Two more honors for UMass great
Honors came in bunches for Jill (Croft) Paige while she was tearing up the track at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell from 1998 to 2002. They still are.
Paige was recently named to both the UMass-Lowell and Northeast-10 Conference Athletic halls of fame in the space of 24 hours. When she is inducted into the NE-10 Hall of Fame on June 2, she will become the first UMass-Lowell athlete to earn that distinction. On May 13, Paige will join Jon Cahill and Brandon Curran entering the UMass-Lowell Hall of Fame.
A native of Gardner and a resident of Tewksbury, Paige graduated as the most decorated female athlete of her time, earning Division 2 All-America honors seven times in the indoor and outdoor long jump, indoor high jump, and indoor 60-meter dash. Twice, in 2000 and 2001, she placed second in the NCAA Championships in the outdoor long jump. She also captured All-New England honors 13 times, which included championships in the outdoor long jump and 100- and 200-meter dashes. She was the Northeast-10 Female Athlete of the Year in 2000-01 after winning individual championships in the indoor 55 and 200 meters, the long jump, running legs on the winning 4 x 200 and 4 x 400 relay teams, and the outdoor high jump and long jump.
"Jill was coachable. She was aggressive in the idea that she wanted to be better," said former UMass-Lowell coach George Davis, who retired in 2002 after 33 years. "She enjoyed that aspect of competition and she was a wonderful competitor, a very good leader, teammate, and a wonderful person. So many of the other college coaches who looked at her in high school just couldn't believe her accomplishments in college. She was certainly one of the great athletes to go through the track program at UMass."
Paige set seven school records; five years after her graduation, six still stand. She also still holds the New England record in the outdoor 100 meters (11.84 seconds), which she set in 2001.
Curran was one of coach Ted Priestly's first soccer recruits out of Tyngsborough in 1999. UMass-Lowell was coming off a 5-14-1 record and in search of its first winning season in 17 years. By the time Curran graduated, the River Hawks had enjoyed their best four-year period in history, going 47-25-5 and defeating Division 2 heavyweights such as Southern Connecticut, Franklin Pierce, and Southern New Hampshire.
"Brandon's impact on UMass-Lowell soccer has been immeasurable," said Priestly. "He is an example of exactly the type of player that has made UMass successful. He played every game as though it was his last."
Opposing coaches also thought highly of Curran. As a senior defender, he was named a National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division 2 All-American. As a senior, Curran led the River Hawks to a 13-5-2 record and an improbable run in the NE-10 tournament. Seeded No. 5, the River Hawks defeated No. 4 Saint Anselm (1-0) and No. 1 Southern Connecticut (1-0) before falling, 1-0, at No. 2 Southern New Hampshire on a controversial penalty kick in overtime.
Curran lives in Charleston, S.C., and plays with the Charleston Battery of the United Soccer Leagues First Division.
Cahill, who played his high school baseball in Peabody, is considered one of the most complete players in UMass-Lowell history. He was an American Baseball Coaches Association All-American and Northeast Region and Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year in 2001. Though seven years removed from the program, the pitcher-shortstop's name is scattered all over the baseball record books, and he is still No. 1 as career leader in singles (186), doubles (66), and runs scored (194).
But perhaps most impressive is the fact that he played in all 185 games of his career and started 184.
During Cahill's career, UMass-Lowell posted an overall record of 134-51. In his senior year, he led the River Hawks to the NCAA Northeast title and into the Division 2 World Series in Montgomery, Ala.
Cahill is in his second year managing the Traverse City (Mich.) Beach Bums of the independent Frontier League.
