Palmer earns third men's ice hockey sport excellence honor
Palmer |
Demeule |
Dowd |
Martin |
Hyslip |
Lastra |
Fernandes |
Tobin |
EASTON, Mass. (May 2, 2018) – Stonehill College has placed eight of its winter student-athletes on the Northeast-10 Conference Academic All-Conference teams for their performances on the field of play as well as the classroom, the league recently announced.
Stonehill's eight student-athletes are tied for the second highest in the conference for the winter programs, as Bentley has ten spread across the seven teams and Southern Connecticut State University matched the Skyhawks with eight. Junior Billy Palmer (Cranston, Rhode Island/Bishop Hendricken), earning his second Academic All-Conference honor, was also selected as the ice hockey Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award recipient. Alexander Demeule (Merrimac, Massachusetts/Merrimac) and Riley Dowd (Peabody, Massachusetts/Peabody Veterans), from men's outdoor track and field both tallied their third honor of their careers. Seniors Kelly Martin (Scituate, Massachusetts/Scituate) and Samantha Hyslip (Westford, Massachusetts/Westford Academy) earned their first NE10 Academic All-Conference honors, as they are the first women's basketball Skyhawks to make the team since 2010-11. Anna Lastra (Bridgton, Maine/Fryeburg Academy) and Krista Fernandes (Taunton, Massachusetts/Coyle and Cassidy) picked up their second Academic All-Conference honor, while Alison Tobin (Hudson, Massachusetts/Hudson) earns her first accolade.
To be eligible for selection to the NE10 Academic All-Conference Teams a student-athlete must have met or exceeded the following minimum requirements: participated in at least half of the team's competitions and been either a starter or significant contributor, achieved a 3.30 cumulative grade point average, and completed at least one academic year at his/her institution.
Throughout the winter, Stonehill athletics saw four of its five winter programs participate in postseason play, led by the women's basketball team who earned its third trip to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Elite Eight in program history, its third NCAA East Regional Championship in program history, and won its ninth Northeast-10 Conference Regular Season Championship. The women's indoor track and field team captured its fifth-straight NE10 championship title, while the men's team placed third at the championship. Men's basketball returned to postseason play this year after a one-year hiatus and made its 31st appearance in the NE10 Tournament.
Palmer, who majors in Marketing and Graphic Design holds a 3.69 grade point average, is receiving his second NE10 Academic All-Conference recognition. He has been named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for two semesters and the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll for three semesters. On top of earning his first NE10 Academic All-Conference honor as a sophomore, Palmer also received the Division II ADA Academic Achievement Award. As a freshman, the Cranston, Rhode Island native assisted the Skyhawks to its second NE10 Championship title, while also being named to the NE10 All-Conference second team.
This season, Palmer averaged 3.26 goals against with his second-career best goals against mark with 67. He started in 20 of the 21 games played in this season and posted 650 saves this season for a career total of 2037 for his 5-13-2 record in the cage. He finished first in the conference with 650 saves, while also posting the most minutes in the crease for the Conference.
Demeule, who averaged 3.79 in the classroom as a finance major, received the honor during the cross country season for his second award, making the indoor season the third time. The junior distance runner collected his first NCAA All-America award, assisting the 4000-meter distance medley relay to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Division II Championships. The Merrimac, Massachusetts native tallied his third USTFCCCA All-East Region performance with the DMR this past indoor season, while Demeule also ran with the second-place team at the NE10 Championship for an All-Conference nod. The DMR also posted a runner-up mark for the DMR's seventh-straight All-New England honor as they bypassed the NCAA Division II provisional time at the meet.
Majoring in economics and earning a 3.78 grade-point average, Dowd also collects his third Academic All-Conference recognition after earning his second during cross country season. The junior assisted the Skyhawks to a third-place finish during the indoor season with his third-career All-Conference honor in the 4x800-meter relay and taking home fifth in the mile. At the New England Championship, the Merrimac, Massachusetts native clocked in a personal best time of 4:14.23 in the mile, good for 10th place. He also ran a leg of the 4x800-meter relay team at New England's turning in an All-New England performance for the eighth-straight year with their fourth-place finish.
