Owl fall athletes earn recognition

    OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — A quartet of Owls were named to the 2014 All-Independent Men’s Soccer team, released by the Association of Division III Independents.
Forward Joshua Allen, goalkeeper Caleb Bragg-Grady and defenders Seth Cote and Erik Gumaer were each named to the AD3I All-Independent second team.
Allen tallied four goals for the season, placing him 12th in AD3I. He also ranked in the top 15 in the association in points, despite losing several games to a concussion late in the year.
Bragg-Grady was exceptional in goal for Alan Gordon’s young squad, leading AD3I in total saves with 112 and finishing second in save percentage at .778.
Cote and Gumaer anchored an Owl defense that defeated 11th-ranked USCAA foe UM-Machias 1-0 Oct. 4. Both defenders had two assists on the year as well.
Five Owl cross country athletes were named to the All-Independent Cross Country Team by the association.
Becky Bowers garnered honorable mention accolades for her outstanding season’s work for the women’s team. Bowers, a freshman from Burlington, improved all season long and led the Owls at the state meet with a time of 26:35.
On the men’s side, four Owl runners achieved the honorable mention status as they were among the finest 16 male runners in AD3I.
Junior Corey Hebert of West Baldwin received AD3I honors for the third straight year. Hebert battled through a difficult season, yet provided head coach Chris Smith with an experienced veteran performance at the USCAA nationals by registering his personal best time at the most critical time for the Owl squad, allowing the group to finish 14th in the country.
Also named to the list were Presque Isle natives Saul Nunez, Trevor Levesque and Caribou alum Ronald Lund.
Nunez and Levesque battled each other for top spot on the Owls all season long, including finishing seconds apart at the national meet in which Nunez finished 60th and Levesque 62nd.
Lund also recorded his personal best at the same meet with a time of 31:17, taking 83rd.
Owl supporters should be excited about the future of the cross country squad. Bowers, Nunez, Levesque and Lunn are all in their first year of collegiate running and together with their teammates have a resolve to improve greatly in the seasons to come.
Smith has already mapped out a strong off-season running schedule to help improve each runner in the program.
Smith is also hitting the recruiting trails hard this year looking for quality student-athletes to add to the outstanding individuals already in the stable of runners.