Junior Dana Borges is the first Stonehill hockey player to earn the NE-10 Sport Excellence Award and the third Skyhawk during the 2011-12 academic year overall. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr)

Taunton, Mass., native is third Academic Excellence Award recipient of the year for Stonehill, eighth in school history

Women’s Track & Field leads with four Academic All-Conference selections, Men’s Track & Field and Ice Hockey follow with two each

EASTON, Mass. (April 23, 2012) – Stonehill College junior Dana Borges (Taunton, Mass./Coyle & Cassidy) headlines a list of eight Northeast-10 Conference Academic All-Conference selections from the winter sports season as he has also been named the Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence award winner for ice hockey by the Conference.

The eight Stonehill student-athletes, four of which are first time selections, were among 72 NE-10 student-athletes recognized from the sports of men’s and women’s basketball, ice hockey, men’s and women’s swimming and diving and men’s and women’s indoor track and field. The eight selections also give Stonehill 21 Academic All-Northeast-10 selections for the academic year to date.

Borges is the first student-athlete from the Stonehill ice hockey program to earn Sport Excellence Award honors from the Northeast-10. He is the third Stonehill student-athlete this year and eighth in program history overall since the award was established in 2009 to earn the award. Stonehill’s three Sport Excellence Award recipients this year are tied for the most for any NE-10 institution this year, while the eight all-time are tied with Southern Connecticut State University and the University of Massachusetts Lowell for most in the history of the award.

Stonehill’s other Sport Excellence Award recipients this year are seniors Maura Ferrarini (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Cathedral) and Stephen Polito (Worcester, Mass./Doherty Memorial) from the men’s and women’s cross country teams, who also join Borges as Academic All-Conference honorees from the winter season as members of the indoor track and field teams.

Stonehill’s remaining Academic All-Conference honorees from the winter season are junior Sean McNeil (Canton, Mass./Canton) for ice hockey, senior Jill Alves (Whitman, Mass./Whitman-Hanson), junior Caroline McBride (North Reading, Mass./North Reading) and sophomore Elizabeth LaRegina (New Fairfield, Conn./New Fairfield) from the women’s indoor track and field team and sophomore All-American Justin Blaszczyk (Saint James, N.Y./Smithtown) for men’s indoor track & field.

Borges

Borges, who earns his second NE-10 Academic All-Conference award to go with the Sport Excellence nod, helped Stonehill reach the NE-10 Championship for the third time in program history. He played all 25 games for the Skyhawks and ranked third on the team in scoring with four goals and 17 assists for 21 points. Borges finished 13th overall in the NE-10 in points and tied for sixth overall in assists. Borges also compiled two separate point streaks of at least three games notching ten points combined between both spans.

Borges, a Division II ADA Academic Achievement award winner in 2010-11 and NE-10 All-Rookie team selection in 2009-10, has earned the highest cumulative grade point average on the team with a 3.68 mark as a criminology major. Borges has collected three NE-10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll nods and two Athletic Director’s Honor Roll selections in his three years at Stonehill and was recently recognized with the St. Thomas Aquinas medal for the second straight year for having the highest cumulative GPA on the team.

In 74 games played, Borges has compiled 14 goals and 36 assists for 50 points, compiling double-figure assist seasons as a freshman and junior. He scored a career-high six goals – five on the power play – during his freshman year and dished out a career-high 17 assists this past season. Borges has also only committed five penalties for ten minutes over his three seasons - all occurring in his freshman year.

McNeil

McNeil earns Academic All-Conference honors for the first time, having compiled a 3.62 cumulative GPA as an accounting major at Stonehill. McNeil played in 21 out of 25 games for the Skyhawks during their run to the NE-10 Championship, scoring five goals and two assists for seven. McNeil scored the game-tying goal in a 1-1 deadlock with Saint Anselm College on February 21 and added a shorthanded tally against Assumption College in a 3-1 win on February 25.

McNeil has garnered several academic awards in his time at Stonehill including three NE-10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll selections, two Athletic Director’s Honor Roll accolades and one Division II ADA Academic Achievement award.

Ferrarini

Ferrarini collects her third NE-10 All-Academic award for track and field and seventh overall, including cross country and outdoor track and field. She has earned a 3.77 cumulative GPA – the highest mark on the squad – as a chemistry major at the College. Ferrarini backed up a successful cross country season with an impressive indoor season as she provisionally qualified for the NCAA’s in the mile run with a time of 4:59.12 at the New England Championships for 13th place overall. She was also part of a Skyhawks 4000-meter distance medley relay team that established a new school record with an NCAA provisional qualifying run of 12:03.47 to place eighth at the BU Valentine’s Invitational.

The DMR captured the NE-10 Championship with a meet record time of 12:32.73 and Ferrarini also earned All-Conference honors in the mile with a second place finish in 5:04.60. She set personal bests in four events (one relay) over the winter and earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-East Region honors in the mile and distance medley relay, her third and fourth career selections. The senior has been named NE-10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll and Athletic Director’s Honor Roll every semester at Stonehill and was a Capital One Academic All-District I selection for cross country and track. She also recently received the St. Thomas Aquinas Medal for having the highest cumulative grade point average on both the track and field team.

