The University of Hartford men’s cross country team closed out their fall season in the NCAA Northeast Regional Cross Country Championships on Friday, Nov. 13, 2015.

The team placed 34 as a whole in the 10k race.

“It was a pretty good day for the team,” head coach Roger Busch said. “The guys ran well knowing it was probably the last race of the year. It’s typically a race where the better teams in the region go out hard, so we just laid back at the beginning and it went pretty well and we knocked off a couple of teams.”

Senior Chris Helminski finished in the highest position for the Hawks, with a time of 33:05 to place him at 138th overall on the day.

Helminski’s consistency during meets has led him to finish in one of the top two spots for the Hawks in every race he competed in during his senior season.

“It was a pretty large improvement for Chris this season from last year, and the course was significantly tougher than last year,” Busch added.

“Kyle Hamel was having a really good day but cramped at the end. Willy Pierce delivered one of the best 10K performances in school history for a freshman. All-in-all it was a good performance, and now we’ll get a break before indoor track gets started in three weeks.”

Pierce followed Helminki for the Hawks to log a 33:20.8 time, to place him 156 overall.

Pierce most recently finished first among the Hawks at the America East Cross Country Championships in October, in which he placed 46 overall for that race.

Rounding out the men’s times were junior Rourk Marlow who placed 207 with a time of 32:23.9.

Sophomore Evan Jaworski with a time of 34:39.3 that placed him at 213.

Senior Kyle Hamel with a time of 34:55.2 that placed him at 220.

Lastly freshman Nick Ackley with a time of 34:58.0 that finished him at 222.

Hamel and Marlow each posted their career-best 10k times this weekend after improving upon their most recent Northeast Regional starts from earlier in their careers.

With a decent cross country season, the team looks to prepare for indoor track and have a solid outing during that season as well. Many of the same players who run during cross country are returning.

There is no reason why they should continue to do well; on both the men’s and women’s side of the teams.

As their season draws to a close the women’s volleyball team looked to close it out strong and continue their win streak.

They faced off against UMBC on Friday, Nov. 13, 2015 and against Stony Brook on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015. Unfortunately the Hawks were not able to win either match as they were bested in straight sets 3-0 versus UMBC and 3-1 versus Stony Brook.

During the first set against UMBC, the retrievers jumped out to a 6-2 lead. The teams then traded points until the score was 9-4.Then the Hawks were able to take six of the next seven points to tie the score at 10 all.

However, UMBC was able to rally to break open a 17-11 lead. The Hawks were not able to close the lead to any more than 4 at a time as the set closed out at 25-18.In the second set the Hawks were able to jump out to a 7-2, which forced a UMBC timeout.

The timeout proved to help, as the retrievers were able to chip away at the lead until they secured a 13-12 lead themselves. They then were able to take eight of the set’s last 10 points ending it at 25-20.

UMBC got out to a 6-2 lead early in the third set. The teams then traded points until the score was 9-5.

However, UMBC was able to stretch their lead to 14-8. The Hawks were able to rally two points but that would be as close as they got as the retrievers ended the set at 25-16.

Katy Henchy posted nine kills in the match, along with 15 assists from Astrid Mangual and six digs. In the second match of the weekend the Hawks took on the Stony Brook SeaWolfs.

The first set was opened up by Stony Brook as they took a quick 5-1 lead.

The Hawks were able to close the lead and tie it at five all. The SeaWolfs were then able to open a lead at 11-6. The two teams traded points till the score was 16-10. The hawks then rallied till the score was tied at 18 all.

However the SeaWolfs were able to close the set 25-21.Stony Brook was able to carry over their momentum from the first set to get out to a 5-0 lead, which then grew to 13-4. The Hawks were able to rally till the score was 13-7 but, the SeaWolfs were able to regain the lead at 17-11. The set was closed out at 25-14 as SBU took a 2-0 lead in the match.

