LETOURNEAU, ATKINSON: SERVICE CREDIT UNION SPOTLIGHT AND WEEKLY ROUNDUP

UNH WEEKLY ROUNDUP
February 22, 2010

DURHAM, N.H. – Allison Letourneau (Kingston, Nova Scotia) of the women’s indoor track and field team and Paul Atkinston (Toronto, Ontario) of the ski team are featured in this week's Service Credit Union Student-Athlete Spotlight. This information and more can be found in this week's Wildcat Roundup.

ALLISTON LETOURNEAU

PAUL ATKINSON

STUDENT-ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Allison Letourneau, women’s indoor track & field
     Allison, a junior from Kingston, Nova Scotia, won a conference title in the 800 meters to lead the UNH women’s indoor track & field team to a third-place finish at the America East Indoor Track & Field Championships that were held Feb. 20-21.
      Allison finished the run in 2 minutes, 11.87 seconds, which was an ECAC qualifying time. She also ran a leg on the Wildcats' 4x800-meter relay team, which placed third with an ECAC Championship-qualifying time of 9:18.13.


Paul Atkinson, skiing
      Paul Atkinson, a sophomore from Toronto, Ontario, recorded two top-5 finishes at the Williams Winter Carnival (Feb. 20-21) to lead the UNH ski team to a fifth-place finish. He opened the carnival Friday at Jimny Peak with fifth place in the giant slalom with a time of 1:38.96. Paul then raced to second place in Saturday’s slalom race with a time of 1:28.82 that included a second-run time of 44.06 seconds.
      Earlier this season, Paul recorded a top-5 finish in the slalom at the Vermont Winter Carnival (third place), St. Michaels’ Winter Carnival (fourth) and St. Lawrence Winter Carnival (fifth).


MILESTONES
Kelly Paton, women’s ice hockey – Became the fifth UNH women’s ice hockey player to reach the 100-assist milestone with the last of her three assists Feb. 21 at Boston College.


LAST WEEK’S RESULTS
Tuesday, Feb. 16
Women’s basketball: at Maine 69, UNH 61

Wednesday, Feb. 17
Men’s basketball: vs. Maine 72, at UNH 53

Friday, Feb. 19
Men’s hockey: at #13 UNH 5, #17 Vermont 4 (overtime)
Men’s track & field at America East Championships, 2nd place (Day 1 of 2)
Women’s track & field at America East Championships, 1st place (Day 1 of 2)
Skiing at Williams Carnival, 5th place (Day 1 of 2)

Saturday, Feb. 20
Women’s ice hockey: Boston College 2, at #4 UNH 1
Men’s hockey: at #13 UNH 3, #17 Vermont 3 (tie, overtime)
Men’s basketball: UNH 61, at Loyola (Md.) 60 (ESPN BracketBusters game)
Gymnastics: at #22 Michigan State 194.175, UNH 192.400
Men’s track & field at America East Championships: 4th place (at Boston U.)
Women’s track & field at America East Championships: 3rd place (at Boston U.)
Skiing at Williams Carnival: 3rd place (Alpine: Jiminy Peak; Nordic: Prospect)

Sunday, Feb. 21
Women’s basketball: Albany 64, at UNH 62 (overtime)
Women’s ice hockey: at Boston College


UPCOMING EVENTS
Wednesday, Feb. 24
Women’s lacrosse vs. Holy Cross, 4 pm (season opener)

Thursday, Feb. 25
Women’s basketball vs. Binghamton, 7 pm
Women’s swimming & diving at America East Championship (at Boston U.) (Day 1 of 4)

Friday, Feb. 26
Men’s hockey at Northeastern, 7 pm
Skiing at EISA Championship (Alpine: Snow Bowl; Nordic: Rikert) (Day 1 of 2)
Women’s swimming & diving at America East Championship (at Boston U.) (Day 2 of 4)
Men’s track & field at New England Championship, 3 pm (Day 1 of 2)
Women’s track & field at New England Championship, 3 pm (Day 1 of 2)

Saturday, Feb. 27
Women’s lacrosse vs. Dartmouth, 1 pm
Gymnastics vs. Maryland, 4 pm
Men’s hockey vs. Northeastern, 7 pm
Skiing at EISA Championship (Alpine: Snow Bowl; Nordic: Rikert) (Day 2 of 2)
Women’s swimming & diving at America East Championship (at Boston U.) (Day 3 of 4)
Men’s track & field at New England Championship (Day 2 of 2)
Women’s track & field at New England Championship (Day 2 of 2)

Sunday, Feb. 28
Men’s basketball vs. Stony Brook, 1 pm
Women’s basketball at Boston University, 2 pm
Women’s swimming & diving at America East Championship (at Boston U.) (Day 4 of 4)


MEN’S BASKETBALL (11-15, 5-9 America East)
• UNH competed in an ESPN BracketBusters game for the first time Feb. 20 and Tyrone Conley (Burlington, Vt.) made a basket with .7 seconds remaining to lift the Wildcats to a 61-60 victory at Loyola (Md.).
• UNH wraps up its non-conference slate at 6-6, giving the program its best non-conference record since it went 7-3 during the 1994-95 season.
• Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Masss.) was named UNH's America East Player of the Game for the sixth straight contest and ninth time in the last 12 games. He finished with 16 points, two assists, two rebounds and a steal and was 8-for-10 at the line. Abreu also extended his career-best double-digit scoring streak to 10 games and has scored 10-plus points in 13 of the last 14 tilts.
• Brian Benson (Rochester, N.Y.) netted a career-best 11 points on 4 of 7 shooting, including 1 of 2 from behind the 3-point arc, and added three rebounds and a block in a career-high 30 minutes.
• With his first of three assists against the greyhounds, sophomore point guard Russell Graham (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) became the first Wildcat to record 100 helpers in a season since Colin Donahue (135) during the 2000-01 campaign.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (8-19, 3-11 America East)
• UNH lost two games last week, including one in overtime, by a total of 10 points.
• Jill McDonald (Middlebury, Vt.) recorded her second career double-double with 16 points and a career-high matching 10 rebounds vs. Albany. McDonald, who also had four blocks and two steals, sent the game into overtime by making two foul shots with 20 seconds remaining in regulation.
• McDonald was named UNH’s America East Player of the Game in both that game as well as the one earlier in the week at Maine. She scored a team-high 15 points vs. the Black Bears.

