Little East Honors Four Owls with Weekly Awards

N. Dartmouth, Mass. 2/21/11 – The Little East Conference honored four Owls with weekly awards on Monday.

Men’s Field Athlete of the Week
Bryan Kolacz (Brentwood, N.H.), Senior, Keene State College
Kolacz continued his strong indoor season by winning the weight throw event at the New England Division III Track and Field Championships at Springfield College on Saturday. Posting his second-best throw of the season, the Brentwood, N.H. product won the event with a mark of 63’-03.50”. He also placed third in the shot-put (49’-10.00”).

Women’s Track Athlete of the Week
Amy Knoblock (Plymouth, Mass.), Senior, Keene State College
Knoblock improved her ranking in the national standings with a second place performance in the mile (4:56.17) and finished third in the 1,000 meter (3:01.13) at the Division III New England Track and Field Championships at MIT this past weekend.

Swimmer of the Week
Kaila Umbarger (Chelmsford, Mass.), Sophomore, Keene State College
Umbarger had several outstanding performances to lead Keene State to a strong second place finish at the NEISDA Championships this past weekend. On Friday, the Chelmsford, Mass. product posted an NCAA championship A cut, as well as a meet and school record with a time of 23.44 seconds in the 50 freestyle. She was also a member of the winning 200 freestyle relay team and the 400 medley relay (3:54.56) that posted an NCAA B cut. The following day, Umbarger broke her own meet and school record in the 50 butterfly with a time of 24.97 seconds. She was also am member of the winning 200 medley relay that had a NCAA B cut time of 1 minute 45.89 seconds. On Sunday, Umbarger won the 100 freestyle, setting a school and meet record and clocking a NCAA A cut time of 51.21 seconds. She concluded the meet by swimming a leg of the winning 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3 minutes, 34. 47 seconds.

Women’s Basketball Player of the Week
Courtney Cirillo (Windsor Locks, Conn.), Junior, Forward, Keene State College
Cirillo averaged a double-double for the week—20.5 points, 12 rebounds—to lead Keene State College to a 1-1 mark and the sixth and final seed in the upcoming Little East Women’s Basketball Championship. The Windsor Locks, Conn. product shot 44.7 percent (17-for-38) from the field to reach double figures in scoring in each contest. On Feb. 15, she dominated the paint at intra-state rival Plymouth State, scoring 24 points and pulling in 14 rebounds. Four days later, Cirillo recorded her 12th double-double of the campaign at UMass Dartmouth.  She scored 17 points and collected 10 caroms, but the Owls were edged in overtime by the Corsairs.