Honors for Jones, Hlebichuk

Two prestigious honors have been bestowed upon area individuals - Emily Jones of The Bromfield School in Harvard, and University of Massachusetts at Lowell field hockey coach Shannon Hlebichuk.

Gatorade cited Jones as its 2007 Massachusetts Girls Cross-Country Runner of the Year, while the National Field Hockey Coaches Association named Hlebichuk its Division 2 Coach of the Year.

For Jones, it's the frosting on the cake on what was a sensational cross-country season. She won her second straight Division 2 state championship with a time of 16 minutes 6 seconds - 15 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor - and led Bromfield to the team title. She then finished second at the Foot Locker Northeast Regionals in 17:41, and 11th in the Foot Locker Nationals in 17:54. She maintains a 3.94 grade-point average, is a member of her school's student council, volunteers for many community projects, and donates time to a running camp for children in grades 4 through 6.

"She's very talented, obviously, but she's not satisfied with the level she's at," said Bromfield coach Henry Phelan. "She's tenacious and very, very, very competitive. At Foot Locker last year she just wanted to qualify. This year we focused more on the end of the season and she ran very well."

Hlebichuk won the coaches' award for the third time in five years. She previously was cited following the 2005 and 2003 seasons.

"I am so humbled and honored that the Division 2 coaches selected me to receive this award," said Hlebichuk. "This is an award that I share with my coaching staff. I am fortunate to be surrounded by people like Kerry Dudley, Erin Stewart, Lauren Sickel, and Kim Villare. They are as equally important to this program as I am, and their dedication has been unwavering."

The River Hawks were 19-3 in 2007 - which included both the Northeast-10 Conference regular season and tournament titles - and hosted the NCAA Tournament. They defeated Bentley, 2-1, in overtime before losing to 13-time champion Bloomsburg, 5-2, in the championship game. In her six years at the helm, Hlebichuk has compiled a sterling 100-31 record with five straight Northeast-10 Conference tournament championships and the 2005 NCAA Division 2 title. Hlebichuk has led UMass-Lowell to NCAA Tournament semifinal appearances five straight years, and has advanced to the title game in 2003, 2005, and 2007. She is a native of Amesbury and lives in Nashua.

Lowell point guard Ashley Rivera had just 5 points, but one of them was the 1,000th of her career in a 51-42 win over Andover. . . . Katie Zenevitch had 18 points, 17 rebounds, 5 steals, and 3 blocks to lift Central Catholic past Billerica, 48-47. Zenevitch scored the winning hoop with 11 seconds left to play. . . . Kyle Pierce of Burlington was in the zone in an 81-60 Middlesex League win over Belmont. He had 35 points, including 14-of-14 from the free-throw line. . . . It was bombs away for Methuen in its 72-60 win over Tewksbury as Edwin Gonzales, Romeo Diaz, and Mike Gorman combined for 16 3-pointers. Gonzales had six of them and Diaz and Gorman five each. . . . Central Catholic at No. 2, Lowell at No. 5, Lexington at No. 8, and Bedford at No. 10 were the highest-ranked boys' basketball teams in the latest Globe Top 20. In the girls' poll, Lowell was at No. 3, Andover at No. 4, and Acton-Boxborough at No. 10. . . . Greater Lawrence outpointed Shawsheen Tech and Reading to win its eighth straight Commonwealth Athletic Conference wrestling title. . . . Timberlane (Plaistow, N.H) finished third in the Eastern States Classic in New York. Brian Nicoll was top point-getter for Timberlane with a runner-up finish in the heavyweight match. . . . Salem (N.H.) entered only eight wrestlers in the Merrimack Tournament, but two of them - Trevor Dearden at 125 and Alex Pittera at 135 - won to lead the Blue Devils to a fourth-place finish.

Area women pitched in big time at Westfield State this past fall. Sophomore Ally Brown of Andover was a member of the cross-country team that captured its fourth straight Massachusetts State College Athletics Conference championship and finished second in the New England Alliance Championships. Brown earned all-conference honors by placing ninth in the MASCAC championships and 15th in the New England Alliance championships. Senior Morgan Hosking of North Reading and junior Ashley Conway of Dracut played on the volleyball team that captured the MASCAC regular-season championship for the first time in 20 years. Hosking was an outside hitter, played in 28 of 30 matches, and had 188 kills, 35 aces, and 24 blocks. Conway was also an outside hitter and played in 18 matches. Senior defender Jacqui Turner of Boxborough earned first-team All-MASCAC honors for the third straight year after leading the field hockey team to a 10-8 record.

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