Football  

Jonathan Emond

Five members of the Massachusetts Maritime football team earned spots on the 2009 New England Football Conference All-Bogan Division squad, as the Buccaneers also received two major awards as voted by the league's coaches for their performance this fall.  Freshman wide receiver Jonathan Emond (Green Harbor, Mass.) was named as the 2009 NEFC Bogan Division Offensive Rookie of the Year after hauling in 38 receptions for 656 yards and seven touchdowns, as he averaged 17.6 yards per catch during his inaugural season.  Emond also earned second team all-Bogan Division honors for his efforts this fall.  Massachusetts Maritime Head Coach Jeremy Cameron was tabbed as the 2009 New England Football Conference Bogan Division Coach of the Year after guiding the Buccaneers to three overall victories this season, as the fifth year mentor saw his squad fall in four other contests by a touchdown or less and be within at least three points in the closing minutes of two other games.  Three Bucs earned spots on the NEFC All-Bogan Division first team, as seniors Jim Erlwein (Livingston Manor, N.Y.) and Ryan Howley (New Fairfield, Conn.), along with junior Andy Hirko (Uxbridge, Mass.), were honored on the defensive side.  Erlwein, a three-time all-Bogan Division pick on the defensive line, recorded 50 total tackles on the year, including 31 solo stops and 10.5 tackles for losses totaling 34 yards that also featured 1.5 sacks, while Howley, the 2007 NEFC Defensive Rookie of the Year, paced Massachusetts Maritime with 97 total tackles (63 solo), including four sacks, three fumble recoveries and a team-leading 15.5 tackles for losses of 92 yards.  Hirko led the Buccaneers with four interceptions on the season while adding a team-best six pass break ups, as he notched 42 total tackles (31 solo) as well as a pair of fumble recoveries.  Junior kicker Jake Bickley (Wilbraham, Mass.) earned NEFC All-Bogan Division second team honors for a second straight season, as he connected for five field goals, including a school-record 44-yarder in a 31-14 win over Worcester State, and made 30 of 31 extra point attempts while leading Massachusetts Maritime in scoring with 45 points.  Bickley also posted a 37.2 yard average on 41 punts with a long of 72 yards and 13 punts inside the 20.

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Ben Mandelbaum  

Masachusetts Maritime closed out its 2009 season last Saturday afternoon by placing 38th out of 48 teams competing at the 2009 NCAA Division III New England Regional Championships hosted by Southern Maine at the Twin Brook Recreation Center in Cumberland, Maine.  Junior Patrick Dannaher (Arlington, Va.) paced the Buccaneers individually by placing 155th with a time of 28:18.3 over the 8K layout, while freshman Chad McCarthy (Sutton, Mass.) was next in 200th place with a time of 29:06.6.  Junior Brian Maniglia (Pennsville, N.J.) followed in 218th place with a time of 29:39.2, while freshman Aram Mulhern (Taunton, Mass.) and senior Ben Mandelbaum (Tampa, Fla.) rounded out the Massachusetts Maritime scoring by placing 267th and 276th, respectively, with times of 31:09.9 and 31:37.9.  The Buccaneers recorded five top 10 team finishes this fall under Head Coach Chris Ryan, including taking top honors in the Travis J. Fuller Invitational as well as a fifth place performance at the MASCAC Championships.

Click here for the Buccaneer men's cross country home page!

Massachusetts Maritime captured the 2009 Admiral's Cup last Saturday afternoon by besting host Coast Guard by 35 points (2,136-2,101) in smallbore competition and by 10 points (2,176-2,166) in air, as the Buccaneers also topped New York Maritime by 50 points in air competition while notching a smallbore win over John Jay (2,136-2,121) in Mid-Atlantic Conference quad action in New London, Conn..  Junior Michael Surette (Lynn, Mass.) posted the top smallbore score of the competition for Massachusetts Maritime with 546 points, while freshman Jeffrey Morin (Middleton, Mass.) was next with 542 points.  Junior Kevin Geisel (Gloucester, Mass.) and senior Junita Goldman (Oakdale, Conn.) completed the Buccaneer scoring with 537 and 511 points, respectively.  Surette led the way in air competition with 561 points Head Coach Oliver Deibert's Buccaneers, while Geisel followed with 554 points.  Morin was next with 532 points, while Goldman collected 529 points in air.  Massachusetts Maritime, which improves to 6-4 overall in MAC competition on the fall, will host MIT in a MAC match on Saturday morning at the Massachusetts Military Reservation in Falmouth, Mass.

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Massachusetts Maritime wrapped up its 2009 fall schedule with a solid sixth place performance at the prestigious Kennedy Cup hosted by the United States Naval Academy on November 6-8, as the event is the equivalent of the collegiate national championships.  Seniors Kevin Denien (Rockland, Mass.) and Philip Johnson (Hingham, Mass.), juniors Phillip Scott (Pocasset, Mass.), Chris Morrow and Devin Tetzlaff (Forestdale, Mass.) and sophomores Jeffrey Gawrys (Marblehead, Mass.), Graham Philpot (Laconia, N.H.), Eric Pattison (Southbury, Conn.) and Ian Wiltshire (Alexandria, N.H.) all competed in the event for Director of Sailing Chuck Fontaine's Buccaneers.  Philpot was named as the recipient of the Kevin Leslie Award presented annually by the sailing program to the Outstanding Sailor of the Year. 

