A stellar week for Bentley's Chan

Bentley College senior Kevin Chan was named the men's indoor field Athlete of the Week in the Northeast-10 Conference this month after an outstanding performance at the Northeastern Husky Winter Carnival.

Making his season debut, the Newton North grad was fifth among 56 entrants in the shot put, with a throw of 46 feet, 6.25 inches. He missed the indoor season last winter due to injury after setting a school record in the shot (48 feet, 3.25 inches) as a Bentley sophomore.

A tricaptain, Chan competed last spring and was 17th among a field of 24 in the discus at the New Englands and fifth in both shot and discus at the Northeast-10 championships. He was second in discus and fourth in the shot the previous year in the same event.

The 6-foot-1, 235-pound Chan lettered in football and indoor and outdoor track in high school.

"Kevin is a hard worker who has put in countless hours to develop his technique for the shot and discus," said Bentley coach Ed Lyons. "He spends many hours in the weight room and overcame a shoulder injury last indoor season that still affected his spring year in throws."

Shrewsbury native Paul Dufault (inset), a senior forward on the Harvard University hockey team, has regained the scoring touch for the 13th-ranked Crimson. He was third in team scoring with three goals and three assists through 10 games, nearly equaling his total of seven points in 26 games last year.

A hockey and lacrosse standout back at St. John's High in Shrewsbury, Dufault had a breakout sophomore season for Harvard, when he was fourth in team scoring with 26 points (including eight goals) and won the Donald Angier Trophy as the Crimson's most improved player.

Dufault missed preseason training and the first seven games last season because of a leg injury and never regained his sophomore stride, but he started out this season with a goal and an assist in a win at St. Lawrence and had points in three consecutive games. One of his assists was on the game-winning goal against Ivy League rival Cornell.

Wheaton College senior cocaptain Jim Ferriero - one of three soccer-playing brothers from Medway with ties to the Norton school - was named to the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference first team for his play this fall.

Older brother Greg is a 2005 Wheaton graduate, while younger brother David, a freshman, had a team-best eight goals and added three assists this season to help the Lyons (14-6-3) earn a berth in the Division 3 NCAA tournament after winning the NEWMAC regular-season and tournament championships. All three were soccer captains at Medway High.

"They're a winning family," said coach Matt Cushing. "Jim's teams went to the NCAA tournament four times and Greg's three times - once when they were teammates - and now David and Jim were teammates this year when we went to the tournament again. All are extremely team-oriented and they got it done with hard work, which reflects on their parents, Patti and Rob."

Ryan Jette, director of recreation for the town of Franklin, has received the 2d annual Heights Award for his significant contributions to women's athletics, with the presentation held at halftime of the Boston College-New Hampshire women's basketball game at Conte Forum on Nov. 27.

Over the past nine years, Jette increased the number of sports programs available to girls in the town from just two by adding lacrosse, volleyball, cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field, basketball, and flag football. He also established Girls on the Run, a program that boosts self-esteem and encourages emotional, social, and physical development for girls in grades 3 through 8.

Marlborough High grad Jessica Wainwright, a freshman at Lasell College in Newton, had a stellar first season for its women's soccer team. Wainwright was third in team scoring with five goals and three assists and played in all 18 games for Lasell, which improved from 4-14 last year to 11-7 this fall under new head coach Vito LaFrancesca.

"Jessica was a great asset to our young team this year. Her explosive speed enabled her to become one of our top scorers," said LaFrancesca, a former assistant coach at Babson and head coach at Watertown High. "We expect great things from her after what she did this season."

Framingham State senior place-kicker Ashley Baker completed her one-season college football career with 11 points on a field goal and eight extra points. According to Framingham officials, Baker sits atop the list of points scored by women who have played college football.

Union College freshman Amanda Powers, 19, of Dover, won the annual New England Amateur Equitation finals at the Eastern States Exposition Center in West Springfield, where she was competing in a field of 80 riders. The graduate of Dana Hall School in Wellesley was also this year's Massachusetts Amateur Equitation finals champion.

Marvin Pave can be reached atmarvin.pave@rcn.com or at 508-820-4223.