With a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Division III cross country regionals held at Southern Maine last weekend, Gary Mello (Woburn, MA) earned a spot in the NCAA Division III national championship race. Mello will be among the field of elite men's cross country runners invited to compete in the national championship race to be held November 22 at Franklin Park in Boston.

Mello will compete as an individual because the Corsairs were not able to field a complete squad at the regionals. He finished ninth overall with a time of 27:03 over Southern Maine's five-mile cross country course. Amherst College's Rob Mitchell was the overall winner from a field of 30 teams with a time of 26:16.

UMass Dartmouth had to settle for second place in the New England Football Conference (NEFC) after dropping a 44-28 decision to Bridgewater State College last Saturday on campus. The Bears' victory, coupled with Worcester State's victory over Mass. Maritime, gave those two teams a share of the NEFC crown for this season.

Bridgewater State picked up 261 yards rushing and another 177 passing and did a good job of slowing down the Corsairs' high-powered offense. An eight-yard TD run by Steve Wozniak (Whitman, MA) and an Erik Lundell (Mansfield, MA) extra point gave the Corsairs' an early 7-0 lead. A Bridgewater State interception, however, killed a second potential scoring drive and instead was returned 87 yards for a Bear TD. Mike Masse's (Wareham, MA) one-yard TD put the Corsairs back on top before the Bears scored a pair of second quarter TDs for a 21-13 halftime lead.

Masse ripped off a 62-yard TD on the first play of the third quarter, but the Bears responded with a field goal to grab a narrow 24-21 lead. A 23-yard TD pass from Jay Furtado (Swansea, MA) to Ryan Bland (Dartmouth, MA) early in the fourth quarter gave the Corsairs a 28-24 lead. The Bears responded by scoring three times in the game's final four minutes for the 44-28 victory.

Masse led the Corsairs with 122 yards on 21 carried, while Furtado connected on 16 of 38 for 219 yards with a TD and an interception. Bland had seven catches for 83 yards, Lundell caught five passes for 62 yards.

The Corsairs entered the game with a shot at the NEFC title after picking up their first NEFC victory ever at Westfield State College on Nov. 7. UMass Dartmouth was sparked by a record-setting, 5 TD performance by Mike Masse, the NEFC Offensive Player of the Week and ECAC Honor Roll selection.

Masse tied an NEFC record by scoring his five TDs in the first half on runs of 2, 47, 5, 7, and 11 yards, picking up 143 yards on 24 carries to lift UMass Dartmouth to its seventh consecutive victory and a #4 ranking in the weekly ECAC Division III New England Football poll.

The Corsairs opened the 1997-98 season with a 5-3 victory over Johnson and Wales University of the ECAC North Division in a game played at Driscoll Rink in Fall River. Jarrod DiBona (Weymouth, MA) led the Corsairs' attack with a pair of goals and the tandem of Louis Weimann (Burlington, VT) (12 saves) and Ryan Sloper (Billerica, MA) (five saves) combined for the victory in goal. The Corsairs had 47 shots on goal.

UMass Dartmouth got off to a quick, 3-0 first period lead on goals by Chris O'Reilly (Belmont, MA), Jarrod DiBona and Steve Bartkus (Quincy, MA). After a scoreless second period, Kayne Beaudry's (Melrose, MA) goal twenty seconds into the period gave the Corsairs a 4-0 lead. Five minutes later, Jarrod DiBona added his second goal for a 5-0 lead with 15 minutes to play. JWU made things interesting with three unanswered goals but couldn't get closer than the 5-3 final.

Coach John Rolli's squad has a tough week ahead with road games at Fitchburg State (Nov. 19) and Bentley College (Nov. 22). The Corsairs defeated Fitchburg State, 6-3, in last season's ECAC North/Central/South title game. Bentley College was the only team to hand the Corsairs two defeats in action last season.

UMass Dartmouth's comeback season in volleyball fell two point short of a .500 season. Coach Rick Quintin had said in the pre-season that UMass Dartmouth, coming off an 0-25 record last year, might reach the .500 mark in his first season with the program.

Although UMass Dartmouth dropped its final match to Assumption College in five sets, Quintin's team turned in a very impressive season, finishing 14-16 overall. In the final week of the season, UMass Dartmouth swept Framingham State College to get to 14-14 with help from Amy Wilson's (Dartmouth, MA) seven aces, 12 kills and 12 digs. The Corsairs had 17 aces as a team, with Cindy Brehaut (Dartmouth, MA) adding five aces and Heather Louro (Dartmouth, MA) chipping in with three aces and 23 assists.

In a dual match on Nov. 8, the Corsairs dropped the opener to Eastern Nazarene College, 3-0. Needing a victory to reach .500, the Corsairs took the opening set against Assumption, 15-6, but dropped the next two sets, 15-13. Trailing 2-1 in sets, UMass Dartmouth came roaring back with a 15-1 victory to tie the match. In the fifth and final set, UMass Dartmouth was ahead and had a chance to serve for the victory at 15-14. But Assumption College came through with three straight points to end UMass Dartmouth's season. In the last two matches, the Corsairs picked up 74 teams kills, 25 blocks and 10 aces. Stephanie Wilson (Dartmouth, MA) had 17 kills.

Sophomore back Barbara Carlin (Burlington, MA) was UMass Dartmouth's lone representative selected to the 1997 Little East Conference All Star team. Carlin was named to the 1997 LEC Second Team after the Corsairs finished 4-13 overall and 2-5 for sixth place in the LEC.

