LOCAL COLLEGE NOTES

Tracking the Bears

• Coast Guard Academy’s added to her memorable freshman season by becoming the first athlete in program history to capture an Open New England Championship title after running alone in the slow heat. Mooney bested her Division I competition on Saturday while winning the 3,000 meters in 9:53.71, beating the school record by 18 seconds. For her outstanding effort, Mooney was chosen as the CGASPORTS.COM athlete of the week.

Mooney also owns the school record for the mile, which she set by running a 4:59.42 at the Wheaton Invitational on Jan. 27. During cross country season, Mooney earned All-American honors with her fourth place finish at the NCAA Division III championship.

Camel highlights

• The Connecticut College men’s hockey team has experienced a dramatic turnaround. The Camels already have won more overall and New England Small College Athletic Conference games this season than the previous two seasons combined.

They’re 9-9-2 overall, 8-4-2 in the NESCAC entering this week’s action. The last two seasons they went a combined 7-34-6, 2-28-6. Sitting in second place, the Camels have never finished higher than fifth in the last 15 seasons.

• In women’s hockey, Conn College (14-3-3, 9-1-2) needs one win to match the program record for overall victories in a season. The record of 15 is shared by the 2016-17 and 2015-16 teams. Junior goalie Bailey Mertz has a conference-best 13 wins. • Junior David Labossiere averaged 21.5 points in two games last week for the men’s basketball team. The Camels are 6-15, 0-8.

• Sophomore Michael Rodriguez was named the NESCAC performer of the week for men’s squash. Rodriguez clinched team wins over Tufts and Wesleyan last week.

Mariners riding a wave

• Mitchell College has the top two rebounders in the New England Collegiate Conference. Junior

Domenico Santiago ranks first at 10.4 per game while sophomore teammate Hasani Williams is second at 9.8. Santiago also leads the league with a sizzling field goal percentage of 71.7. The Mariners (11-10, 7-3) enter this week’s action in second place, holding a slim lead over Dean College (12-9, 6-4), Becker College (11-10, 6-4) and Lesley University (11-10, 6-4).

Around the region

• Western Connecticut State University football senior James Hilbie, a Montville High School graduate, earned a spot on the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference All-Academic team. • UConn senior Gabby Williams was selected as the American Athletic Conference player of the week, averaging 13.5 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in convincing wins over South Carolina and Cincinnati. • Waterford graduate Kazi Walker is expected to be in the pitching rotation for the Stonehill College softball team this spring. She appeared in five games as a freshman. • UConn senior Leah Lum was named the Hockey East player of the week for the first time after chipping in five assists in two wins. Teammate Natalie

Snodgrass collected rookie of the week honors for the Huskies. • Courtney Payne, a junior from Waterford, helped the Rhode Island College women’s swimming team to seventh place at Saturday’s Little East Conference Championship in Dartmouth, Mass. Payne placed 13th in the 200-yard breaststroke (3:07.23) and 16th in the 200 freestyle (2:32.25). • East Lyme graduate Mitchell Ryan won two events for Bowdoin College against Colby College in a men’s swimming and diving meet. He took first in the one-meter dive with 461.60 points and three-meter dive with 490.65 points. • The UConn Avery Point women’s basketball team is climbing the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III poll, residing ninth in Division III. The Pointers are 17-5 overall, 8-1 in league play. Stonington’s Tatyana LaFrance-Boyce will be honored before Tuesday’s home game (7 p.m.) for recently scoring her 1,000th career point. • Please send submissions for college notes to

Kaitlyn Mooney