Babson women shine in lacrosse

It was a great run this spring by the 12th-ranked Babson College women's lacrosse team, which won its second consecutive New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference championship and recorded the program's first NCAA Division 3 tournament win, 19-10, at 10th-ranked Trinity.

Sophomore attack Kaitlyn Pettengill of Hopkinton (54 goals, 12 assists for the season) and junior midfielder Jackie Godfrey of Franklin (38 goals, 27 assists), both NEWMAC first-team picks, were offensive catalysts for the Beavers, whose 16-3 record set a team mark for victories.

Midfielders Ellen McCurdy of Weston (5 goals, 5 assists) and Kristy Benoit of Shrewsbury (1 goals, 2 assists) were among seven promising first-year players.

"Jackie and Kaitlyn are two of the most athletic and gifted players I've ever coached. They took Babson lacrosse to a new level the last two seasons and I'm eager to watch them develop into leaders on next year's team," said Babson coach Kully Reardon. "And Ellen and Kristy are phenomenal athletes."

Nils Fischer of Stow, a senior cross-country and track athlete at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, finished strong in his final outdoor season. The Nashoba Regional High graduate was third in the 5,000 meters with a personal best 14:29.40 at the New England Championships, and qualified for the IC4A championships last weekend at Princeton.

Fischer (inset) is described by UMass coach Ken O'Brien as "a young man who is passionate about running. He was our first big-time recruit who committed to UMass after we dropped our indoor track program and he stuck with us, so I have a special feeing for him and his family."

UMass has since restored the indoor program and completed the construction of a nine-lane outdoor track.

O'Brien said that Fischer will return to UMass in the fall for one more season of cross-country and will graduate in January. He studied in England last fall.

Newton's Greg DiMarco produced on the mound and at bat for the Suffolk University baseball team that won the Great Northeast Athletic Conference regular season title with a 14-0 record and finished 29-12 overall.

DiMarco, a senior two-year captain who also played the outfield, batted .381 and had a 2-1 pitching record with a team-best 1.02 ERA. A graduate of St. Sebastian's School, he was named to the conference's all-tournament team after helping the Rams advance to the championship game.

Middlebury College junior midfielder Mike Stone, a Globe All-Scholastic and All-America lacrosse player while at Wellesley High, has been named the New England Small College Athletic Conference's Player of the Year for his efforts this spring.

Stone helped Middlebury go 13-3 this spring and advance to the NCAA tournament for the 11th consecutive season. He had a team-high 29 goals and 51 points.

"Mike was the catalyst of our offense while going against the opposing team's best defender," said coach Dave Campbell. "He took advantage of whatever look the defense threw at him."

Stone had two goals and an assist in his team's 11-10 overtime loss at Cortland State in the NCAA quarterfinals.

Marvin Pave can be reached at marvin.pave@rcn.com.