Submitted by Josh Kessler, Director of Athletic Communications, Saint Michael’s College.
COLCHESTER, Vt. – A large contingent of Saint Michael’s College students who have studied away from campus in various corners of the world during the 2018-19 school year and this summer are members of varsity athletic programs, as 36 student-athletes and two team managers took advantage of the opportunity through the College’s Study Abroad Office.
While a dozen spent full semesters away, nearly two dozen enrolled in two-week classes between terms. “Field Tropical Ecology” (Costa Rica) and “Jews, Christians & Muslims in the Holy Land” were offered during the winter break, while “Culture & Society in Medieval Burgundy” (France), “Music & Dance of West Africa” (Ghana), “Kyoto: An Aesthetic Perspective on Place” (Japan), “Apartheid, Revolution & Representation” (South Africa) and “Environmental Study of Sustainable Places” (Wales) took place between May and June.
Later in the summer, 11 Saint Michael’s students – including three student-athletes – started professional internships in business, educational, medical and other non-profit settings in Hong Kong. The internships were supported by a grant from the Freeman Foundation, which supports intercultural understanding between the United States and Asia.
2018-19 Study-Abroad Student-Athletes
Men’s Basketball
- Rising junior Jason Heter (Andover, N.J./Newton) – South Africa class (summer) – averaged 3.1 points and 2.0 rebounds while shooting 47.4 percent and blocking eight shots in 26 games as a reserve
- Rising sophomore Jontai Williams (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) – South Africa class (summer) – averaged 1.1 points and 1.2 rebounds while adding 19 assists in 20 games as a reserve
Women’s Basketball
- Rising senior Alyssa Breunig (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) – South Africa class (summer) – averaged 5.0 points and 3.9 rebounds while knocking down 26 three-pointers and blocking 15 shots in 25 games, including 21 starts
Men’s Cross Country
- Rising sophomore Ty Santos (Wenham, Mass./Hamilton-Wenham Regional) – South Africa class (summer) – competed in five races during debut campaign
Women’s Cross Country
- May graduate Emily Calder (Hopkinton, N.H./Hopkinton) – Costa Rica class (winter) – among team’s top three during each of her five races
- Rising senior Emma Clark (Killingworth, Conn./Haddam-Killingworth) – Wales class (summer) – missed season due to injury
- Rising senior Abby French (Nashua, N.H./Academy of Notre Dame) – Wales class (summer) – cracked top 10 five times before earning Northeast-10 Conference All-Conference after taking 14th at NE10 Championship
- Rising senior Emma Koukos (Scarborough, Maine/Scarborough) – Stockholm, Sweden (spring) – among team’s top three at each of her final four races, including the NCAA East Regional Championship
Field Hockey
- Rising senior Bryn Churchill (Danvers, Mass./Danvers) – South Africa class (summer) – did not make any appearances
- Rising senior Nell Criscione (Boxford, Mass./Masconomet Regional) – France class (summer) – scored three goals with one assist while starting all 17 games
- Rising senior Maggie Daley (Slingerlands, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) – Japan class (summer) – appeared in eight games as a reserve
- Rising senior MaKayla Foster (Middlebury, Vt./Middlebury Union) – Holy Land class (winter) – played all 17 games, drawing one start
- Rising junior Katriona Hajduk (Winthrop, Maine/Winthrop) – Wales class (summer) – made two defensive saves while playing 12 games, starting 10
- Rising senior Maryel Likhite (Jericho, Vt./Mount Mansfield Union) – Copenhagen, Denmark (spring) – started all 17 games on defense
- Rising senior Claire Scherf (Bethlehem, Conn./Nonnewaug) – San José, Costa Rica (spring) – handed out two assists while making all 13 appearances as a starter
Men’s Ice Hockey
- Rising junior Matt McGlynn (Walpole, Mass./New Hampton School) – Hong Kong Freeman scholar (summer) – three assists and plus-2 in 20 games on defense
- May graduate Jake Myers (Belmont, Mass./The Hill School) – Wales class (summer) – appeared in three games
- Rising senior William Santangeli (Oakville, Ontario/Saint Mark’s School) – Wales class (summer) – won 44.9 percent of faceoffs in 20 games
Women’s Ice Hockey
- Rising senior Torrie Gray (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) – Hong Kong Freeman scholar (summer) – three assists and plus-2 in 25 games on defense
- Rising senior Vika Simons (Essex Junction, Vt./Minnesota Duluth Club) – Seville, Spain (summer) – .912 save percentage, 3.68 goals-against average and 35.0 saves per game in 13 games, including 12 starts
- Rising senior Regan Ugalde (Colchester, Vt./Rice Memorial) – Holy Land class (winter) – team manager
Men’s Lacrosse
- Rising sophomore Brandon Croce (Apex, N.C./Apex) – Holy Land class (winter) – team manager
Alpine Skiing
- Rising senior Erin Spence (Aspen, Colo./Aspen) – France class (summer) – cracked top 20 five times while placing among team’s top three 11 times in 12 starts
Women’s Soccer
- Rising senior Meghan Dieterle (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) – Wollongong, Australia (spring) – three assists in 13 games, including six starts
- Rising senior Bridie McNamara (Harvard, Mass./The Bromfield School) – Galway, Ireland (spring) – appeared in 11 games on defense, starting six
- Rising senior Greta Ricigliano (Milwaukee, Wis./Nicolet) – Wollongong, Australia (spring) – three goals in 15 games, including 14 starts
- Rising junior Liz Vallatini (Needham, Mass./Needham) – Ghana class (summer) – .833 save percentage and 1.51 goals-against average in 13 contests, including 10 starts
Softball
- Rising senior Julia Sevigny (Rocky Hill, Conn./Rocky Hill) – Seville, Spain (fall) – started all 36 games in center field while picking up 13 hits and nine walks
- Rising junior Maggie Welling (Baltimore, Md./Maryvale Preparatory School) – Cambridge, England (summer) – fielded .976 in 25 starts as a middle infielder while adding 13 hits
Women’s Swimming & Diving
- Rising senior Reiley Adelson (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs) – Bali, Indonesia (spring) – won two events in five meets before studying abroad during spring segment of season
- Rising junior Leah Benoit (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) – Wales class (summer) – won pair of events
- Rising senior Sarah Brennan (Glen Rock, N.J./Immaculate Heart Academy) – Barcelona, Spain (spring) – competed in five meets before studying abroad during spring segment of season
- Rising senior Lauren Giampietro (Watertown, Conn./Watertown) – Wales class (summer) – won 21 events, including 11 individual races
- Rising senior Katie Valle (Weston, Mass./Weston) – Salamanca, Spain (spring) – competed in five meets before studying abroad during spring segment of season
Men’s Tennis
- Rising senior Matt Mosher (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Warde) – Hong Kong Freeman scholar (summer) – went 10-10 during doubles play while adding six singles victories
Women’s Tennis
- Rising senior Caroline Sumner (Needham, Mass./Needham) – Florence, Italy (spring) – notched four wins between No. 1 and 2 doubles and was the Purple Knights’ regular No. 5 singles player
- Rising senior Autumn Tamlyn (Silver Bay, N.Y./Queensbury) – San José, Costa Rica (summer) – 3-1 between singles and doubles, including 2-0 at No. 6 singles
Women’s Volleyball
- Rising senior Anna Lonczak (Pine Plains, N.Y./Stissing Mountain) – Madrid, Spain (spring) – 87 digs and six service aces in 50 sets over 19 matches