Hoping to avoid another sweep the Hawks came out with everything they had in the third set jumping out to a 4-1 lead then stretching it to 7-3.

The teams then traded points till the score was 12-8. The Hawks were then able to open the lead to 20-11. SBU was able to cut the lead to 22-16 but the Hawks were able to close out the set at 25-17.

In the fourth set, SBU was able to jump out to a 9-3 lead.

he Hawks then slowly chipped away at the lead till the score was 11-9. Stony Brook was then able to close out the set however at 25-14. Katy Henchy recorded 15 kills as well as 27 assists from Astrid Mangual and 12 digs from Paulina Modestow.

The Hawks next game is this upcoming Tues. Nov. 24, 2015 as they play host to Yale in their season finale as they look to end on a high note.

Though it has been an extremelt tough year for the women’s volleyball team, there is no doubt that they should be praised for what they have overcome.

Most of the games they lost were not shutouts and were really close. Unfortunately for the team, they were unable to get it done like they should have. But this just means that the team needs to remember to never give up. which they haven’t.

Yes, they only have two wins on the year but have a chance to make it three. Then from there, work hard in the off-season to improve on their gameplay and teamwork to be able to come back next year and win like they usually do. Being succesful as a new head coach is never easy, but with hardwork and dedication from the team, they look to come back next year and dominate.

This past weekend both University of Hartford men’s and women’s cross country teams had a weekend full of races.

The women’s team had a race on Friday, Sept. 25 at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown at Franklin Park.

They rejoined the men’s team the next day to race at the Ted Owen Invitational in New Britain, Connecticut on Saturday.

The women placed 19th overall on Friday against some of the best teams in New England.

Sara Buckley, who finished in the top 10 of both races she has run this season, led the Hawks, finishing with a time of 18:51 to come in 126th overall.

Julianna Wesley followed in a time of 19:10 (153), followed by Mikela Freeman in 19:29 (170).

Ellie Donlon, 19:48 (180,) and Carly Schuyler rounded out the scoring with a time of 20:11 (193), while Heather Hassett finished just outside the teams top five with a time of 20:15 (195).

Allie Tedeschi finished just ahead of Schuyler, but did not register in the preliminary results due to a timing glitch.

The next day the women rejoined the men.

The men placed second for their meet and the women ended up placing  fourth for their meet.

On the men’s side, Rourk Marlow led the way for the Hawks, placing sixth in a time of 27:04 in the 8K race, just ahead of Kyle Hamel, 27:07 (8) and Willy Pierce, 27:19.3 (9) to give the Hawks three runners in the top 10.

Evan Jaworski placed 15 with a time of 27:45, followed close behind by Aedan Hale, 28:07 (22) and Tim Fitzgerald, 28:08 (23).

Nick Garcia, 28:21 (30) finished sixth among the Hawks, with Larry Yancey, 29:40 (47).

Zach Drown, 29:58 (50) and Kyle Lopes, 31:13 (64) rounded out the runners for the Hawks.    

For the women, Melissa Cummings placed 14th in the 5k with a time of 19:26 to lead the Hartford runners.

Hamel placed 37th in 20:23.

Kaeli Baker, 20:37 (43), Samantha Hock, 20:49 (48) and Courtney Hackman, 21:16 (55) rounded out the Hawks’ top five.

Rachel Brown, 21:49 (64) and Georgette Price, 22:01 (69) also had decent races for Hartford.

The Hawks will have one more meet before the New England Championships, when they race in the University of Saint Joseph Blue Jay Invitational next weekend.

Here they will face the best of the best in New England.

On Sept. 25, the women’s volleyball team traveled to New Hampshire to face off against the University of New Hampshire Wildcats.

It was their first America East Conference game of the season and the Hawks were still looking for that first win under head coach Mitch Kallick.

It seemed that the Hawks could not find any traction whatsoever in this game as they lost in three straight sets.

New Hampshire started out the first set with a 5-2 lead, at which point setter Astrid Mangual went down with an injury. This would prove to be detrimental for the hawks as Mangual was the primary source of the teams’ assists.

