Corsairs perform well at New England DIII Championships

SPRINGFIELD, MA-The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth track and field teams turned in a few good performances at the New England Division III Championships at Springfield College’s Blake Track Saturday afternoon.

Overall, the Corsair men scored 20 points and finished 13th of 26 teams, while the women finished 22nd of 28 teams with 5.5 points. Williams won both meets, scoring 166.5 points to win the women’s competition, and totaling 137.5 points to win the men’s meet.

For the men, senior Jon Garcia (Stoneham, MA/Stoneham HS) won the 110 meter hurdles in a season-best time of 14.54 seconds. Junior Chris Jodoin (Uxbridge, MA/Maine) was fourth in the 400 meter hurdles in 55.85 seconds, and was a member of the 4 x 400 meter relay team that finished eighth in 3:26.1 and also included senior Yusef White (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford HS), sophomore Jason Muller (Norton, MA/Norton HS) and freshman Michael Boucher (Byfield, MA/Triton Regional HS). Senior Brian Vatcher (Stoneham, MA/Stoneham HS) was seventh in the 3000 meter steeplechase in 9:43.44, Matt Deininger was seventh in the triple jump at 44-8 1/4 and 13th in the long jump at 20-4 1/4, and sophomore J.T. Harold (North Andover, MA/Austin Prep) was ninth in the long jump at 21-4 1/4.

On the women’s side, senior Jen Munyon (Berlin, MA/Assabet Valley HS) was eighth in the 400 meter hurdles in 1:07.62, while junior Katie Malloy (Agawam, MA/Agawam HS) tied for fourth in the high jump at 5-1 1/4.

“We had some really good performances,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Devlyn Lovell. “Any time we get to these bigger meets, we see who has got it together. This is one of those meets that could really help us out, and it’s good to see people grow and make that next step. Jon Garcia obviously responded today, he really turned it on and ran much better. Chris Jodoin was awesome in the hurdles, which was good to see for a guy who has only run the hurdles in four events. And Jen Munyon was hurting, but she got through it. She really stepped it up and ran great in the hurdles.”

The Corsairs will return to action when they travel to Dartmouth for the Open New England Championships next weekend.

WALKING THE PLANK

DeRossi named UMassD head volleyball coach

The head coach of the New Bedford boys’ volleyball team for the past 21 seasons will become the new head women’s volleyball coach at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Steve DeRossi, who has led his team to eight state championships during his tenure, will succeed Jocelyn Costa, who stepped down to enter a program at Quinnipiac University that will result in her becoming a physician’s assistant.

DeRossi has a career record of 378-57 at New Bedford HS. He was named Massachusetts Coach of the Year in 1994, thrice led his teams to medals at the Bay State Games (gold-1992, silver-1989 and bronze-1988), and had his team named Team of the Month by Volleyball Monthly in September, 1987 and by Volleyball magazine in November, 1997. Under DeRossi, New Bedford High School has qualified for every state tournament since Massachusetts recognized boys’ volleyball in 1989. He has served as a coach and as co-director of the Whaler Volleyball Camp since 1992, serves as head coach for the Coastal Region in the Bay State games in 1988, 1989, 1991 and 1992, and was the boy’s Volleyball Coach for Massachusetts in the Mizuno High School All-Star Series in 1994. He has also served as a clinician at numerous clinics.

One of only two school principals who were active coaches in Massachusetts, DeRossi felt the time was right to make the move. “This is something I’ve wanted to do for the last 10 years, but my commitment to the New Bedford public school system made it difficult,” said DeRossi. “As of July 11, I’ll be retired. The timing is perfect. I enjoyed being an administrator, but volleyball has always been a passion of mine.”

DeRossi, who said 85 per cent of the players he coached at the Whaler Volleyball Camp were girls, said that there were several keys to his success. “You need to be well organized and have people skills,” said De Rossi. “We want to have success through teamwork. We try to get the players and coaches together to create what we all want.”

“I’m very comfortable with Steve taking over the position,” said Costa. “He comes from a really strong program, and has a very good reputation. I think he’ll do a great job, I think the team will respond well, and it will be a positive experience for them.”

UMass Dartmouth Director of Athletics Louise Goodrum was also pleased that DeRossi was joining the staff. “We’re very excited to bring Steve DeRossi aboard, with his years of coaching and developing volleyball players, and his obvious passion for the sport,” said Goodrum. “I believe that our program will continue to grow and be more competitive within our conference.”

Garcia named LEC Track Athlete of the Week

Senior Jon Garcia has been named LEC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week for his performance last week.

Garcia placed in the top-three in all seven events he entered at the Little East Conference/New England Alliance Championships this past weekend. He won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.19, while also participating as a member of the victorious 4 x 100-meter relay team, which placed first in 43.22 seconds. Garcia also captured the triple jump with a leap of 45-9 1/4, breaking the meet record in the process.

He also finished second in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 56.68, and was third at 200 meters (23.22), in the high jump (6-1) and long jump (22-0 3/4).

“As many events as we threw Jon into and as many points as he scored, it’s not a surprise,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Devlyn Lovell. “He’s one of those special kids you base your team around. He took one triple jump and came close to qualifying for the NCAAs. We’re lucky we had him as long as we did.”

Carey named LEC Lacrosse ROW

Freshman Gillian Carey has been named LEC Women’s Lacrosse Rookie of the Week for her performance last week.

Carey scored eight goals and added two assists for 10 points in UMass Dartmouth’s two games last week. She tied for the lead in scoring for the Corsairs last week, scoring four goals in each of UMass Dartmouth’s two games.

“Gillian’s honor is well-deserved,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Jerry Jennings. “She is one of our outstanding freshmen, a hard worker, well-disciplined, and really a sparkplug. Gillian is the kind of person you really like to coach. She is an excellent student and a great team person. We look forward to her having a really distinguished future with us.”