-7 with both losses to the Huskies, allowed one run on eight hits but couldn't get the win. The Corsairs were shutout on four hits to drop their record to 2-7. Sanford was 1-4 with 2 RBI and Byam was 1-3 with 2 RBI in the first game. Kieltyka was the Corsairs' only player with more than one hit in the second game, going 2-3 in a losing effort.

Through the first nine games, Kieltyka leads the Corsairs in hitting, going 9-18 for a .500 average. McGuinness in second (.360), followed by Sanford (.318), Fraser (.313) and Menz (.304). Sanford has been the workhorse on the mound, pitching in all nine games, with a 5.71 earned run average.

Kevin Magnussen (Millis, MA) capped his football career at the UMass Dartmouth by playing in the National All-Star Football Classic on March 22nd. The all-star game featured college football seniors from Divisions I, II and III and was played at University High School Field in Orlando, Florida.

A four-year starter at offensive tackle for UMass Dartmouth, Magnussen was twice named First Team on the New England Football Conference All-Star team. As a senior this season, Magnussen was part of UMass Dartmouth's football team which finished with an 8-2 record, including eight straight victories. Coach Bill Kavanaugh's team was ranked #7 in the final New England Division III football poll.

Senior forward Mosadi Caldwell (Providence, RI) was selected to play in the annual New England Basketball Coaches Association All Star game at Holy Cross on April 10. In two seasons at UMass Dartmouth, Caldwell was a two-time Little East Conference First Team All Star, leading the Corsairs two consecutive LEC regular season championships. Caldwell led the LEC in rebounding this season with an average of 8.2 rebounds per game while finishing fifth in scoring (13.5 points per game) and second in blocked shots (1.0 blocks per game).

Coach John Rolli's ECAC North-Central-South champions placed two players on the 1996-97 ECAC Central All-Star Team. Junior forward Jarrod DiBona (Weymouth, MA) was a First-Team selection at right wing. DiBona led the Corsairs in scoring with 19 goals and 29 assists for 48 points. Goalie Ryan Sloper (Billerica, MA) earned First Team honors after finishing the season with an 11-3-1 record with two shutouts and a 2.55 goals against average. DiBona and Sloper were also named ECAC Central All Star First Team selections.....The UMass Dartmouth Sports Information Line is up and running, providing up-to-date scores and results of the Corsairs' athletic teams. Call (508) 999-8751 and follow the menu to obtain daily schedules and results along with other special announcements from the UMass Dartmouth Sports Information office. The line is updated daily and available free of charge, 24 hours a day.