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Date:March 11, 2004
Contact: Bill Sodoma

 

Colby athletes on NESCAC winter All-Academic team

WATERVILLE, Maine --

Two hockey players, two indoor track athletes, two swimmers, two basketball players, one squash player and one skier make up the 10 Colby College student-athletes honored as 2004 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Winter All-Academic Team selections.

The 10 Colby athletes honored were: junior men's hockey player Nick Bayley (Cambridge Winterhawks/Cambridge, Ont.), sophomore men's squash player Todd Basnight (Belmont/Newton, Mass.), junior men's hockey player Cory Ernst (Upper Canada College/Bridgewater, Nova Scotia), senior women's swimmer Kristan Jiggetts (Long Grove, Ill.), sophomore women's basketball player Sarah Kelly (Portsmouth/Portsmouth, N.H.), senior women's indoor track and field athlete Caroline Minkoff (Haddonfield, N.J.), sophomore women's indoor track and field athlete Jess Minty (Concord-Carlisle/Concord, Mass.), senior women's swimmer Carolyn Plant (Davis, Calif.), junior men's basketball player Mike Rutherford (Ramapo/Wyckoff, N.J.) and junior men's alpine skier Robert Saunders (Rowland Hall-St. Marks/Park City, Utah).

Bayley, Ernst and Saunders also were on the NESCAC Winter All-Academic Team last year. To be eligible for the team, a student-athlete must have reached sophomore academic standing, be a starter or key reserve on a varsity sport and have a grade point average of at least 3.35.

Bayley, a National Academic All-American last year, has the highest grade-point average of any student-athlete at Colby of at least sophomore standing. He was a NESCAC All-Conference second team selection after finishing the regular season leading the league in assists. Bayley led the Mules with 14 goals and 21 assists for 35 points in Colby's 14-7-4 season and now has 45 goals and 68 assists for 113 career points heading into his senior season.

Basnight won nine matches for the men's squash team and was one of the top winners on the squad while playing mainly at the third position. Basnight came up with a big 3-0 victory over his opponent in a 5-4 victory over Wesleyan University to help the Mules finish 19th in the country at the National Team Championships.

Ernst was fourth on the men's hockey team in scoring this year with eight goals and 17 assists for 25 points. Ernst, a forward, has 31 goals and 38 assists for 69 career points.

Jiggetts was the captain of the women's swim team and helped the Mules to a 7-2 dual meet record. Jiggetts mainly swam the backstroke and the individual medley for Colby.

Kelly was second on the women's basketball team in scoring this year at 8.6 points a game. She led the Mules in assists (58), steals (47) and was second on the squad in rebounds at 5.1 per contest.

Minkoff will be participating in the weight throw on Friday afternoon at the NCAA Division III Championships at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Minkoff was third in the weight throw with a toss of 51-1.75 at the ECAC Championships and was also third at the New England Division III Championships.

Minty also will be at the NCAA Women's Indoor Track Championships, participating in the 800-meter run. Minty, only a sophomore, had a big run at the New England Division III Championships and finished a strong second in the 800 with a time of 2:15.70. Minty was a champion in the 800 at the State of Maine meet.

Plant will leave Colby holding school records in the 200 backstroke (2:12.34) and the 200 individual medley (2:11.69). Plant also is part of school records in the 400 freestyle relay and the 800 freestyle relay.

Rutherford was second on the men's basketball team in field goal percentage at 51 percent. He made 28 of his 55 field goals attempts while averaging about four points per game.

Saunders, the first Colby skier to ever win a Division I ski carnival race two years ago, is currently participating in the NCAA Division I Ski Championships. He placed 28th in the giant slalom on Wednesday. Saunders earned second team All-America honors last year while finishing eighth in the giant slalom at the NCAA meet.