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Swann, Williams College Harriers Compete at NCAA Championships

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Mount Greylock Regional School alumna Kate Swann and the Williams College women's cross country team are in Terre Haute, Ind., Saturday morning to compete at the NCAA Division III Championship.
 
Williams crushed the field at the 24-team regional championship in New London, Conn., to qualify for the national championship.
 
On Nov. 16 at the Mideast Regional, Williams finished with 59 points, well ahead of runner-up Rensselaer Polytechnic, which collected 110 points.
 
Swann, a junior, was the second Williams runner across the finish line, finishing 10th overall with a time of 21 minutes, 36 seconds on the 6-kilometer course.
 
Williams has finished first or second in every event it entered this fall, winning titles at its own Purple Valley Classic, Keene State (N.H.) Invitational, James Eareley Invitational (Westfield State), Connecticut College Invitational and New England Small College Athletic Conference Championships.
 
The NCAA DIII Championships get underway at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course.
 
The Division I Stonehill College women's cross country team placed fourth at the Northeast Conference Championship; Pittsfield High graduate Kellie Harrington was the second finisher for the Skyhawks, placing 17th at the season-ending meet.
 
At Division II St. Michael's, Jocelyn Sommers (Wahconah) ran on a squad that placed 10th at the NCAA East Regional Champinoship in Rochester, N.Y.
 
Dennis Love (Lenox) competed for Marist College's men at the NCAA Division I Northeast Regional Championship this month. The Red Foxes placed 28th at the qualifying meet for the national championships.
 
Parker Winters (Mount Greylock) scored for Framingham State at the NCAA DIII East Regional in New Hampshire this month. Winters placed 168th in a 231-team field to help the Rams place 27th.
 
On the gridiron, Pittsfield High alum Kieran Coscia has played nine games on the offensive line this fall at Bucknell University heading into Saturday's season finale at home against Colgate. The Bison are 5-6 this season with the second-highest scoring average (27.1 points per game) and best passing offense (253 yards per game) in the Patriot League.
 
Westfield State junior Ryan Scott (Wahconah) played in seven games under center for the Owls (4-6). He completed 20 of 41 passes for 317 yards and a touchdown. His teammate and fellow Wahconah alum Lucas Pickard played in six games at sophomore running back for Westfield State with eight carries.
 
Staying in the MASCAC, the Mass Maritime men's soccer team went 3-12-1 this fall, and Wahconah graduate Brody Calvert scored in all three wins and the tie. The final of his team-leading eight goals this season came in the 88th minute of a 3-3 tie against Worcester State in Mass Maritime's regular season finale.
 
Caleb Besaw (Drury) helped Vermont's Castleton State to a 7-7-2 campaign that ended in an overtime loss in the Little East Conference tournament. Besaw appeared in 17 games with five starts and six shots as a senior defender for the Spartans.
 
Another former standout at Drury, Springfield College junior Kayla McGrath, continues to contribute for the Pride, appearing in all 18 of its games this fall. Springfield (9-5-4) plays in the ECAC semi-finals on Saturday in Hartford, Conn.
 
With winter sports in full swing, Berkshire County basketball fans can follow the exploits of former Monument Mountain star Dion Brown closer to home this season. Brown, who transferred from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County to Boston College, has appeared in all four games for the Eagles (3-1).
 
Brown has started three games and averages 26 minutes per night with 5.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. BCC this weekend competes at the Cayman Islands Classic.
 
Another Monument Mountain alum, Connor Hanavan, has played in two games with a start at Emmanuel College (0-4), averaging 4.5 points in nine minutes per game. Emmnuel is at Bowdoin College on Saturday.
 
At UMass Boston, Carson Meczywor (Hoosac Valley) has played in two games for the Beacons, averaging 12 minutes per night. UMass Boston is 2-1 heading into Monday's game at Curry College. The DIII Beacons are at UMass-Amherst on Dec. 14.
 
If you know a local high school graduate who should be included in an upcoming edition of College Collage, email sports@iberkshires.com.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Vice Chair Vote Highlights Fissure on Williamstown Select Board

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A seemingly mundane decision about deciding on a board officer devolved into a critique of one member's service at Monday's Select Board meeting.
 
The recent departure of Andrew Hogeland left vacant the position of vice chair on the five-person board. On Monday, the board spent a second meeting discussing whether and how to fill that seat for the remainder of its 2024-25 term.
 
Ultimately, the board voted, 3-1-1, to install Stephanie Boyd in that position, a decision that came after a lengthy conversation and a 2-2-1 vote against assigning the role to a different member of the panel.
 
Chair Jane Patton nominated Jeffrey Johnson for vice chair after explaining her reasons not to support Boyd, who had expressed interest in serving.
 
Patton said members in leadership roles need to demonstrate they are "part of the team" and gave reasons why Boyd does not fit that bill.
 
Patton pointed to Boyd's statement at a June 5 meeting that she did not want to serve on the Diversity, Inclusion and Racial Equity Committee, instead choosing to focus on work in which she already is heavily engaged on the Carbon Dioxide Lowering (COOL) Committee.
 
"We've talked, Jeff [Johnson] and I, about how critical we think it is for a Select Board member to participate in other town committees," Patton said on Monday. "I know you participate with the COOL Committee, but, especially DIRE, you weren't interested in that."
 
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