Bentley rugby club repeats as champs

The road to a repeat championship began for the Bentley College men's rugby team with 12 victories in all 12 of its fall matches, including a 35-12 victory in November over Hamilton College for the Northeast Regional title.

On Sunday afternoon, Bentley capped a 20-0 season and its quest for back-to-back national championships in Winston Salem, N.C., by rallying for a thrilling, 11-10, comeback victory over Furman University for the Division 3 club title.

Senior flanker Jarrod Landers capped his MVP performance with the go-ahead score with 13 minutes remaining, breaking four tackles in a 20-meter run to overcome a 10-6 deficit. "Jarrod is an unbelievable player; he has a good combination of speed and power, he can score from anywhere on the field, and he'll go right at you," said Bentley's coach, Josh Smith.

After the go-ahead score, the Falcons had to scramble to hold off Furman, a perennial power that won three straight national titles from 2003 to 2005.

"When the whistle blew, we were clearing the ball out of our zone, and the parents stormed the field, but I wasn't sure if the game was over or not," said Smith , who has guided the program to a 47-0 mark over his two seasons as coach.

"We brought back a lot of guys from last year, and if we didn't win, it would have been a disappointment," said Smith. "The goal from d ay 1 was a repeat."

The Bentley program is considering a move to Division 2 for next year, he said.

Teggart touches all

the bases -- four times

His focus has been on his future in football, and kicking for the University of Connecticut in the fall, but Algonquin Regional senior Dave Teggart also spent the last few weeks working hard in the batting cage, tuning up his swing.

On Monday afternoon, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound third baseman showed that he wields a powerful bat, blasting four home runs and knocking in seven runs to power the defending Division 1 state champs to a 9-2 win over Mid-Wach rival Leominster.

"I think the most I've ever hit in a game was maybe two in Little League," said Teggart, who smashed seven home runs last spring. "They just kept throwing fastballs down the middle of the plate."

In the seventh inning, with runners on first and third, Teggart thought he would receive a free pass, "but the pitcher threw four straight curveballs."

And the fifth pitch ? A 3-1 fastball, which Teggart deposited over the fence for his fourth round-tripper of the day. After Algonquin's first four games, Teggart was hitting .600 (9-for-15).

Local scholar-athletes

to get appreciation

Six local senior football players will be honored as scholar-athletes by the Jack Grinold Eastern Massachusetts chapter of the National Football Foundation on May 14 at Lombardo's in Randolph.

Ben Benson of Weston High, Brian Doyle of Hopkinton High, Mark Petercuskie of Holliston High, Mark Sweder of Waltham High, and two Xaverian Brothers High players, Bryan Kipp of Norfolk and Erik Reks of Wrentham, will be among 22 players to be saluted for their achievements on the field and in the classroom.

In addition, Foxboro High coach Jack Martinelli , a longtime Holliston resident, will receive the group's Contributions to Amateur Football Award, while MIT coach Dwight Smith will receive the Ron Burton Distinguished American honor.

To order tickets for the dinner, call George Makris at 617-373-4821.

An unstoppable scoring force in Framingham High's march to the Division 1 state lacrosse title last spring, Shaunna Kaplan is putting up impressive numbers as a freshman at the University of New Hampshire this season. In the Wildcats' first 14 games, Kaplan put her lightning speed and tricky moves to work in collecting 19 goals and eight assists, the second-highest scoring total on the squad. Kaplan made six starts for the UNH women's soccer team last fall, scoring two goals and one assist. . . . Another frosh, Bentley's Kelly Fleszar, picked up her fourth Northeast-10 Conference Women's Tennis Freshman of the Week honor after registering a 3-1 mark in last weekend's conference tournament. Fleszar won both her singles and doubles matches in the NE-10 quarterfinals against Le Moyne College, and added a doubles win against Bryant University in the semifinals.

Craig Larson can be reached at 508-820-4234 or clarson@globe.com