Martin, who has earned a 3.32 cumulative grade point average as an interdisciplinary studies major who has enrolled in the advanced nursing program at Northeastern University, is a consensus All-America honoree after leading Stonehill to its ninth NE10 regular season title, its third NCAA Regional Championship in program history and a return to the Division II Elite Eight for the first time since 1995. The NE10 Player of the Year and three-time All-NE10 selection is the only player in the NE10 to rank among the top 12 in the Conference for scoring, rebounding an assists, leading the Skyhawks with 16.6 points and 5.0 assists per game, while adding 7.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 34.1 minutes per game, shooting 85.4-percent from the free-throw line.
Martin was named Most Outstanding Player at the East Regional, earned a spot on the Women's Basketball Coaches of America (WBCA) Division II Coaches' All-America team, Division II Bulletin All-America second team and Division II Conference Commissioner's Association (D2CCA) All-America third team this season. She finished her career ranked 11th in program history with 1,486 points, fourth in free-throw percentage (.835), sixth with 399 made free-throws, eighth with 515 defensive rebounds, ninth with 145 three-pointers and tenth with 448 assists. Her 213 defensive rebounds this season is the second-highest single-season total in program history, while her 549 points score ranks ninth.
Hyslip, who has earned a 3.34 cumulative grade point average as a psychology major at the College, is a two-time All-NE10 second team performer over her career. She collected honorable mention All-America honors from the WBCA and Division II Bulletin after averaging 12.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 0.5 blocked shots per game this season, shooting 47-percent from the field and 80.3-percent from the free-throw line as a starter for all 33 games.
The 2015 NE10 Rookie of the Year finished her career ranked 20th in program history with 1,212 points, eighth in rebounding with 771, while adding 167 assists and 55 blocked shots in 117 career games played, shooting 47.9-percent from the field and 77-percent from the free-throw over her career. Hyslip totaled nine double-doubles this season, finishing her career with 16 over her career.
Lastra, with her 3.78 grade point average in the classroom as she studies health science, collects her second Academic All-Conference honor after earning her first this past season during cross country. Lastra assisted the 4000-meter distance medley relay to the fifth-straight appearance and her second indoor NCAA Division II Championship appearance. The sophomore was recognized by the USTFCCCA for three events during the indoor season, including the mile, the 3000-meter run, and the 4000-meter distance medley relay. With the DMR, Lastra also recorded a NE10 All-Conference accolade picking up the title at the championship, while also taking home third in the mile and sixth in the 3000-meter run.
Fernandes, majoring in Psychology averaging a 3.76 grade point average, tallied her second Academic All-Conference award. The junior appeared in her second NCAA Division II Indoor Championship this season, along with Lastra, with the 4000-meter distance medley relay team. The Taunton, Massachusetts native was recognized by the USTFCCCA in the 400-meter sprint and the DMR. At the NE10 Championships, Fernandes collected three All-Conference nods, including the title with the DMR, a runner-up mark with the 4x400-meter relay team, and third place in the 400-meter sprint. The Taunton, Massachusetts native also competed in at the New England Championships recording an All-New England honor with a runner-up finish with the DMR and finishing 11th with the 4x400-meter relay.
Tobin registered her first Academic All-Conference accolade during the indoor season after averaging a 3.40 grade point average in healthcare administration. The senior qualified for the NCAA Division II Indoor Championship for the first time in her career after bypassing the NCAA provisional mark in the pole vault with a height of 11 feet, 10 inches at the Boston University Last Chance Qualifier in February. With the mark, the senior broke the school record and posted a career-best mark. The Hudson, Massachusetts native recorded her second All-East Region honor in the pole vault this year. At the NE10 Indoor Championships, Tobin cleared a height of 11 feet, 4.5 inches, as she took home her first title of her career, while the other two Skyhawk competitors took home second and third. She also competed in the long jump, taking home seventh and the 200-meter run, placing 13th overall.
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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