However the Hawks did not let the injury deter them from the game as they battled back to 5-4 then traded points with the Wildcats to 8-7. This was the closest the Hawks would get to a lead in this set, though, as the Wildcats were able to overtake the Hawks and end the set at 25-12.

The second set began similar to the first one as the Hawks were trailing right behind the Wildcats at 5-4.

The Hawks were able to answer every point the Wildcats put up until the score got to 9-7. At this point the Hawks lost all traction and let up nine points to blow the game open at 18-8. The Hawks weren’t able to do much more as the Wildcats held their grip on the set.

The set ended once again at 25-12.

Enjoying some time in Portsmouth, NH before pre-game! #hartfordvsunh #ae #pregamefun pic.twitter.com/7FT7Kg33iJ

— Hartford Hawks VB (@HartfordVball) September 25, 2015

UNH came out looking to put the final nail in the coffin opening the third set with a strong 14-3 lead.

That was all it seemed to take for the Wildcats to close out the game as they ended the third set at 25-7, hitting .214 in the set.

The Hawks continue their conference games next week with two road games.

On Friday, Oct. 3, the Hawks will travel to Binghamton to take on the Bearcats at 7 p.m. followed by a game on Sunday afternoon to take on the University of Albany Great Danes at 2 p.m.

Hopefully, sophomore Mangual will be able to rejoin her team and her injuries are not severe. She is a very big asset to the team and losing her for a long time is the last thing they need.

They are fighting valiantly and show heart in every game they play, but always seem to come up short.

Hopefully that is not the case in their next game coming up.

The University of Hartford women’s volleyball team was at another invitational this weekend, the CCSU Invite, along with a game at Bryant University.

The women still face some troubles as they were not successful at either event as they still look for their first win of the season.

In the first game of the week, the Hawks traveled to Rhode Island to face off against the Bryant Bulldogs on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

The Bulldogs were able to best the Hawks in straight sets to take the match.

In the first set, Bryant topped the Hawks 25-15. The Bulldogs got out to a strong lead at 7-2. The Hawks were able to cut the lead to 11-9. Bryant pushed the lead out to 17-13 and never looked back from there. They were able to close out the set easily after posting three more points to stretch the lead to 20-13.

The second set was a different story.

While the Hawks were not able to pull out the win in the set, the score was much closer at 25-22. This set was a game of streaks. Bryant jumped out to an early 5-2 lead. The Hawks rallied back to take a 7-6 lead. Bryant then put up five of their own. This kept going until the Hawks were able to cut the lead to 21-20. At this point Bryant took a time out, and that’s all they needed as they rallied to finish the set.

In the third set, the two teams came out even, starting the set at 4-3 in favor of the Hawks. The Bulldogs quickly jumped out to an 8-4 lead which the Hawks were able to cut back down to 10-9. However, Bryant was able to jump back out to a 16-10 lead over the Hawks. From there Bryant was able to close out the set strongly with a 25-14 victory.

Pushing forward to the CCSU Invite, the Hawks had another chance to score their first win.

On Friday, the Hawks had their first game against CCSU.

The Hawks lost the match, unfortunately, 3-0.

The Hawks were topped in the first set 25-19, the closest of the three sets. The next two that followed ended in similar fashion, 25-16 and 25-15.

Sophomore Katy Henchy posted 11 kills in the match. Astrid Mangual helped with 22 assists and Shay Worley had 10 digs.

In the second game of the weekend, the Hawks faced off against Holy Cross. Unfortunately, the Hawks were once again bested in the match 3-1.

The first set of the match was close at 25-21, but the Hawks weren’t able to close it out. In the next set, the Hawks were able to push it a little farther but still fell 27-25. In the third set, the Hawks were finally able to find a footing and won 25-20.

However, Holy Cross bounced right back winning the final set 26-24.

