Joe Rollins, a senior on the McDaniel football team, has been named to the All-Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South All-Star first team, released on Wednesday.
Rollins, a running back, was named the Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Year and was a unanimous selection to the first team, earning that honor for the third straight season.
Rollins finished the season with 1,374 rushing yards to lead the CC. His 1.37.4-yard-per-game average ranks 20th in Division III at the end of the regular season. He found the end zone 13 times on the ground and had seven 100-yard rushing games and three 200-yard games. Rollins also caught 26 passes out of the backfield for 188 yards and returned 13 kickoffs for 264 yards. He also had 43 punt-return yards to finish the season with a CC-best 1,869 all-purpose yards. Rollins becomes the 13th player in program history to earn the Player of the Year honors. He finished his career second all-time with 4,641 career rushing yards and 34 touchdowns. His 6,123 all-purpose yards is third all-time.
The Green Terror finished the season with a record of 2-8 (2-7 CC).
PRO LAX PLAYERS: Three former members of the Mount St. Mary’s University men’s lacrosse team just might be seen taking their talents to the professional ranks next year.
T.C. DiBartolo, Andrew Scalley and Bryant Schmidt were all picked up in last week’s Major League Lacrosse Supplemental Draft. DiBartolo was a 2011 graduate while Scalley and Schmidt wrapped up their Mountaineers careers in 2013.
DiBartolo was selected in the fourth round (28th overall) by the Chesapeake Bayhawks. Scalley and Schmidt could again be teammates after being picked by the Rochester Rattlers. Both are set to team up with Bryant Schmidt’s brother, Brett, another 2013 Mount grad who played for the Rattlers over the summer.
DiBartolo graduated as the Mount’s all-time leader with 726 career saves. He was originally selected with the 125th overall pick in the 2012 Supplemental Draft by the Bayhawks and played the 2012 and 2013 seasons with Chesapeake. DiBartolo was named an All-America honorable mention as a junior and Northeast Conference Defensive Player of the Year as a senior for the Mountaineers.
Scalley is the reigning NEC Offensive Player of the Year. He was taken by Rochester in the fifth round with the 36th pick. Scalley recorded 30 goals and 36 assists during his senior season. A member of the Tewaaraton Award watch list as a senior, Scalley was a three-time All-NEC first-teamer. He finished second in program history in career points (220), fourth in goals (129) and fourth in assists (91).
Schmidt was also a three-time All-NEC first-teamer. He was selected with the 84th overall selection, the fourth pick of the 11th round. The midfielder ranks in the top 20 in Mount St. Mary’s history in every offensive category – his 122 points place him 19th, his 81 career goals rank 15th and his 41 assists stand 20th.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Junior Andrew Merlo of the McDaniel College men’s basketball team has been named Centennial Conference Co-Player of the Week for Dec. 9-15.
Merlo led the Green Terror to a 79-73 victory over Lebanon Valley on Sunday, matching his career high with 27 points. The guard made seven of his 11 attempts from the floor, going 6 for 9 from behind the arc, matching his career best for 3-pointers made. He also went 7 for 8 from the charity stripe.
For the season, Merlo is fourth on the team with 8.5 points per game while his nine 3-pointers rank second. He also has eight assists, five rebounds and three steals in six contests.
That has helped the Terror open the season 5-3 (2-2 Centennial).
CAREER CAPPER: Senior midfielder Kathleen Maleski (South Carroll) recently concluded her fourth and final season with the with the Washington College women’s soccer team. She started all 18 games for the Shorewomen, serving as one of four team captains.
Maleski helped Washington post five shutouts this season and dished out her first career assist on Sept. 16 at Wesley, also her first collegiate point.
In 58 career matches, Maleski made 29 starts, tallying one assist for one point. The Shorewomen finished 4-12-2 overall and 1-9 in the Centennial.
GRADE-A RETRIEVER: Senior Kirsten McGovern (Century) of the UMBC women’s cross country team was named to the America East All-Academic team for the second straight year.
McGovern earned the honor after scoring in each of UMBC’s final four meets of the season. After posting a season-best 6,000-meter time of 23:10.45 at the Salty Dog Invitational at Navy on Sept. 14, she placed 45th at the conference meet, in which UMBC achieved its best-ever team finish by taking fifth.
McGovern, who is studying for a degree in environmental science, has compiled a 3.95 GPA in her first three years at UMBC. She has also been working toward a minor in linguistics and an honors college certificate, receiving a mention on the President’s List three times and on the Dean’s List once.
HIGH JUMP HURD: Sophomore Erika Hurd (Manchester Valley) of the University of Cincinnati women’s track team has begun her indoor season on a winning note.
Hurd, a four-time first-team indoor all-countian, won the high jump at the Hoosier Open in Bloomington, Ind., on Dec. 13. She cleared the bar with a leap of 5 feet, 8.75 inches.
Hurd is coming off an impressive summer, as she finished second in the high jump at the U.S. Junior Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. She cleared 1.70 and 1.75 meters, each on her first attempt, but was unable to clear the third progression of 1.80 meters.
Hurd’s mark of 1.75 meters barely missed tying her personal best of 1.78 meters, which she set at the University of South Florida Collegiate Invitational. She also just missed the qualifying mark (1.80 meters) to reach the 2013 Pan American Junior Championships.
