Sandwich native and Tabor Academy graduate Caitlin Sullivan (Class of 2014) is now a member of the Boston College Eagles women’s rowing team and has already made an immediate impact within the program as one of the varsity top four and top eight rowers as the Eagles captured four medals at the prestigious Knecht Cup in West Winsor, New Jersey this weekend.
Caitlin Sullivan, Sandwich
Boston College
Sullivan and the Boston College Women’s Rowing Team raced in six events at the Knecht Cup on Saturday (April 11) and Sunday (April 12) in West Winsor, NJ. Many events had up to 32 entries, which required crews to race heats, semi-finals, and finals. All six of the BC crews advanced to the Grand Final in their respective events. BC saw their first ACC competition of the spring against Miami and North Carolina; the Eagles finished ahead of both teams in all championship events.
The Varsity Eight placed 1st in their heat over ODU, George Mason, ACC Rival North Carolina, and Delaware. Their semi-final was the next day where they finished second behind UMass to advance to the Grand Final. The Eagles finished their semi-final ahead of Temple, Wisconsin Lwt, BU Lwt, Miami, and George Mason. BC won bronze medals in the Grand Final behind UCF, narrowly behind Tulsa, and ahead of UMass, Drexel, and Buffalo.
The Eagles Second Varsity Eight placed second in their heat behind Tulsa to advance to semi-finals. BC finished second in their semi-final to advance to the Grand Final along with UMass. BC’s Second Varsity Eight had their first ACC match-up of the spring in the semi-final where they defeated North Carolina and Miami. The Second Varsity Eight finished 4th in the Grand Final behind UCF, UMass, and Tulsa, and ahead of Drexel and Bucknell.
The BC Varsity Four won their heat on Saturday, and finished second in their semi-final to advance to the Grand Final. In the final they faced a strong crew from Tulsa who won the event. BC held second for a good portion of the race before falling to Alabama in the last few meters of the race to earn Bronze, just .18 seconds behind Alabama. UMass, ODU, and Marist were 4th, 5th, and 6th.
The Second Varsity Four placed second in their heat in challenging conditions. The 7 fastest times in the heats advanced to the Grand Final where the Eagles finished third for Bronze. Tulsa won the event, followed by Kansas, BC, Alabama, UMass, Philadelphia U, and Villanova.
BC’s Third Varsity Eight won their heat decisively to advance to the final where they won Gold. They finished ahead of Kansas, UCF, UMass, Alabama, and UConn.
BC’s Freshmen Eight finished third in their heat with the 7th fastest time overall in the event to advance to the Grand Final. They finished 7th behind Wisconsin Lwt, Temple, North Carolina, Bucknell, and Delaware.
BC will race for the Irving-Christensen Cup on Sunday April 19th against Holy Cross and UConn. The next time BC will race any ACC teams will be the ACC Championship.
A freshman majoring in economics, Sullivan rowed in the first varsity 8 sophomore year through senior year of high school and made it to the Grand Finals at NEIRAs all four years. Sullivan was a recipient of the Hoyle Bowl Award senior year for the most dedicated female rower and she graduated from Tabor as a member of the cum laude society. An AP Scholar with Distinction Award recipient in 2014, Sullivan is the daughter of Kevin and Susan Sullivan of East Sandwich.
Gabrielle Riley, Barnstable
Roger Williams University
Barnstable High School graduate Gabrielle Riley (Class of 2014) is in the midst of a superlative freshman year at Roger Williams University where she plays for the women’s tennis team. Riley has helped paced the Hawks to a 13-6 record this year. Riley is 6-4 in singles play thus far and is 12-4 in doubles play for the Hawks. A three-time Boston Herald and Boston Globe All-Scholastic tennis player for the Red Raiders, Riley boasted a 63-1 record from her sophomore through senior seasons at Barnstable High School in doubles play. She was also a three-time Division 1 South Sectional doubles champion while playing for the Red Raiders.
Pope John Paul II (now St. John Paul II) graduate Michael Young (Class of 2014) has continued his superlative baseball career at DII Stonehill College and already has a 1-1 record with one save to his credit. The college freshman boasts a 1.69 earned run average and has 13 strikeouts in 10.2 innings pitched this spring for the Skyhawks and has walked just one batter.
Young played an instrumental role in leading the Pope John Paul II baseball team to the Div. 4 state championship last spring. He was a three-year letter-winner for head coach Mark Santos and the Lions won the Cape & Islands League title all three years. Young was a three-time C&I League All-Star and league most valuable player in 2014. He was named the 2014 Division 4 Boston Globe Player of the Year. Young is the son of Mark and Mary Ann Young of Mashpee.
