Stonehill Places Nine on Fall NE10 Academic All-Conference Teams

Department total ranks second among NE10 programs

Northeast-10 Conference Names Fall Academic All-Conference Teams, Sport Excellence Award Winners


Hersom

Branco

Lastra

Foltz

Phanor

Smith

Demeule

Dowd

DeLanty

EASTON, Mass. (March 1, 2018) – Stonehill College has placed nine of its fall student-athletes on the Northeast-10 Academic All-Conference fall teams for their performances on the field of play as well as the classroom.

Stonehill's nine student-athletes are the second highest in the conference for the fall programs, as Southern New Hampshire University has 11 spread throughout the teams. Senior football quarterback Matt Foltz (Mount Joy, Pennsylvania/Donegal, The Hill School) makes his third appearance on the list, while five student-athletes have appeared twice including, Donovan Phanor (Portsmouth, New Hampshire/Portsmouth), senior women's cross country student-athlete Abby Hersom (Rockland, Maine/Oceanside), senior forward on the men's soccer team Adam Branco (Naugatuck, Connecticut/Naugatuck), and juniors on the men's cross country team Alexander Demeule (Merrimac, Massachusetts/Merrimac) and Riley Dowd (Peabody, Massachusetts/Peabody Veterans). Sophomore Anna Lastra (Bridgton, Maine/Fryburg Academy) of the women's cross country program, Kacie Smith (Norwood, Massachusetts/Norwood) of the field hockey team, and senior Katherine DeLanty (Smithtown, New York/Smithtown West) of the volleyball team have received their first Academic All-Conference honor.

Throughout the fall, Stonehill athletics saw four of its six fall championship programs participate in postseason play. Men's country led the way with a historic run, as the team won its' first-ever New England Championship and then followed that up with its' ninth NE10 Championship in program history. They also captured the first NCAA Division II East Regional Championship since 2013. The women's program tallied its 16th NE10 title and punched its 17th-straight ticket to Nationals, while the men earned its 15th-straight ticket. The volleyball team finished the regular season in a four-way tie for fourth, earning the fifth seed and won the quarterfinal round, but falling to New Haven University in the semifinal game. Field hockey made its ninth NCAA Tournament appearance and fell to Shippensburg University, after drops 1-0 game to Assumption in the NE10 semifinal matchup.

Two student-athletes were also tabbed as NE10 Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence winners, including Hersom and Branco, who earn their first honor. To be eligible  for selection to the NE10 Academic All-Conference teams, a student-athlete must have meet or exceeded the following minimum requrements: 1) participated in at least half of the team's competitions and been 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.

Hersom, who tallied her second Academic All-Conference honor with her 3.93 grade point average in healthcare administration, was honored by the NE10 as the Fall Women's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence winner. The senior was selected on the NE10 All-Conference second team for her ninth-place finish at the Conference Championships this year. She also saw two top-15 results early in the season at the Division II/III Challenge and the Codfish Bowl. The Rockland, Maine native placed 48th at the NCAA Division II East Regional Championship and made her first appearance at the NCAA Championship this year. The senior also collected her first-career USTFCCCA All-Academic honor in February and was named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll and NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll last semester.

Branco earned a 3.70 grade point average, while studying international business. The Naugatuck, Connecticut native finished the season with nine goals and six assists for a total of 24 points, his second season with 20 or more points. This season, he tallied eight games with two or more points, including a season-high five points when the team defeated American International, 3-1, as he scored two goals and one assist. The senior was also tabbed on the CoSIDA Academic All-District first team and the NE10 All-Conference third team, for his third-career honor on All-Conference teams. Branco was named to the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and the Athletic Director's Honor Roll once again last semester.

Along with Hersom, teammate and sophomore Lastra registered her first Academic All-Conference honor with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.78. She earned her second USTFCCCA All-Academic honor this year, running in her second NCAA Championship this season. She saw a 21st place finish at the NE10 Championship for her second NE10 All-Conference mark. Lastra kicked off the season with a fifth-place tally at the Codfish Bowl and then followed that up in 74th at the New England Championships. Before heading to Indiana for the NCAA Championships, Lastra took home 38th at the East Regional Championship. For her second fall semester, Lastra was also named to the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and the Athletic Director's Honor Roll.