Henchy had 15 kills along with 33 assists from Mangual and 15 digs from Paola Llerandi.

In the final game of the invite, the Hawks played against Brown.

The Hawks were once again beaten in straight sets. The match was completely dominated by Brown, the first set ended at 25-16. The second set was abysmal for the Hawks, as they were beaten 25-8. In the final set of the invite, the Hawks lost 25-13, ending the invite winless.

Mangual posted another good performance with 18 assists and Paulina Modestow with 12 digs.

The Hawks move on to New Hampshire this Friday, Sept. 25, still looking for that first win of the season.

Hopefully they will come out on top. They work too hard not to be able to get that win, and unfortunately it has been a hard struggle all season long.

Though they have been struggling the volleyball team still shows heart and determination every game they have.

The University of Hartford women’s golf team had their season debut and teed off for the first time this past weekend Sept. 13–14.

The Hawks had a decent performance as they tied for No. 5 overall for the match.

Out of a total of 10 teams, this was a pretty good start for the women.

One of the star players of the match was senior Annamarie Mallat as she placed the highest out of the Hawks as she tied for seventh.

The team opened their season at the Tignanelli Towson Invitational, which was a two-round event at Eagles Nest Country Club in Phoenix, Maryland.

Of the 10 teams there, the Hawks posted a team score of 638, shooting 62 strokes over par.

However, the host team Towson took home the team title on Monday afternoon after finishing 42 strokes over par for a 618.

They were expected to win the match overall.

Leading the Hawks to their fifth-place finish was Mallat. She shot four birdies and was the 12th-best finisher after posting a 156 score over the two-round event finishing at 12-over.

In addition, the senior played the best single round of all Hartford golfers on Sunday, where she shot 77, five over par.

Finishing close behind Mallat was junior Megan Ryan.

Ryan has a lot of potential this year to post very good numbers for the women’s golf team. Ryan shot a respectable 80 in the opening round setting her at eight over par. She then bettered that score on Monday finishing with a 78, six over par.

Overall, Ryan finished with a score of 158, 14 over par. She has a lot more room for improvement. She finished in a six-way tie for 17th place.

Juniors Cora Bernier and Brittany Ferrante shared in the tie for 45th place at the end of the two-day event.

They each shot 20-over-par with a score of 164.

Ferrante posted her best round on the first day with a 78, six over par, while Bernier shot an 83, 11 over par on Sunday and an 81, nine over par on the final day.

Rounding out the field for the Hawks was senior Brooke Nethercott, whose score of 165, 21 over par put her in a tie for 53rd place.

Hartford returns to the course on Sept. 26 at the Dartmouth Invitational. The two-day event will be played at the Hanover Country Club in Hanover, New Hampshire.

The women’s golf team boasted pretty decent numbers in their first match.

This is very promising for a team that didn’t do too well last season.

So one can only imagine that they must be excited to continue to grow and do well as the season passes.

With a young team, anything is possible this season.

The University of Hartford men’s golf team had an eventful week receiving 5 New England awards, including two awards received for the second year in a row.

Coach Peter Stankevich was named coach of the year for the second year in a row, and the Hawks were named the region’s Team of the Year for the second year in a row as well.

During the 2014-15 season, Coach Stankevich led the team to three invitational wins.

Starting with the Hartford Hawks Invitational in the fall and then the Florida Quad Meet in February and the Til Duty is Done Collegiate Invite in April.

The Hawks concluded the season at the Big Sky Championship, placing fifth.

On top of the two major awards, three players were named to the New England Division 1 Golf All-New England Team.

Seniors William Betts and Evan Russell were on the team along with Dan Yustin, who graduated last year from the College of Arts and Science.

For Evan Russell this is the second year in a row he was name to this team while for the other two it was their first time.

Last season, Will Betts competed in all 12 events for the Hawks.

He finished with a stroke average of 73.90, second best on the team.

He also led the team during the final three events and won the individual title at the Til Duty is Done Collegiate Invite.

