Things didn't look very promising for UMass Lowell freshman Krista MacKenzie after she suffered a concussion on the team's spring trip to Florida.
But when the former Ipswich Tigers star second baseman was able to return to the lineup she was red hot the rest of the season. By doing so, she has been named to the Northeast-10 All-Rookie Team.
"I missed around 12 games and couldn't wait to get back in there," said MacKenzie, who led her team in hitting at .413 (5th best in the conference). "I was playing center field before the injury and once I returned was in left field, but then the coaches moved me to second base. That's where I had played my last two years at Ipswich, so I felt very comfortable there."
MacKenzie was the best leadoff hitter in the Northeast-10, reaching base an astonishing 75 percent of the time, averaging 1.28 hits per game (4th in the conference).
She finished the season with 23 RBI and scored a team-high 31 runs. MacKenzie also had seven doubles, a .452 on-base percentage and a .947 fielding percentage (with only 7 errors).
MacKenzie was named Freshman of the Week at the end of April. The River Hawks were seeded eighth in the conference tournament, losing to No. 5 Assumption, 7-2 in the first round. They finished with a 23-27 record.
"Krista was certainly a sparkplug in our lineup," said head coach Sean Cotter in a press release. "We struggled when she was out of the lineup, and it's no coincidence that we went on a winning streak when she was healthy. I'm looking forward to great things out of her over the next three years."
MacKenzie is also looking ahead, figuring the River Hawks will be even better next spring. She is enrolled in the college of management and plans to keep busy playing softball this summer.
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Julia Woodworth Ford has won the Golden Ski Award so many times they might as well make it hers permanently. She has been honored by the Eastern Ski Writers Association with the 2010 Don A. Metivier Award for an unprecedented third time.
A top member of the US Development Team for the past three years, Ford was the top women's junior in the slalom (9th) and 13th in the giant slalom (GS) at the 2010 US Alpine National championships at Whiteface Mountain in New York.
Ford (the daughter of Peabody High Hall of Famer Lori Woodworth) was also the top junior in the downhill in the US title race in Aspen (7th), and the top American woman skier at the Junior Championships in France in every event but the giant slalom. She had top 10 finishes in every event on the NorAm Circuit and finished her terrific year with a second place in the downhill and third in the Super G at the Swedish National Championships.
The Golden Ski will be presented to Ford for the third year in a row and male winner Ryan Cochron-Siegle June 4 at a ceremony at the New England Ski Museum in Franconia, N.H.
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What a day the Beverly girls 4x1600 and distance medley teams had at the Division 2 State Relays last weekend.
The Panthers set a new meet record in the 4x1600 with a lightning-fast time of 21:04:94, shattering the old D-2 mark of 21:29.4 set by Newton South in 1999 and smashing the old school record of 21:49.7. Sophomore Wendi Marciano, freshman Jessica Gomes, senior Millie Chapman and senior Monica Adler made up the 4x1600 team (Chapman and Adler were also part of the team that held the old school record).
"They were flying," said veteran Panthers head coach Dave Jellerson, whose team has the second-fastest time in the state (in all classes). " I knew our two big guns (Adler and Chapman) would be fast. We had a good lead for Monica and she ran a 5:02; Chapman was 5:04, and Marciano had an outstanding race in 5:19 (a personal best by 20 seconds). And Gomes improved her best time by five seconds (5:38). They were out there all alone with no pressure because the second place team ran a 21:45."
Marciano, Adler, Chapman and senior Katie Moriarty also set a new school record in winning the distance medley in 12:23 (Chapman and Adler were on the team that held the old mark of 12:04.7).
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Sean Driscoll of Peabody is set to graduate from Connecticut College this month after an exceptional athletic and academic career for the Camels.
A lacrosse and hockey captain, Driscoll was a member of the school's first-ever NCAA lax team. The Camels had only one loss during the regular season, but lost by a goal in the first round of the NESCAC tournament. The Camels finished with a 14-3 record after posting just six wins in 2009.
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Jean DePlacido is a part-time writer and columnist for The Salem News. Contact her at jmdeplacido@aol.com.