Josh Downes, Sandwich
Springfield College
2012 Tabor Academy graduate Josh Downes of East Sandwich recently completed his junior season playing men’s basketball for the Springfield College Pride. Downes started in 17 games at guard this past season and averaged 7.8 points per game while seeing action in a total of 28 games. He also averaged 2.3 rebounds per game and shot 85.5% from the charity stripe. His sophomore season, Downes saw action in 18 games and averaged 3.8 points a game, scoring 68 points this season, including a career-best 15 against Worcester State. Downes also scored in double-digit figures with 11 points in a win over PSU New Kensington in his sophomore campaign. In January, Downes had a career-high 20 points versus WPI and earlier in the season netted 18 points against Nichols College. Downes is also a former Sandwich High School basketball standout. He is studying sport management at Springfield and is the son of Pat and Maureen Downes of East Sandwich.
Sandwich High School graduate Connor O’Brien (Class of 2013) enjoyed a stellar collegiate soccer season this past fall for the Merrimack Warriors as he notched his first career goal against Molloy College. O’Brien, a four-time letterman for the Blue Knights, an Atlantic Coast League all-star and former Blue Knight Most Valuable Player, is studying business while not booting the ball around as a midfielder for the DII Warriors. He appeared in 14 games this past season with the expectation that next fall will be twice as fruitful. He is the son of Kevin and Carol O’Brien of Sandwich.
Sandwich High School graduate Nick Kennedy (Class of 2013) has been busy pitching for the Roger Williams University Hawks baseball team this spring. A 6’0” righty and former Blue Knights’ baseball captain, as well as a former standout ice hockey player, Kennedy has seen time on the hill both this season as well as last spring for the Hawks. He is the son of Tom and Sara Kennedy of Sandwich and he plans on majoring in business. He is a sophomore at Roger Williams.
Patrick Farrington, Sandwich
Stonehill College
Sandwich High School graduate Patrick Farrington (Class of 2011), who also graduated from Bridgton Academy (2012) after a post-graduate year, has been a standout for the Stonehill College Skyhawks men’s ice hockey team the past three seasons. In 2013-14, the goaltender made the NE-10 Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll both semesters and was on the Stonehill College Athletic Director’s Honor Roll in the spring semester. He made five starts for Stonehill during his sophomore season, posting a record of 2-3 with a 3.58 goals against average and an .897 save percentage. His 301:51 minutes in net were the second most on the team. Farrington made his first start of the season at Franklin Pierce on 11/30/13, making 35 saves in a 10-3 victory and started his second consecutive contest at Framingham State (12/3/13), making 29 saves. He also made consecutive starts at Nazareth (1/11/14) and at Western New England (1/13/14) and he made a season-high 38 saves at Western New England, as Stonehill lost 3-2 in overtime. Farrington made his final start of the season in Stonehill’s regular season finale, stopping 23 of 25 shots in a 6-2 victory over Assumption (2/20/14).
This past season, Farrington saw action in three games between the pipes for the Skyhawks, gathering over 74 minutes of playing time while making 38 saves. He was a member of the 2008 Sandwich High School Division II State Championship team as a freshman. Farrington is the son of William and MaryKate Farrington of Sandwich and he is majoring in environmental science.
Stonehill College men’s ice hockey player Mike Thiesing, who graduated from Archbishop Williams in 2011 and then the Winchendon School in 2013 as a post-graduate, recently saw action in four games for the Skyhawks this season. Thiesing attended Sandwich High School as a freshman in 2007-08 and was also a member of the 2008Sandwich High School MIAA Division II State Championship ice hockey team. As a junior at Archbishop Williams, Thiesing helped the school to a MIAA DI South Sectional Championship and as a senior, he was named a Patriot Ledger All-Scholastic. The son of Lynn and David Thiesing of Sandwich, Thiesing is an English major at Stonehill.
Barnstable High School Class of 2013’s Billy Ho and Class of 2014’s Michael Bilodeau are varsity men’s lacrosse players at Westfield State this spring and both are former Barnstable High School lacrosse and football players. Joining both Barnstable natives on the Owls lacrosse team is Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School graduate (Class of 2014) John Henry O’Shaughnessy.
— The Campus Call appears on Capecod.com weekly and is compiled by Capecod.com Sports Editor Sean Walsh. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm
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