Foltz, who has earned a 3.73 cumulative grade point average as an economics major, earns Academic All-Conference honors for the third-straight year. Foltz threw for 2,458 yards this season, totaling 22 touchdowns going 226-for-349 for a career-best 64.8%. The Mount Joy, Pennsylvania native broke the program's single season yardage record in the Skyhawks' final game of the season in a 38-27 win over American International College. The senior was selected as one of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame William V. Campbell Trophy semifinalists this season. He was also tabbed on the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and the Athletic Director's Honor Roll, while also being recognized as the NE10 Player of the Week once during the season.

Senior cornerback Phanor earns NE10 Academic All-Conference honor for the second time, having earned a 3.66 cumulative grade point average as a finance major at Stonehill. He has been named to the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll all. Phanor played in all 10 games for the Skyhawks this fall, totaling 48 tackles (31 solo), including 1.0 for a loss of a yard, and recorded six or more tackles five times this season, totaling a career-high matching nine stops (career-best seven solo), with an interception and a fumble return. The Portsmouth, New Hampshire native is the 12th Stonehill football student-athlete to earn CoSIDA Academic All-District honors in program history.

Smith, of the field hockey team, earns her first Academic All-Conference honor with her 3.31 grade-point average, majoring in healthcare administration. The All-America forward was named the NFHCA Division II National Player of the Year for the first time in her career, marking the second time in three seasons a Stonehill student-athlete has collected the honors. The Norwood native is also a two-time Longstreth/NFCHA East Region and NE10 Player of the Year, as she also earned Division II Offensive Player of the Year by Synapse Sports. She was also a first-team All-American for the second-straight year, having been named a second team All-American as a freshman. This season, she set a new NCAA Division II record with her 41 goals scored, leading all level of NCAA field hockey in goals and points. She also finished the year with an NE10 record 99 points, also adding a Stonehill record 17 assists to lead Division II in that category. She also led the NE10 with nine game-winning goals. The junior has also been named on the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and the Athletic Director's Honor Roll.

Men's Cross Country juniors Demeule and Dowd received the honor for the second time in their careers. Demeule, who earned a 3.79 while majoring in finance, was named to the NCAA All-East Region Team for the second time in his career, assisting the Skyhawks to their ninth title in the program's history at the East Regional Championships. Demeule received his second USTFCCCA All-Academic accolade as he posted four top-15 finishes in the five races he competed in this season. He kicked off the season with an eighth-place mark at the Division II/III Challenge, following that up with a 13th-place finish at the Codfish Bowl. At the New England Championship he finished with a personal best mark of 38th. Demeule then competed in his second NCAA Division II National Championship, helping the Skyhawks to a 16th-place finish, its best finish since 2006.

Dowd saw similar honors to Demeule as he earned a 3.78 grade point average in economics while also being named to the NCAA All-East Region team for the second time with his 10th-place finish in the regional championship. Dowd also picked up his second USTFCCCA All-Academic honor after recording four top-20 marks during this historic season. Dowd saw his first individual title at the Division II/III Challenge this year, assisting the Skyhawks to their second team title. He crossed the finish line seventh at the Codfish Bowl and then placed ninth at the New England Championship for his first All-New England honor. At the NE10 Championships, he finished 29th at the eight-kilometer race. To complete the season, he ran in his third NCAA Championship appearance where he crossed the finish line with a personal best 89th-place mark. The Peabody, Massachusetts native was named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll and the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll.

DeLanty, who posted a grade point average of 3.40, posted career best numbers in four categories, including kills per set (3.02), aces per set (0.25), digs per set (1.61), and blocks per set (0.94). The senior was tabbed to the AVCA All-East Region team, for the first Skyhawk since 2014 when two were named to the list. With her impressive numbers, the Smithtown, New York native recorded impressive numbers all season long being named to the NE10 All-Conference second team, for her first honor with the Conference. The senior averaged 3.02 kills per set for second on the team, while she also notched a .247 hitting percentage, good for first on the team. After her four seasons in the Purple and White, DeLanty has her name etched on the Stonehill volleyball career records in four categories, including kills (873), attack attempts (2220), block assists (231), and total blocks (292). She has also been named to the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and the Athletic Director's Honor Roll throughout her career.     

With 21 intercollegiate sports, Stonehill boasts one of the top athletic and academic programs in the country. While finishing in the top three of the Northeast-10 Conference Presidents' Cup standings for overall athletic performance 13 straight years, the Skyhawks are ranked third in the National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA) Power Rankings for Division II used to assess the academic and athletic standards of all NCAA and NAIA athletic programs.       

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