Local athletes make their mark in college

Before we officially turn the page on the winter sports season, we’re taking a look back at some of the area’s college athletes and how they performed during the basketball, swimming and indoor track seasons. If we’ve missed an athlete you know, email editor@mycitizensnews.com and we will include their achievements in next week’s edition.

Angelica Ariola, Roger Williams basketball: Ariola, a freshman guard, made an immediate impact in her first year with the Hawks. The former Holy Cross standout played in all 28 games, averaging 8.7 points per game and a team-best 3.1 assists per night. Her strong ball handling, evidenced by her team-best assist-to-turnover ratio, helped Roger Williams set a program record for wins (19) and earned her a pair of Commonwealth Coast Conference Rookie of the Week awards.

Jasmine Cribb, UConn indoor track: Cribb, a senior jumper, helped the Huskies to a runner-up performance at the Big East championships. The former Naugatuck star finished eighth in the conference with a high jump of 1.70 meters. She followed that performance with a victory at the New England championships the following weekend, when she leaped 1.80 meters.

Heather Framski, St. Joseph basketball: Framski, a sophomore forward, posted another strong season for the Bluejays. The former Woodland all-state selection scored 12.3 ppg, good for third on the team, and grabbed 6.5 rebounds per night, good for second on the squad. Framski was joined again on the team by Lindsay Feducia, another former Hawks standout. Feducia saw plenty of time off the bench and averaged 4.9 points per game while shooting 40 percent from the 3-pointer line for St. Joseph, which posted its third winning season in a row.

Jen Fredericks, Daniel Webster basketball: Fredericks, a junior forward, was one of the Eagles’ most reliable players. The former Woodland standout was one of just three players to start all 26 games for Daniel Webster, averaging 4.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg and 2.3 assists per night. She was also the second-best free throw shooter on the team, going 71.4 percent from the line.

Katie-Jean Hinckley, Maine swimming: Hinckley, a freshman distance freestyler, immediately became a valuable swimmer for Maine in her first year. The former Woodland all-state swimmer was a distance specialist and posted a 10^th-place finish in the 1,650-yard free at the America East championships, setting a career best of 17 minutes, 43.65 seconds.

Mohamed Hrezi, Iowa State indoor track: Hrezi, a senior distance runner, was a force for the Cyclones in the two long-range events. The former Naugatuck all-state athlete won the mile run at Iowa State’s NCAA qualifier meet, posting a time of 4:05.21, while also placing third in the 3,000 meters at the ISU Classic last month.

Patrick O’Dell, Misericordia swimming: O’Dell, a freshman multi-discipline swimmer, made an immediate impact for the Cougars. The former Woodland all-state performer qualified for the finals in three different events at the Middle Atlantic championships. He finished fifth in the 200 backstroke in 1:59.63 (the best time among any freshman at the meet), eighth in the 200 IM in 2:03.67 and 11^th in the 100 backstroke in 57.10 seconds.

Lauren Piroscafo, Albertus Magnus basketball: Piroscafo, a freshman forward, saw spot action in her first year with the Falcons. The former Naugatuck standout appeared in six games, all in February. She was 2-of-3 from the field in her limited action for Albertus, which finished 20-8.

Tori Pisco, La Salle indoor track: Pisco, a sophomore mid-distance runner, helped the Explorers excel in the relays. The former Naugatuck All-New England athlete was part of the 4-by-800 relay that finished fourth at both the Atlantic-10 championships and IC4A championships, and a 4,000-meter distance medley relay that placed third and fifth at those events, respectively. She also earned several top-six individual performances throughout the year.

Yahmad Rountree, Becker basketball: Rountree, a sophomore forward, was spectacular in his second year with the Hawks. The former Woodland star earned second-team All-New England Collegiate Conference recognition after averaging 14.4 ppg (second on the team), 6.8 rpg (best on the team) and shot 47.4 percent from the field (second on the team).

Anthony Mariano, Keene State basketball: Mariano, a senior swingman, finished his career with the Owls by cracking the 1,000-point mark for his career. Mariano, who also achieved that feat at Naugatuck, finished his career with 1,174 points and led Keene State to the Little East championship game. He averaged 12.2 points over the season, mostly as the team’s sixth man.

Chris Savvidou, Central Connecticut indoor track: Savvidou, a junior sprinter, competed in several meets for the Blue Devils, who finished third at the Northeast Conference championships. The former Woodland all-state athlete qualified for the league championships in both the 60- and 200-meter dashes while also running as part of Central’s 4-by-400 relay team.

Amanze Williams, UConn indoor track: Williams, a sophomore jumper, helped the Huskies win their ninth Big East championship with his performance in the triple jump. The former Naugatuck All-New England athlete placed sixth in the conference with a leap of 14.69 meters, just short of his season-best leap of 14.91 meters, set in February at Penn State. Williams earned several top-three finishes on the season.

Jess Webber, Post basketball: Webber, a junior guard, was a valuable bench player for the Eagles. The former Naugatuck star played in all but two of Post’s games and led regular bench players with 7.4 ppg. She was also the second-best 3-point shooter on the team (36.8 percent) and her 1.4 apg were also second-most on the squad.