Higher Education Yahoo (HEY) Awards abound this week.
HEY football
University of Maine senior quarterback Marcus Wasilewski of Mount Carmel had hoped to extend his outstanding season for at least one more game this weekend, but the Black Bears came up short.
Despite Wasilewski's best efforts - and he has been very good - Maine, champs of the Colonial Athletic Association, was bested in the second round of the NCAA FCS playoffs by the University of New Hampshire 41-27. Wasilewski, who led Maine to a 10-3 season, was 21-of-39 for 229 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also had 15 carries for 71 yards.
On the season, Wasilewski threw for more than 3,200 yards, had a sparkling efficiency rating of 153.56, a 68.9 completion percentage, threw for 25 touchdowns with only nine interceptions and ran for 691 yards and three TDs on 156 carries. He is just the second QB in Black Bear history to throw for more than 3,000 yards in a season.
In addition to earning a HEY award in this column, Wasilewski's performance has earned him a number of other honors. He was named first team All-CAA quarterback and received the Gold Helmet Player of the Year award from the New England Football Writers' Association, awarded to the top FCS player in New England.
An outstanding student with a 3.4 grade-point average majoring in kinesiology and physical education, Wasilewski also was honored with the
Chuck Boone Leadership Award, presented by the conference's athletic directors to the CAA football player who embodies the highest standards of leadership, integrity, teamwork and sportsmanship.
HEY cross country
It's another in a long string of honors for Bloomsburg cross country runner and graduate student Vicki Davis of Schuylkill Haven.
She gets a HEY award because most recently, Davis was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year. She earned the honor by achieving All-America status with a 22nd-place finish at the NCAA Division II Championships, having punched her ticket to nationals by winning both the PSAC and NCAA Atlantic Regional Championships. Davis was earlier named Atlantic Region Athlete of the Year and won six cross country victories this season overall. An indoor and outdoor track and field distance runner as well, last season Davis earned All-America status in the 3,000 steeplechase and 5,000 meters, and holds Bloomsburg's records in the mile, 3,000-meter run, 5,000-meter run (indoor and outdoor) and the steeplechase. To top it off, Davis is a 2013 CoSIDA second-team Academic All-American as well.
HEY women's basketball
Today's final HEY award goes to Pitt-Bradford junior women's basketball player Alicia Kimmel of Pine Grove, who was named Player of the Week by the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. In two games, Kimmel, a forward, was 17-of-33 for 39 points, collected 17 rebounds and had an assist and a steal. On the season, her 14.0 points-per-game average leads the 5-1 Panthers, as does her 6.3 rebounds-per-game average.
Mat mentions
It's been a good start for Central Michigan redshirt freshman wrestler Corey Keener of Blue Mountain. Keener, who wrestles at 125 pounds for the Chippewas is 11-1 and ranked 9th nationally by Amateur Wrestling News and 13th by InterMat. He also has a 3.36 grade-point average.
On Sunday, Keener defeated Max Soria 9-4 to help Central Michigan defeat Buffalo 29-6 in its Mid-American Conference regular-season opener.
Meanwhile, out at Oklahoma State, redshirt junior Josh Kindig of Blue Mountain is off to a 5-2 start. Kindig wrestles at 149 pounds for the Cowboys.
Kindig, now ranked No. 4 by InterMat and No. 5 by Amateur Wrestling News nationally, also had a big win recently when he edged then-second-ranked Kendrick Maple of Oklahoma 4-3. The Sooners nipped the Cowboys 16-15.
On Sunday, No. 4 Oklahoma State suffered another one-point loss, 16-15 to No. 2 Minnesota. No. 2 Nick Dardanes decisioned Kindig 6-2.
Kindig's other loss this season was 10-2 to Missouri's Drake Houdashelt, the top-ranked wrestler in the country at 149.
(MacLaughlin's college notebook appears biweekly during the collegiate calendar. Send items to him in care of Sports Editor Leroy Boyer at lboyer@republicanherald.com.)