Wahconah graduate and UMass-Boston junior Aryianna Garceau was crowned the school's 21st National Champion at the 2025 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field National Championships in Rochester, N.Y., posting an historic time of 8.35 seconds in the women's 60-meter hurdles.

 

Her championship-winning performance is an NCAA DIII Championship meet record and places her among the top two hurdlers of all time in NCAA DIII, capping off an unforgettable season.

 

Garceau finished with an astonishing, record-breaking 8.35 seconds finish to conclude the season undefeated against NCAA DIII competition. She now holds a new NCAA DIII Championship Meet Record, surpassing Birgen Nelson's (Gustavus Adolphus) 8.39 seconds record set in 2023, and places her just 0.02 seconds behind Nelson's all-time DIII lead of 8.33 seconds. She also sits 0.01 seconds behind the New England leader Fabiola Belibi of Harvard, who leads all NCAA hurdlers in the region with a time of 8.34.

 

Garceau finishes the 2024-25 indoor season with a cabinet of achievements. She is a three-time All-Little East Conference First-Team honoree, the 2024-25 LEC Runner of the Year, a seven-time school record breaker, the facility record holder at the Golisano Training Center, and, in her first Indoor National Championship appearance, a gold medalist. Her achievements this indoor season are among the most captivating and successful in UMass Boston's recent track and field history.

 

In UMass-Boston coach Ozzie Brown's first season with the Beacons' track and field team, Brown developed Garceau, who was coming off an outdoor All-American performance, and gave her the tools necessary to achieve her goal of a national championship. Brown saw the vision and spoke it into existence while assisting Garceau in bringing the objective to fruition. 

 

"I knew she was capable of running sub-8.4, but to actually see it in person is something special," Brown said in a news release from the college. "When I first got the job and sat down with her and planned out the entire year, on paper, it seemed simple. Execute from week to week. There were a few hiccups along the way, but she's such a warrior and can overcome anything. This championship could not have gone to a more deserving and hardworking young woman, and as I told her, 'this is just the beginning.' "

 

Last weekend, Garceau opened her outdoor season with strong performances at the Black and Gold Invitational in Orlando, Fla.

 

She finished ahead of about half the Division I runners in the season opener in the 200-meter dash, clocking a time of 24.94 seconds.

 

And in the 100 hurdles, where she earned all-America honors last spring, she posted a time of 14.29 that ranks her second in the nation in Division III.

 

Taconic graduate Isaac Percy wrapped up his basketball season by earning all-league honors at UMass Dartmouth.

 

Percy, a graduate student at the school, was named to the all-Little East Confernce second team. Last year, he was a first-team selection.

 

The UMass-Dartmouth captain posted career guards in minutes played (31.8 per game), field goal attempts (278), 3-pointers made (57), 3-point percentage (44.9), rebounds per game (5.0) and points per game (15.0). He started all 25 games for the Corsairs this winter, leading them to a record of 9-17.

 

Staying in the state university system, UMass-Boston junior Carson Meczywor (Hoosac Valley) played 19 games this winter for the Beacons, starting one. He averaged 6.5 minutes per game. Meczywor scored a season-high six points in 11 minutes on the floor in a 59-58 win over Fitchburg State.

 

Across town at Division I Boston College, Monument Mountain's Dion Brown played 31 games and started 29 at Boston College, averaging 25.8 minutes per game for the Eagles (12-19). Brown scored 7.5 points per game and averaged about five rebounds per night. The junior scored 20 points twice, against North Carolina and Southern Methodist University, and finished the season scoring double digits in BC's last three games.

 

Another former Spartan, Connor Hanavan, wrapped up his sophomore season at Boston's Emmanuel College averaging just less than 5 points per game in 19 minutes per night on the floor. Hanavan started 12 times and appeared in 23 games for the 5-20 Saints.

 

Pittsfield resident LaChazity Shaver was a standout at Division II Davis and Elkins (2-25) this winter, starting 25 games and appearing in all 27, and finishing tied for third on the team in points with 155 and fourth in rebounds with 101.

 

In Nordic skiing, Mount Greylock graduate Foster Savitsky posted a season-best 71st-place finish on the second day of the Dartmouth Invitational back in February. The St. Lawrence University sophomore placed 71st in the field in a 20-kilometer race.

 

In most places, though, the snow has melted and spring sports are well under way for college student-athletes.

 

At Mass-Maritime Academy, sophomore goalkeeper Christiane Rech (Mount Greylock) and the Buccanneers are 2-5 to start the season. Rech has started all seven games between the pipes, stopping 46.1 percent of the shots she has seen in with an 11.92 goals against average.

 

Another netminder, Wahconah graduate Sydney Smith, is in her senior season at Westfield State, where she has started five games and appeared in eight for the 2-7 Owls. Smith has a 42 percent save percentage and a GAA of 16.22.

