Senior Samantha Robbins of Franklin and junior Rebecca Ciccarelli of Natick have taken leading roles for the Bentley College women's indoor track program.
Robbins, one of the premier distance runners in New England, and Ciccarelli, who has developed into a superb runner in the middle distances, are serving as team captains this winter, along with Melissa Nash of Marshfield.
"Both are very good students and hard workers who have made great gains during their college careers," said Bentley head coach Ed Lyons.
"Sam, although constantly overcoming shin problems, always races well."
Robbins is the defending New England indoor champion in the mile (with a personal best time of 5:10.18). She was also the Northeast-10 Conference runner-up (to teammate Barb Powell) outdoors last spring in the 1,500 meters, and has been among Bentley's top five in cross-country all four of her seasons with the squad.
"Rebecca has successfully made the transition from short sprinter in high school to a good long sprinter in college," added Lyons, noting her personal bests in the 200 (26.10) and 400 meters (59.48). "I expect both to run new personal bests during the 2008 track season."
Robbins, a team captain in cross country and track at Franklin High has been a versatile performer at Bentley.
Last February, she was part of the distance medley relay team that set a school record (12:49.56) at the Boston University Valentine's Invitational and she was first in the mile (5:16.01) at the NE-10 championships. In the outdoor season last spring, she was second in the 1,500 at the NE-10 championships (4:49.72) and this fall she finished 15th at the NE-10 championships and 23d in the NCAA Division 2 Northeast Regional.
Ciccarelli, who ran the 55- and 100-meter events for Natick High, was honored as Bentley's Most Improved Runner last year as a junior, and was the track team's MVP as a freshman. A three-year letter winner in track at Natick High, she was also a member of the record-setting Falcons distance medley team and has been an integral part of the squad's relay units.
Silva had an outstanding rookie season for the Rams, who captured their first Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference regular-season championship and earned the second seed in the ECAC New England men's soccer championship. Silva, who was selected First Team All-Conference as well as the MASCAC Men's Soccer Rookie of the Year, was second in the conference in goals (13) and points (32).
The National Soccer Coaches Association of America will recognize College of Saint Rose senior midfielder Lindsay Bove of Holliston at its annual convention Saturday in Baltimore as a third-team selection to its Scholar All-America team. Bove was a major contributor to the team last fall that finished 19-1-2, made its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance within the past six years and captured the Albany, N.Y., college's first Northeast-10 Conference postseason championship in any sport.
An accounting major with a 3.81 GPA, Bove is a four-time NE-10 All-Conference performer who started a school-record 84 career games and was among the program's top 10 in career points (71), goals (27) and assists (17).
Marvin Pave can be reached at 508-820-4223 or at marvin.pave@rcn.com.
