The University of Maine is planning a bus trip Thursday and Friday, March 14 and 15, to watch the Black Bear men’s ice hockey team take on UMass-Lowell in the Hockey East Quarterfinals. Tickets are $85 and include transportation and admission to both games. A hotel discount is also available for bus trip participants. The bus will leave Orono late Thursday morning and head back after Friday night’s game. Call 207.581.4849, or email your name, phone number and number of people in your group to GoBlackBears@yahoo.com by 4 p.m. Tuesday if you would like to attend.
Archive for the ‘Athletics’ Category
Black Bears Bus Trip
Tuesday, March 12th, 2013BDN Reports on UMaine Runner Setting New 5,000 Meter Record
Tuesday, March 5th, 2013Corey Conner of the University of Maine set a new school record Saturday in the 5,000-meter race during the Columbia Final Qualifying Meet in New York City, the Bangor Daily News reports. The senior from West Townsend, Mass., covered the 5k in 15:55.60, breaking her previous time by more than 10 seconds. Conner now ranks 13th in the NCAA Division I rankings, which could put her in position to compete in the NCAA Championships March 9–10 in Nampa, Idaho.
News Reports on Team’s Decision to Opt Out of America East Tournament After Bus Crash
Tuesday, March 5th, 2013The Portland Press Herald and the Bangor Daily News reported on the Univeristy of Maine women’s basketball team’s decision not to play in the America East tournament in the wake of the team’s bus crash Feb. 26 on I-95 in Massachusetts. Athletic Director Steve Abbott and Coach Richard Barron talked with players Monday before deciding to end the season. Robert Dana, UMaine’s vice president for student affairs and dean of students told the media it has been a difficult time for the women and the university’s focus will continue to be the health and well-being of the players.
News Reports on UMaine Team’s Final Game After Crash
Monday, March 4th, 2013The Bangor Daily News, Portland Press Herald and Channel 2 (WLBZ) spoke with members of the University of Maine women’s basketball team and coach Richard Barron four days after a bush crash Feb. 26 on Interstate 95 in Georgetown, Mass., which left several members and the coach with minor injuries and the driver in a Boston hospital. Despite the crash, the team opted to play the final game of their regular season against the University of New Hampshire on Saturday, determined not to let their season end with a bus crash. The team lost 86–63.
Media Covers Basketball Team’s Return
Thursday, February 28th, 2013Maine news organizations, including the Portland Press Herald, Bangor Daily News, Channel 2 (WLBZ), Channel 5 (WABI) and Channel 7 (WVII), spoke with members of the University of Maine women’s basketball team on its return to Maine after a bus crash Feb. 26 on Interstate 95 in Georgetown, Mass., which left several members and the coach, Richard Barron, with minor injuries and the driver in a Boston hospital. On Feb. 27, news organization from around the country continued reporting on the crash. They included the Idaho Statesman, The Republic in Indiana, the San Jose Mercury News, and the Edmonton Journal in Alberta, Canada.
News Reports on UMaine Sports Team Crash
Wednesday, February 27th, 2013The Washington Post, Boston Globe and the Boston Herald were among dozens of news organizations to report on the crash Feb. 26 on Interstate 95 of the coach carrying the UMaine women’s basketball team to Boston for a game Feb. 27. The bus driver was seriously injured. Other injuries, to Coach Richard Barron and at least one player, were described as not serious. The game has been canceled because of the incident. The Bangor Daily News, Portland Press Herald, Channel 2 and CBS Boston also carried reports.
UMaine Head Football Coach Jack Cosgrove Signs Three-Year Contract with the Black Bears
Tuesday, February 5th, 2013Head football coach Jack Cosgrove has agreed to a new three-year contract that will keep him at the helm of the Black Bears through June 2016, according to University of Maine Director of Athletics Steve Abbott.
“I am pleased to announce that we have signed Jack Cosgrove to lead our football program for another three seasons,” says Abbott. “Jack has done a terrific job as the leader of the Black Bear football team. He thrives on the intense competition and rivalries in the Colonial Athletic Association, and is committed to continuing to build upon the team’s success.”
Cosgrove, who just completed his 20th season leading the Black Bears, is a 1978 Maine graduate and All-Conference quarterback. He holds the program record with 111 wins. His 76 CAA wins put him fifth in conference history.
“I am especially pleased that we have finalized the contract for Coach Cos,” says UMaine President Paul W. Ferguson. “We have been enjoying a productive conversation with Jack over the last several months following the season’s end, both reflecting on his successful decades of service, but also on a vision for the future of Black Bear Football. I look forward to continuing our close friendship and partnership with him.”
Cosgrove has led the team to four NCAA playoffs (2001, 2002, 2008, 2011), including advancing to the NCAA Final Eight on three occasions (2001, 2002, 2011) and two conference championships (2001, 2002).
Cosgrove’s teams have produced 21 All-America selections and 129 All-Conference honors in the toughest conference in the Football Championship Subdivision. In the classroom, the Black Bears have garnered 26 Academic All-CAA honors from 2009-11, including 13 in 2011.
“In addition to being a first-rate football coach, Jack has been a great mentor and teacher for a whole generation of Maine football players,” Abbott says. “Coach Cosgrove firmly believes in the importance of the academic and personal development of his athletes, and he has made that a priority for more than 20 years. I am delighted that he will continue to guide this program in the future.”