At the Invite, Betts played a season low 68 in the opening round and ended the event at six under.

He also led the team at the Big Sky Championship with 222 score over 3 rounds.

Evan Russell was named to the team for the second year in a row.

Russell led the team with a 73.30 stroke average.

Of the 12 events on the year, Russell had top-ten finishes in five of them.

At the Hartford Hawks Invitational, he finished under par in all three rounds and ended the invitational at six under par.

Russell joins Betts earning a place on the Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-American Scholar list.

The last player named to the All-New England team for the Hawks is Dan Yustin.

Yustin was also named to the Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-American Scholar list.

He also played all 30 rounds this past season.

He shot a season low of 69 at the Connecticut Cup and was able to finish fourth at the event.

In his final event as a Hawk he finished with a stroke average of 74.33.

The Hawks opened the 2015-16 season this past weekend at the Turning Stone Tiger Invitational.

Hartford’s next event will be the Hartford Hawks Invitational starting on September 21, 2015.

With the team already receiving awards, this shows that is will be a good year for the men’s golf team.

The golf season has not officially started and with the success they are earning it is really exciting to see how they are going to do.

Let’s hope the Hawks can have another great season.

With their second race in the books the University of Hartford’s men’s and women’s cross country teams had another great performance, this time at the Trinity Invitational.

Sophomore Hunter Jackman placed second overall for the men’s team with a time of 16:38, followed by Junior Roark Marlow who also had a top ten finish at seventh place with his time of 16:55.

Sophomore Evan Jaworski (13^th, 17:07), Fresman Willy Pierce (18^th 17:20) and Senior Kyle Hamel (19^th 17:21) rounded out the scorers for the men’s team, putting the men’s team 3^rd overall on the weekend.

Sophomore Aedan Hale finished 25^th with a time of 17:45 followed by Sophomore Tim Fitzgerald (30^th, 17:49), Sophomore Lawrence Yancey (44^th, 18:22) and Freshman Nick Ackley (50^th, 18:46).

Rounding out the Hartford men’s runners were Sophomore Kyle Lopes (54^th, 18:50), Freshman Kevin Michalka (58^th, 18:57) and Sophomore Zach Drown (62^nd, 19:06)

The men’s team had a great overall showing, placing much higher than they did in the previous race at Stony Brook.

They look to continue to grow and be successful throughout the year.

Along with the men’s team, the women also had a great race finishing second overall for the women’s teams.

Senior Sara Buckley finished first overall for the women with a time of 19:25, followed by Freshman Julianna Wesley (4^th, 20:18) and Sophomore Carly Schuyler (9^th, 20:45).

Sophomores Ellie Donlon (14^th, 21:02) and Heather Hassett (22^nd, 21:21) helped out with the scoring as well.

Freshman Allie Tedeschi (32^nd, 21:42), Amanda Hamel (41^st, 21:57), Kaeli Baker (49^th, 22:22) and Courtney Hackman (52^nd, 22:34) also competed for the Hawks along with Junior Georgette Price (65^th, 23:29).

The men’s team came in third overall with 59 points behind first place Trinity (41) and second place Coast Guard (57).

Following Hartford was Connecticut College in fourth (65), Eastern Connecticut State in fifth (161), Salve Regina in sixth (162), New Haven in seventh (202) and Mitchell in eighth (252)

For the women’s team first was taken by Connecticut College (28) followed by Hartford in second (50), Trinity in third (63) and Salve Regina in fourth (128).

Coming in fifth was Coast Guard (131) with Eastern Connecticut State in sixth (173), St. Josephs in seventh (178), New Haven in eighth (186) and Mitchell in ninth place (292).

Overall this weekend proved to be a very good one for both the men’s and women’s cross country teams.

Hopefully they’ll be able to carry this momentum as the men and women head into Boston on Friday, Sept. 25^th for the Coast-to-Coast Battle in New Britain Conn. as they surge to try and both win first place in their meets.