UMass Dartmouth goalie Jennifer Nelson (Medford, MA) ranked seventh among LEC goalies with a goals against average of 2.47. In 17 games, Nelson played 1530 minutes, allowed 42 goals with 167 saves and two shutouts.

Stephanie Oles (Putnam, CT) and Elizabeth Salvia (Andover, MA) were tied for the scoring lead with eight points. Oles had a team-high four goals for eight points, while Salvia had three goals and two assists for her eight points. Jennifer Tolson (Whitman, MA) was second in scoring with three goals for six points and Michelle Cameron (North Reading, MA) was third with two goals and one assist for five points.

Coach Niall O'Donnell's Corsairs closed out their 1997 season with a 3-1 loss to nationally-ranked Wheaton College. Rob Workman (Bridgewater, MA) scored UMass Dartmouth's only goal with an assist from Erik Reis (Westport, MA). Rob Moles (Taunton, MA) made 14 saves in goal.

Reis and sophomore Tori Terrassi (S. Easton, MA) were both named to the 1997 Little East Conference All-Star team. Reis, a senior forward and Terassi, a back, were named All-LEC second team. Reis and Terassi were UMass Dartmouth's top two scorers this season. Reis finished with four goals and four assists for 12 points, while Terassi had a team-high five goals to go along with one assist for 11 points. Fabio Cardoso (New Bedford, MA) was third in scoring with three goals and two assists for eight points.

The Corsairs had four different players in goal during their 4-11-1 season, which included a 0-6-1 mark for seventh in the LEC. Mike Ring (Peabody, MA) appeared in the most games with nine, allowing 22 goals for a 2.64 goals against average and a 1-6-1. Ring also picked up UMass Dartmouth's only shutout victory during the season. Moles appeared in seven games, allowing 14 goals for a GAA of 2.40 and a 1-3-1 record. Also appearing in goal this season were Robert Costa (Taunton, MA) (2 games, 1.50 GAA) and Gilson Timas (Brockton, MA) (3 games, 2.82 GAA).

Coach Lisa Cabral's cheerleaders placed first for the third consecutive year in the small co-ed division at the seventh annual Emmanuel College Open Invitational Cheerleading competition. UMD won the event with a score of 86.5, finishing ahead of Bridgewater St. (79), Westfield St. (73.5), Hartford (72), and Salem St. (67).

Members of the UMass Dartmouth squad who competed in the event held at Boston College High School on November 9 were captains Eric Bichao (Gloucester, MA) and Christie Cardoza (Fairhaven, MA), plus junior Amy Carroll (Fall River, MA), sophomores Ashley Cohen (Northboro, MA), Kelly Davision (Stoneham, MA), Allison Mulcahy (Wethersfield, CT), Christine Patnaude (West Springfield, MA), and freshmen Jamie Charrier (Fitchburg, MA), Kim DePina (Brockton, MA), Crissy Ferreira (Cambridge, MA), Mandy LeGacy (Westford, MA), and Jen Sargent (Raynham, MA).

Co-captain Maura McDonald (Greenfield, MA) placed 13th overall and the Corsairs finished 13th as a team in the 1997 ECAC Division III Cross Country Championships held at Westfield State College on Nov. 8. McDonald covered the 5K course in a time of 19:29. Teammate Tara Carson (Beverly, MA) was the second UMass Dartmouth runner across the finishing line, placing 43rd with a time of 20:03 followed by Jackie Gorski (Warwick, RI) (71st, 20:31) and Karla Jarquin (Shrewsbury, MA) (115th, 21:12). Co-captain Laura Caselden (Westfield, MA) finished 144th (21:46) with Meghan Hickey in 145th at 21:50. Also competing for the Corsairs were Melissa Ying (Chelmsford, MA) (163rd, 22:10) and Robin Holzer (Groton, MA) (213, 24:17).

In the NCAA Division III regional championships at Southern Maine on Nov. 15, McDonald was again the Corsairs' top runner. She placed 61st overall and the Corsairs were 21st. McDonald covered the 5,000-meter course in 20:45, while Carson was UMass Dartmouth's second finisher at 21:11 for 82nd place. The Corsairs' other finishers were Jarquin (126th, 22:03), Ying (147th, 22:45) and Holzer (184th, 26:50).

Senior midfielder Maureen Maloney (Blackstone, MA), a four-year veteran of the UMass Dartmouth field hockey team, capped her career by being the Corsairs' first player selected for the 1997 Division I, II and III North/South Senior All-Star Game to be played November 20th at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT.

Maloney was also named second team National Field Hockey Coaches' Association (NFHCA) All-New England West Regional All-America for the second consecutive year. As a junior last year, Maloney received similar All-Regional honors as a forward. One year later, she was named to the squad for a second consecutive year, this time as a midfielder, her first year at the new position.

This season Maloney tied for second in goals scored for the Corsairs, with a total of five plus an assist for 11 points. One of her season highlights came against Worcester Poly Tech when Maloney gave her team the victory with a penalty shot in overtime. She opened the season against Elms College, scoring two of the four goals to give the Corsairs a 4-0 win. UMass Dartmouth finished the season with a 9-9 overall record. In her four years at UMass Dartmouth, Maloney had a total of 19 goals and 16 assists for 35 points.

UMass Dartmouth field hockey and softball coach Marilyn Ritz was recently inducted into the Westport High School Hall of Fame. Ritz played field hockey, volleyball, basketball and softball at Westport High, earning the award as the beat all-around female athlete in 1969.......The Division of Student Affairs' Spirit Committee is sponsoring "Rally Rag Day" at the home-opener basketball games which gets underway at 2 p.m. this Saturday, Nov. 22 at the Tripp Center.