Alves

Alves earns her second NE-10 Academic All-Conference award for indoor track and field in as many years, marking her fifth overall, including cross country. She repeated as the NE-10 1000-meter indoor champion with her time of 3:00.96 in February. Alves also aided Stonehill’s 4x800 meter relay team to a first place finish at the NE-10 championships in 9:29.08, shattering the meet record by over 16-seconds, both All-NE-10 All-Conference performances.

Alves was also a member of the Skyhawks school record and NCAA provisional qualifying 4000-meter distance medley relay team that placed eighth at the BU Valentine’s Invitational in 12:03.47, running the 1200-meter lead leg in 3:42. The senior, who was an USTFCCCA All-East Region selection in the DMR this season, has compiled a 3.46 as a biology major and is also a member of both the NE-10 Commissioner’s and Athletic Director Honor Rolls. Alves also earned Capital One Academic All-District I honors for cross country and track her junior year.

McBride

McBride collects her first career NE-10 Academic All-Conference selection having earned a 3.51 cumulative GPA as a biology major at the College. McBride competed in five individual races on the season collecting USTFCCCA All-East Region honors in the 5000-meter run and an All-NE-10 performer in the 3000-meter run with a second place finish at the NE-10 Championships in 10:30.04.

McBride finished 11th overall out of 28 competitors in the 5000-meter run at the New England Championships, posting a time of 17:53.00. The junior is a member of both the NE-10 Commissioner’s and Athletic Director’s Honor Rolls.

LaRegina

LaRegina rounds out the women’s track and field selections with her first career Academic All-Conference award, having posted the second-highest cumulative GPA on the team with a 3.74 mark as a psychology major at the College. LaRegina competed in four individual races and three relays on the season earning All-Northeast-10 honors in the 4x800 meter relay with a conference championship record first place performance in 9:29.08. She ran the third leg of the event in 2:25 helping break the previous meet record by more than 15 seconds.

LaRegina also finished third overall and first among NCAA Division II student-athletes in the 800-meter run at the Jay Carisella Invitational with a time of 2:20.12. LaRegina is a member of both the NE-10 Commissioner’s and Athletic Director’s Honor Rolls.

Polito

Polito earns his third NE-10 Academic All-Conference award for indoor track and field, marking his eighth overall having earned three cross country and two outdoor track All-Academic selections. The two-time NE-10 Sport Excellence Award winner for cross country has earned a 3.71 cumulative grade point average while majoring in graphic design at the College, recently earning the St. Thomas Aquinas Medal for having the highest cumulative GPA on both the cross country and track and field teams. Polito has also been named to the NE-10 Commissioner’s and Athletic Director’s Honor Rolls every semester at the College.

Polito earned USTFCCCA indoor All-East Region honors for the first time this winter with his 5000-meter time of 14:47.81 to win the event at the Joe Donahue Boston Collegiate Games in January. He also posted a pair of third place finishes in the 3000-meters at the NE-10 Championships (8:35.61) as well as part of the Skyhawks 4x800-meter relay that finished third at the UNH Tri-Meet (8:10.57) this winter.

Polito has collected six All-Region awards over his career, including two last spring for outdoor track and field (5000m & 10,000m) as well as three for cross country. He earned All-New England honors for those outdoor events last spring and led the Skyhawks to the NCAA Cross Country Championships and an NE-10 Cross Country Championship during the fall.

Blaszczyk

Blaszczyk earns Academic All-Conference honors for the first time, having earned a 3.39 cumulative grade point average at the College. He earned All-America honors over the winter as part of Stonehill’s 4000-meter distance medley relay team that placed sixth at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships in Mankato, Minn., in March with a time of 10:04.69, running the 1200-meter lead leg for the Skyhawks. The DMR won the NE-10 Championship (10:16.90) and also earned All-New England honors with a second place finish in a school-record 9:50.33 at the New England Championships in February.

Blaszczyk, who earned All-East Region honors with the DMR, also earned All-New England honors with the Stonehill 4x800-meter relay team that placed fifth at the New England Championships in 7:41.53. He also placed third at the NE-10 Championships for the 1000-meter run (2:28.56) after winning the event at the Reggie Poyau Invitational (2:31.08). The 4x800 relay also placed first at the Reggie Poyau and New Hampshire Tri-Meet. As a freshman, Blaszczyk was part of Stonehill’s 4x800-meter relay team that captured the NE-10 Outdoor Championship.

To be eligible for selection to the academic teams, a student-athlete must have met and/or exceeded the following minimum requirements: 1) participated in at least half of the team’s competitions and be either a starter or significant contributor; 2) achieved a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale); and 3) completed at least one academic year at his/her current institution. The Northeast-10 Academic All-Conference teams are chosen by a vote of a selection pool that includes administrators, Senior Woman Administrator council, Sports Information Directors and the Faculty Athletic Representative council.