NECC preseason polls released, men's cross country heads into first season
BOSTON, MA - The Wheelock College field hockey team has been predicted to finish second in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) during the fall of 2010, as polls including five Wildcat programs were released over the weekend.
Field hockey, which finished as the runner-up in the 2009 NECC Tournament after yielding an overtime tally in the championship contest, returns all 11 starters under third-year head coach Kyoungho Koh, last fall's league coach of the year. The Wildcats, who posted a 6-2 conference mark, trailed only two-time defending league champion Becker College in the five-team poll. Among the team's returners are four players who earned 2009 NECC All-Conference accolades, as seniors Milbrey Hendrix (Kennett Square, PA/Sanford), Julie Kilcoyne (Sterling, MA/Wachusett Regional) and Michaela Ross (Mansfield, MA/Mansfield) and sophomore Chelsey Ballard (Mansfield, MA/Mansfield) were lauded. Senior keeper Meredith Race (Marion, MA/Old Rochester Regional) drew an honorable mention for all-league.
Women's cross country, which tied Newbury College for second place at the 2009 NECC Championship during only its second season of competition, was slotted for fourth among eight teams in the preseason poll. However, with 36 points, the Wildcats were just six short of the second-place Nighthawks. Wheelock returns seven runners under first-year head coach Kristin Murphy, including sophomore Kailah Simon (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk), who was the team's second finisher in each of her four races last fall. Classmate Cara McAuliffe (Nashua, NH/Nashua South) was the third-place Wildcat three times, and junior Maria Sideri (North Andover, MA/North Andover) was among the team's top five at six races.
Men's cross country, which Murphy also coaches, heads into its initial season and has been predicted to take seventh out of seven programs in the NECC.
A young women's soccer team is seventh in the nine-team preseason poll, as nine newcomers join seven veterans. Now in her fourth year, head coach Stephanie Smyrl returns an all-conference honorable mention goalkeeper in junior Alexandra Chiesa (Medford, MA/Medford). Senor Christine Pellerin (Auburn, MA/Auburn) and junior Haley Butler (Yarmouth Port, MA/Dennis-Yarmouth Regional) captain a squad that lost four one-goal decisions in NECC play, including in overtime against eventual league tournament runner-up Mitchell College.
Rounding out Wheelock's fall programs is men's soccer, which enters its second season of competition after beginning play in 2009. The Wildcats, predicted to take eighth in the eight-team NECC, adds nine players to a squad that turned in one of its best performances last year against eventual league tournament runner-up Lesley University, as Wheelock fell by a 2-0 margin. Under second-year head coach Sercan Fenerci, junior Victor Kashouh (Providence, RI/Classical) led all Division I, II and III goalkeepers in saves per game (14.91) after previously never playing the sport, and he was an all-league honorable mention. Junior Max Kaim (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Cypress Bay) is the returning leading scorer, having netted three goals last fall.