GYMNASTICS (8-2)
• UNH traveled to 22nd ranked Michigan State and posted a score of 192.400 in a loss to the Spartans.
• Chelsea Steinberg (Ridgewood, N.J.) led the team with a first-place finish in the vault, posting a high score of 9.85. She also was the Wildcats’ top all-arounder, placing third overall with a four-event score of 38.250.
• UNH posted its best team total on vault to defeat MSU in the event (48.725-48.600).


MEN’S ICE HOCKEY (15-10-5, 14-5-4 Hockey East)
• Following a three-point weekend against Vermont (5-4 overtime win; 3-3 tie), UNH climbed to its highest ranking of the season at #10.
• UNH clinched a playoff spot for the 21st-straight season. The Wildcats have advanced to the postseason in Hockey East every year since 1989... New Hampshire became the first in Hockey East to clinch home-ice advantage for the Hockey East quarterfinals. The Wildcats have hosted the quarterfinals for a league-best 14-straight seasons and have not had to travel for the first round of the post season since 1995-96
• Phil DeSimone (East Amherst, N.Y.) extended his league-best scoring streak to 12 games. DeSimone has 16 points (6g, 10a) during this 12-game span.
• Bobby Butler (Marlboro, Mass.) has six goals in the last three games and has scored in 11 of the last 12 games with 20 points (11g, 9a - 1.67 ppg) during that span. Butler is the first player to have 20 goals in league play since Colin Hemingway had 23 goals in 2001-02.

WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY (19-7-5, 13-6-2-0 Hockey East)
• UNH finished in a three-way tie for second place and is the #2 seed in the upcoming 8th Hockey East Championship tournament. The Wildcats will play the highest remaining seed (that advances out of the quarterfinals) in a March 6 semifinal at Providence College.
• The women’s hockey program recognized seniors Kelly Cahill (Farmington Hills, Mich.), Micaela Long (South Boston, Mass.), Kelly Paton (Woodstock, Ontario) and Shannon Sisk (Pipersville, Pa.) Feb. 20 prior to the last home regular-season game of the season.
• Paton became the fifth UNH Wildcat to record 100 career assists with the last of her three assists in the Feb. 21 regular-season finale at Boston College.
• The line combination of Long, Paton and Kristina Lavoie (Fonthill, Ontario) produced 11 points in the 4-1 victory Feb. 21 at BC. All three skaters tied career highs in points, as Long and Paton tallied four points and Lavoie had three.


MEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
• UNH finished in fourth place at the America East Championships on Feb. 20-21.
• Junior Brice Paey (Milton, N.H.) won his second consecutive conference shot put title with a mark of 58 feet 0.50 inches. He broke his own America East Championship record and earned him the Most Outstanding Field Performer Award.
• Graduate student Jeff Kaste (Atkinson, N.H.), who was second in the weight throw on day one, was again the runner-up in the shot put.
• In the high jump, freshman Matthew Guarente (Saugus, Mass.) placed third. Senior Will Brehm (Pembroke, N.H.) ran to a third-place finish in the 200 meters

WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
• Junior Allison Letourneau (Kingston, Nova Scotia) won a conference title in the 800 meters to lead the UNH women's indoor track and field team to a third-place finish at the America East Indoor Track & Field Championships that were held Feb. 20-21.
• Junior Megan Donohue (Stratham, N.H.) placed third in the 500 meters final in an ECAC Championship-qualifying time of 1:14.62, which set a new school record. The old school record of 1:15.05 was set in 2004 by Kristen Meisner.
• Junior Erica Jesseman (Scarborough, Maine), who was runner-up in the 5000 meters on day one, finished fourth in the 3000 meters in a time an ECAC Championship-qualifying time of 9:56.05.
• The Wildcats' 4x800-meter relay team of Howell, juniors Brittany Verville (Bow, N.H.) and Catherine Perrella (Bedford, N.H.), and Letourneau ran to a third-place finish in an ECAC Championship-qualifying time of 9:18.13. The 4x400 team was seventh at 3:56.03.

SKIING
• UNH finished third at the Williams Carnival. The alpine squads recorded the second-highest team score in three of the four disciplines.
• Paul Atkinson (Toronto, Ontario) recorded a pair of top-5 finishes with second place in the slalom and fifth place in the giant slalom.
• Zach Clayton (Manassa, Va.) and Michael Cremeno (Pembroke, N.H.) also finished in the top 10 of the men’s giant slalom and Marie-Elaine Lepine (Mont-Tremblant, Quebec) recorded UNH’s other top-10 finish on Feb. 19 with sixth place in the women’s GS.
• UNH also had four top-10 finishes, including Atkinson’s runner-up performance, on Feb. 20 to jump from fifth place to third. Aileen Farrell (Ottawa, Ontario) placed fourth in the slalom and Veronique Archambault-Leger (Verdun, Quebec) was seventh. Natasha Kullas (Timmins, Ontario) recorded the sixth-fastest time in the 5K freestyle.

SWIMMING & DIVING (8-1)
• UNH was idle last week. The team returns to action Feb. 25-28 at the America East Championships (at Boston University).