After a top-10 finish at the New England Small College Athletic Conference championship meet Saturday, Bates freshman Elizabeth Holcombe was named the NESCAC women’s cross country Rookie of the year by the conference Tuesday.

Holcombe placed seventh out of 145 competitors in Saturday’s championship race, the highest finisher among first-year runners.

The top-seven finish also garnered Holcombe first team All-NESCAC honors. Bates teammate Jillian Richardson, an Edward Little grad, also was named to the first team thanks to her third-place finish in the championship race. It’s Richardson’s second straight first-team honor and third All-NESCAC honor overall, after earning second-team honors in 2019.

Bates senior Frieda Kickliter was named to this year’s second team with a 12th-place finish.

On the men’s side, Eli Boesch Dining was named to the All-NESCAC second team after finishing 13th at the NESCAC championship meet.

MEN’S SOCCER
CMCC QUALIFY FOR NATIONALS: The Central Maine Community College men’s soccer team is heading to the United States College Athletic Assocation national tournament after earning an automatic berth. The Mustangs earned their spot after winning the Yankee Small College Conference title with a 1-0 win over Albany College of Pharmacy on Sunday.

The Mustangs have two games in pool play at the tournament in Virginia Beach, Virginia, first against Cincinnati-Clermont on Nov. 11, then against Berkeley College (New Jersey) on Nov. 13. The winner of the pool advances to the national championship game on Nov. 14.

Two Mustangs earned awards following the YSCC tournament. Abdifatah Yussuf was named the tournament MVP, while Lewiston grad Ivan Domingues was selected as the offensive player of the tournament.

FIELD HOCKEY
PERKINS SISTERS HONORED TOGETHER: Winthrop grads Katie and Maddie Perkins, now playing together for Husson University, each received recognition from the New England Collegiate Conference on Monday when the conference announced its final weekly awards.

Older sister Katie was named the NECC player of the week after recording her first career hat trick in an 8-0 victory over University of Maine at Farmington on Sunday. Younger sister Maddie notched a goal and two assists in the win.

Husson will rematch with UMaine-Farmington on Saturday in the semifinals of the NECC tournament, which Husson is hosting in Bangor.