 

At Williams College (4-3), sophomore Ainsley Abel (Mount Greylock) has played in all seven games this spring, scoring six goals. She scored twice earlier this week in a 15-2 win at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

 

Another of her former Mount Greylock teammates, Sarah Polumbo, has appeared in two games with one ground ball for the Cardinals (6-1), who beat Williams, 9-5, when they visited Williamstown earlier this month.

 

In men's lacrosse, Wahconah grad Caden Padelford is in his junior season as an attack at Siena College, where he has two assists for the 4-4 Saints. Padelford has appeared in three games this spring, setting up goals in wins over SUNY-Binghamton and Iona.

 

The MCLA men's lacrosse team, which has several area high school graduates this spring, is off to a 1-5 start. Drury graduate Neal Brierley, who played on the co-op team at Hoosac Valley, scored twice in a 7-6, overtime win over Hilbert College for the Trailblazers. Brierley, a sophomore, leads MCLA with 10 goals and one assist this spring. Taconic graduate Cameron LaFerriere has three goals, starting all six games for MCLA.

 

On the softball diamond, Wahconah graduate Avery Vale-Cruz recently was named the Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week after going 1-0 with a .72 earned run average in 9.2 innings over two appearances for the University of Rhode Island. For the season, Vale-Cruz has a 3.62 ERA and a record of 2-1 for the 7-16 Rams.

 

At DIII Elmira College, Madison Lodowski has appeared in six games with three starts in the circle for the 2-8 Eagles. Lodowski, who hails from Pittsfield and attended the Darrow School, has a 10.82 ERA to start the season.

 

At the plate, Mount Greylock graduate Emma Newberry is hitting .250 with a pair of doubles in seven games with one start as a sophomore at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute this spring.

 

Jayder Raifstanger (Monument Mountain) is killing it at St. John's this spring. The sophomore is hitting .367 with six doubles two triples, three home runs and 20 RBIs in 24 starts for the Red Storm (12-12). One of those homers came this week in an 8-7 win over Central Connecticut State. 

 

Derek Paris (Mount Greylock) has started 16 games behind the plate at Division I Maryland-Baltimore County (6-12) this spring. He has thrown out five of nine runners attempting to steal on him, and at the plate, he is hitting .176 with three doubles and a home run in an 8-7 loss to Cornell. UMBC is at UMass Lowell April 11-13 and at the University at Albany May 9-11.

 

That UMass-Lowell team includes Pittsfield High grad Cam Sime, who has made two appearances on the mound this spring, striking out a pair and walking one in 3.1 innings of work.

 

This weekend, UMass-Lowell hosts conference foe Bryant University and Taconic alum Evan Blake. Blake is hitting .162 with three doubles and four RBIs in 14 games as a sophomore.

 

Taconic grad Anton Lazits is hitting .221 in his senior season at Columbia (8-11, 3-0 Ivy League). He has started all 19 games and has a team-high seven home runs, including two in a 19-10 win over San Diego

 

Walker Abdallah (Pittsfield) has a .241 average in 12 games this spring at RPI. The sophomore has a double and has driven in one run for the Engineers (11-6).

 

At UMass-Boston this spring, Jack Cangelosi (Mount Greylock) has a 3.37 ERA in three appearances on the mound. He has struck out a pair and walked three in 12.2 innings pitched.

 

Three Berkshire County alumni this spring have helped the Westfield State baseball team get off to a 11-3 start: Wahconah's Quinn Gallagher, Pittsfield's Chase Racine and Taconic's Antonio Scalise. Racine has a .333 batting average with nine RBIs. Gallagher has made two appearances on the mound. And Scalise has appeared in seven games behind the plate, throwing out a pair of runners. The Owls come north to face MCLA on April 15.

 

The Trailblazers (2-9) boast five local products on the roster this spring, McCann Tech grad  Collin Booth, Pittsfield grad Ben Cornish and three players from last year's state finalist team at PHS: Roshan Warriar, Cam Harrington and Ben Jacob. Warriar has played in 11 games, hitting .286 with three triples and eight RBIs. Harrington has appeared in three games with two strikeouts in 3.1 innings pitched.

 

Franklin Pierce University first-year pitcher Matt Lee (Taconic) has appeared in eight games with one start and has saved three games for the Ravens (10-14). Lee has struck out 20 hitters in 8.2 innings for a team-best 20.77 strikeouts per nine innings.

 

Williams College senior Brendan Stannard (Taconic) has started five games this spring, hitting .214 with an RBI for a Williams team that is 4-5. It is currently on its spring trip in Florida but will be home again on April 9 against Hartford.

 

If you know a local student-athlete who should be included in a future edition of Collegiate Corner, email sports@iberkshires.com.