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Captain & Mrs. Richard Phillips meet with President Obama 

Captain Richard Phillips, a 1979 graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy who last April was the center of international attention for his heroism and bravery during the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama by Somali Pirates, has been named as one of two recipients of the 2009 National Collegiate Athletic Association's Award of Valor.  Captain Phillips will be feted at the NCAA Honors Dinner on Friday, January 15^th during the 2010 NCAA Annual Convention at the Marriott Convention Center in Atlanta, Ga.  The NCAA Award of Valor is presented to recognize courageous action or noteworthy bravery by persons involved in intercollegiate athletics.  Award of Valor recipients are current intercollegiate athletics coaches or administrators and current or former varsity letterwinners at NCAA institutions who, when confronted with situations involving personal danger, acted with valor to avert or minimize potential disaster.  Valor is described as "the strength of mind or spirit that enables a person to brave danger with boldness and firmness."  Captain Phillips shined on the basketball court during his matriculation at Massachusetts Maritime, as he lettered for the Buccaneers under former Head Coach Bob Brown during his sophomore season in 1976-77.  A native of Winchester, Mass., he graduated from the Academy in 1979 with a degree in Marine Transportation.  On April 8, 2009, Captain Phillips and the crew of the Maersk Alabama were bound for Mombasa, Kenya carrying 17,000 metric tons of food to aid in Rwanda, Somalia and Uganda.  The ship was boarded by four pirates approximately 240 nautical miles southeast of the Somalia port city of Eyl, and after the crew locked itself in the engine room upon the pirates' boarding, crew members used brute force on the pirates to regain control of the ship.  However, one of the pirates captured Captain Phillips upon boarding the Maersk Alabama, effectively gaining control of the situation.  In the meantime, the crew had seized the pirates' ringleader and attempt to trade him for the release of Captain Phillips, but the exchange took a different failed twist when after the crew released its captive, the pirates refused to release Captain Phillips and instead fled in the one of the ship's lifeboats with both the captain and nine days of food rations in tow, as Captain Phillips gave himself as a hostage instead of his crew.  The Maersk Alabama, with its remaining 19 crew members on board, sailed towards Mombasa under a United States military escort, arriving safely in the Kenyan port three days later.  Later that day, the United States Department of Defense dispatched the USS Bainbridge to the Gulf of Aden in response to the hostage situation involving Captain Phillips, and a standoff ensued the next morning.  On April 10^th, Captain Phillips attempted to escape his captive lifeboat but was recaptured when his pirate captors fired shots.  After additional warships were dispatched to the scene, negotiations began for Captain Phillips' release but broke down after the pirates fired on a Navy vessel that approached the lifeboat at sunrise on Saturday, April 11^th.  It was on Easter Sunday (April 12^th) that Captain Phillips was rescued from his pirate captors after Commander Frank Castellano, captain of the USS Bainbridge, determined that Phillips' life was in "imminent danger" and carried out standing orders from President Barack Obama to carry out any necessary action.  United States Navy SEALS executed the three pirates that held Captain Phillips hostage for nearly four days, and the captain was evacuated in good condition.  He was later reunited his with Maersk Alabama crew before returning to his native Vermont for a hero's welcome.  President Obama said of Captain Phillips:  "I share the country's admiration for the bravery of Captain Phillips and his selfless concern for his crew.  His courage is a model for all Americans."  Captain Phillips and his wife Andrea were honored by Massachusetts Maritime in May during ceremonies on National Maritime Day, as he was feted by Academy President Admiral Rick Gurnon as the school's National Mariner of the Year".

Click here for NCAA Award of Valor information!

Bob Corradi

The Massachusetts Maritime Department of Athletics was one of 37 Division III institutions that have been recognized for their continued commitment to diversity in athletics issues by the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Texas A&M Laboratory For Diversity In Sport.  Massachusetts Maritime was honored for its value and attitudinal diversity among Department of Athletics employees by the NCAA and the Laboratory For Diversity In Sport, as that category was assessed on ratings in issues involving values, personality and attitudes of employees and their commitment to student-athlete welfare.  "We are very honored and humbled to receive this citation from the NCAA," Massachusetts Maritime Director of Athletics Bob Corradi said of the honor.  "The members of the Department of Athletics are fully committed to the welfare and experience of our student-athletes, and we are pleased to receive national recognition for that continued commitment."  The Academy continues to rank among the national leaders in Title IX Proportionality and Gender Equity issues as well, as over 55 percent of Massachusetts Maritime's population of female students participated in at least one intercollegiate varsity sport during the 2008-09 academic year.  Massachusetts Maritime was the only member of the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference to receive the honor from the NCAA and one of eight institutions in New England to be recognized overall.

The Massachusetts Maritime Department of Athletics unveiled its new look on Saturday, October 17^th as part of Homecoming festivities at the Academy, as a new Buccaneer made its debut at halftime of the Admiral's Cup football game with Maine Maritime at Clean Harbors Stadium.

Crafted by the creative minds at Phoenix Design Works in New York City, the new Massachusetts Maritime Buccaneer logo features a bearded Buccaneer with a sword in its right hand and its left fist shaking in the air.  The words "Massachusetts Maritime" are emblazoned in Vegas Gold and Navy Blue under the sword, and the word "Buccaneers" is in a blue, gray and gold tinted display in large text underneath.  The new Buccaneer logo has both primary and secondary marks as well as different word marks for all Massachusetts Maritime varsity athletic squads.

Phoenix Design Works, which also created new athletic identities and logos for fellow MASCAC members Bridgewater State and Salem State, worked with Massachusetts Maritime Director of Athletics Bob Corradi over the last three months to formulate the new Buccaneer, which was featured on t-shirts and other mementos that were distributed to the nearly 2,000 attendees of the Homecoming football contest by senior Kaitlin O'Donnell and juniors Meredith Hall and Neil Patnaude of the Massachusetts Maritime Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Kaitlin O'Donnell

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