Newsmakers

Sam Koch '79 is breaking new ground for the University of Massachusetts, where his men's soccer team advanced to the quarterfinal round and will play host to the NCAA Div. I national tournament, which starts next weekend. Koch, the head coach at UMass, is in his 17th year coaching there after an outstanding career playing for the Mules and six years coaching at Stanford. At Colby the Sam Koch Award recognizes a men's soccer player for spirit and dedication to the team. Read more on Koch, including links to his team's recent playoff results.

Dan Vassallo '07 ran his first marathon on October 7 and set a new Maine Marathon record. Stephanie Crawford '99 took the women's title. A Portland Press Herald story titled "He went out and beat the odds, the way any underdog should" said, "Until Sunday, Dan Vassallo wasn't a name that carried recognition."

The late, great Colby Jack Coombs(1906), pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics, and his nephew, Bobby Coombs, who also played major league baseball, are being honored in an exhibit titled Kennebunk's Big Leaguers. The exhibit runs through December 29 at the Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk, Maine. Read more in the Portland Press Herald (8/5/07).

After 12 years coaching boys lacrosse at Beverly High in Massachusetts, Peter Ginolfi '91 is stepping down. He guided the team to 12 straight conference titles and 98 straight conference wins and was named Eastern Massachusetts Coach of the Year in 2003. Read the Boston Globe article online.

Hilary Gehman '93, a six-time member of the U.S. national rowing team and a two-time Olympian, has been named the Staley Women's Rowing Coach at Cornell University. Read more on CSTV online.

Jan Volk '68, former general manager of the Boston Celtics, started SportsPix LLC primarily for parents who want a record of their children's sports careers. The company takes magazine-quality photos of every player at youth, high school, and college sports events and makes them available via the Internet. Read more online.

Dan Oliphant '06 signed with the Baltimore Ravens on February 6, becoming the first Colby alum to sign with the NFL. Dan "will play in NFL Europa (formerly named the NFL Europe League) starting in April and could be one of the offensive linemen in the Ravens' training camp when the new season begins." Read more online.

Warner Nickerson ’05 was named to the 2007 U.S. National Alpine Ski B Team. As a junior Nickerson was a second-team All American in the giant slalom. In his senior year he took second in the giant slalom at the NCAA championships and earned first-team All- America honors. In 2005 he earned two silver medals at the World University Games in Innsbruck, Austria, in the giant slalom and combined (giant slalom, Super G, slalom, and downhill), making him the first U.S. alpine double medalist since 1993. Nickerson will join former Colby student Jenny Lathrop, who is a member of the U.S. National Alpine Ski C Team.

Jill Vollweiler ’90 completed the New York City Marathon in November with a time of three hours and three minutes. She has won four marathons, her fastest time being at last year’s Yonkers Marathon—two hours and 55 minutes. She was a four-time Division III All American at Colby. “Running can be very grueling,” she recently told the Norwich Bulletin (11/10/06). “I’ve twisted ankles and shot out my Achilles tendons, but I’ve always been able to step up when competing. It’s about mentally preparing yourself to finish the race.”Members of the Colby College Football Team and Coach Jonathan Michaeles teamed up with several Granite Hill Estates residents during their 2006 Spring Clean-Up Day to clean up existing walking and hiking trails and blaze new trails throughout the estates' 135-acre campus in Hallowell, Maine.

Colby men's ice hockey coach Jim Tortorella was inducted to the Concord-Carlisle (Mass.) High School Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday, October 9, 2005. Tortorella played hockey and baseball at Concord-Carlisle. He is a 1981 graduate of the University of Maine, where he was a goalie for the hockey team. Way to go, Jim!

Maura Myers ’04 completed her first year as head women’s squash coach at George Washington University. She was named to the position in September 2004. Myers played squash for four years at Colby and served as team captain her senior season. Myers, a native and current resident of McLean, Va., also was a member of the field hockey team and women’s rugby club team for the Mules. She brings a tremendous amount of coaching and organizational experience to GW through her work at the Potomac School in McLean. Myers coordinated squash, field hockey, and softball summer camps at the kindergarten through 12th grad school and also worked as a teacher and aquatics instructor. Congratulations, Maura!

Michael McRae ’91 got his first win as the head baseball coach for Canisius College on March 12 against UMBC. McRae took over the Canisius squad in August 2004. Prior to that he was at Niagara University, where he led the Purple Eagles to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) playoffs. He was the MAAC Coach of the Year in 2003, when his team set a school record with 26 wins. McRae hopes to rejuvenate the Canisius baseball team that had fallen on lean times. A native of Niagara Falls, Ontario, McRae played baseball and hockey at Colby. We wish you the best of luck this season, Michael.

Congratulations to Dave McLaughlin ’97, head men's basketball coach at Stonehill College. His men’s basketball squad posted a 20-8 overall record this year, turning around a program that was 9-17 the previous season. McLaughlin, who was a standout for the Colby Mules, was an assistant coach for the Chieftains and then interim head coach last year before being named permanently to the head coaching position for the 2004-05 season. We look forward to hearing more about his program’s progress in the future.

Brandeis University women's basketball coach Carol Simon ’85 led her team to one of its finest seasons in school history with a 23-4 record. The Judges successfully defended their ECAC Championship with a 91-65 victory over Fitchburg State on March 5. Simon completed her 18th season as the head of Brandeis women’s basketball, where she has compiled 242 career wins.