Cosgrove has earned several coaching accolades, including being named the 1996 and 2001 Atlantic-10 Coach of the Year, the 2001 American Football Monthly I-AA National Coach of the Year and the 2011 New England Football Writers FCS Division I Coach of the Year.
“The Cosgrove family is grateful for this opportunity to continue to serve the state of Maine and the University of Maine and its Black Bear Football Program,” Cosgrove says. “We look forward to facing — and embracing — the challenge of providing a quality academic and athletic experience for the young men in our program. We are already hard at work preparing, through our recruiting and training of our current football team, for the challenge of CAA football and our 2013 schedule.”
UMaine Violence Awareness Effort Reported
Monday, February 4th, 2013Channel 5 (WABI) and Channel 2 (WLBZ) reported that University of Maine men’s ice hockey coaching staff, players and fans supported a Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence initiative during the Feb. 3 home game by wearing purple ribbons.
UMaine Student-Athletes Place Highest in America East Fall Academic Honor Roll
Monday, February 4th, 2013The University of Maine had the highest percentage of its fall student-athletes named to the America East Fall Academic Honor Roll, released Feb. 1. The Black Bears had 78.1 percent of its fall student-athletes honored. Maine had 42 of those student-athletes earn a 3.5 grade point average or higher.
Six-hundred sixty America East student-athletes who competed in fall sports earned America East Honor Roll distinction with grade-point averages (GPA) of 3.0 or higher during the 2012 fall semester — the highest total in league history and 68 percent of all fall-sport student-athletes. More than half of those student-athletes (352 total) earned Commissioner’s Honor Roll status for completing the fall semester with a GPA of 3.5 or higher.
“We are so proud that over two-thirds of all America East fall athletes earned honor roll status,” said America East Commissioner Amy Huchthausen. “Achieving a 3.0 grade-point average at institutions as respected as those in our conference is impressive in its own right. To do so while balancing the rigors of being a Division I athlete makes this a truly outstanding accomplishment for so many of our student-athletes.”
University of New Hampshire had the most student-athletes (108) named to the Academic Fall Honor Roll. University of Vermont came in second (77), followed by Binghamton University (76), University at Albany (74), University of Hartford (74), Boston University (69), University of Maine (57), UMBC (52) and Stony Brook University (52). Fairfield University, an associate member for the sport of field hockey, had 14 squad members named to the fall honor roll, while Providence College, an associate member in volleyball, had seven student-athletes honored.
Hartford had the most fall student-athletes on the Commissioner’s Honor Roll (56). Vermont (43), Maine (42), Albany (40) and Binghamton (40) all had at least 40 student-athletes earn a 3.5 GPA or higher during the fall 2012 semester.
America East has one of the most comprehensive academic awards programs in the country.
Men’s Cross Country: Hayden Bove, Kelton Cullenberg*, Michael Fitzpatrick, Ryan Hardiman*, Don Kerrigan, Jerrod Lenfest, Jesse Orach*, Taylor Phillips*, Derrek Schultz*, Mitchell Sroka*.
Women’s Cross Country: Lucy Algeo, Kourtney Bonsey*, Monique Boutin*, Corey Connor*, Lauren Connor, Taylor Cunningham*, Paige Gallagher*, Krislyn Hyatt*, Marina Mann*, Ariel McNett*, Alexandria McVicar, Shannon O’Neil*, Anne Ryan*, Mary Scanlan*, Kate Spies*, Carolyn Stocker*, Ashton Weiler, Abigail Wessels*, Rachel Wilkinson*.
Women’s Soccer: Alexandra Abrahams, Lisa Bijman*, Meaghan Bradica*, Gretel Breton*, Liis Emajoe*, Taylor Frame*, Brianna Hammond, Madelaine Hill*, Eve L’Abbe*, Joanie L’Abbe*, Addison LaBonte*, Hallie Lipinski*, Maggie Malone, Nicole Misener*, Meagan Price-Leibenzeder*, Ashley Robinson, Camille Varin-Tremblay*, Lauren Williams.
Field Hockey: Zoe Berkey*, Natasha Ford*, Alicia Frisch, Elke Jacobse* Hannah Keating*, Rebecca Paradee*, Brianne Robertson*, Nicole Sevey*, Marissa Shaw*, Holly Stewart*.
*Commissioner’s Honor Roll with a 3.5 grade point average or higher.
Women’s Hockey Promoting ‘Skating Strides’ for Cancer Research
Monday, January 28th, 2013The University of Maine women’s ice hockey team is raising money for the annual Hockey East Skating Strides Against Breast Cancer campaign. Team members have been selling pink paper pucks at UMaine sporting events and will hold an auction of their game-worn pink jerseys during their game at 7 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 2 against Boston College at the Harold Alfond Sports Arena. An autograph session for fans is planned after the game.
The eight-member conference-wide event raised a record $45,215 last year for the Friends of Mel Foundation, which distributes the funds to organizations throughout New England, including the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing in Lewiston, which received more than $8,000 from the UMaine fund drive. All proceeds from UMaine go directly to the Dempsey Center. For additional information, call 207.581.4849.
