Students have role on Marathon route

The volunteer spotters standing at each mile marker for WBZ-TV's (Channel 4) coverage along the route of the 112th Boston Marathon tomorrow will include 89 high school students, most of them from area communities.

Equipped with tracking tools and cellphones, they will report the progress of each elite athlete to the studio. The information will be on screen within 15 seconds and used by the station's reporters.

Area participating schools include Ashland High, Framingham High, Marian High of Framingham, and Natick High.

The Spotter's Network was instituted in 1985 by sports marketing consultant Fred Treseler of Newton and former race director Tim Kilduff of Hopkinton.

"We teach students the system," said Treseler, "and race day is the test."

Larry Rodkey, a sophomore at Ashland High in his second year as a spotter, will be situated at the 3-mile marker. "You really feel like you're a part of it," he said.

Spotting teams typically include three students - one keeps watch with binoculars for approaching runners, another calls the studio as the athlete crosses the mile marker, and the third takes notes on which runners to track.

Stonehill College track coach Karen Boen says Tom Woods is "everything you'd like in a student-athlete."

The former Medfield High track MVP has certainly made his mark with the Skyhawks over the past four years.

Last month, the senior captain ran the 400-meter leg to help the Skyhawks' distance medley relay team earn All-American honors by finishing fifth at the NCAA Division 2 nationals in Mankato, Minn.

Woods also achieved All-New England status in the 500 meters this past indoor season and in the outdoor 400-meter intermediate hurdles in 2006 and 2007. At Medfield High, Woods was a Tri-Valley league MVP in both winter and spring track.

"He is a true mentor to everyone on our team and with the help of our hurdles coach, Rich Hart, Tom has taken off a second per year in his times," said Boen. "His personal best in the 400 hurdles is 53.7. If he continues that pace this spring, he'll qualify for the Division 2 nationals."

Four area baseball players were recently honored by the Northeast-10.

Mike DiReda of Shrewsbury, a junior third baseman at Assumption, was named Player of the Week after hitting .519 (14 for 27) and slugging .852 while handling 18 chances flawlessly in the field. Dan White of Southborough, a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, hurled a complete game two-hit shutout over Southern New Hampshire to earn Pitcher of the Week accolades; Mike Coppinger of Medway and Northborough's Neil Hesek were named to the honor roll. Coppinger, a Merrimack junior, pitched a complete-game four-hit shutout against Stonehill, and Hesek, a freshman at Saint Anselm, was a 3-1 winner over Bryant, pitching a complete game five-hitter.

Western New England College junior Laura Bower of Hudson is on a roll on the mound, with two no-hitters and a one-hitter over a five-game span. As of last week, Bower was 10-5 overall with 126 strikeouts in 89 innings.

"She was a great pitcher as a freshman and she's worked hard to make herself better," said WNEC head coach Lori Mayhew, whose team was 17-10 overall. "Laura has that killer instinct on the mound, and right now she's on her game and hitting her spots."

Bower, who was 41-15 with a 1.90 ERA and 406 strikeouts in 346 innings for her career, is a graduate of Nashoba Regional High, where she was softball captain and a two-time team MVP.

Endicott College junior volleyball player Dan Coleman of Millis was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division 3 Men's All-America team for the second time.

In 118 games, Coleman totaled 475 digs, the second-best total in program history. His 4.03 digs per game ranked third nationally.

A former Globe All-Scholastic, Coleman played on three state finalists at Millis High, including the 2003 championship team.

Framingham native Terrel Randle has committed to the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, where he will play basketball.

A 6-foot guard, the 26-year-old Randle averaged 20 points per game last season at Quinsigamond Community College, propelling the Chiefs to a 17-9 record. Randle played high school basketball at both Framingham and Ashland.

University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth junior Amie Nickerson of Wrentham was named Little East Conference Pitcher of the Week after winning both games in a double-header sweep of Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

The King Philip Regional High graduate recorded a two-hit shutout and struck out 10 in the opening game, and won the nightcap with 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief while the Corsairs came back to take the victory.

Globe correspondent Brendan Hall contributed to this story. Marvin Pave can be reached at 508-8204223 or marvin.pave@rcn.com.