Mariner highlights

• Mitchell College earned a spot in the ECAC Division III New England men's lacrosse championship for the third time in program history. The Mariners also qualified in 2011 and 2013.

Mitchell (8-7) visits top-seeded Salve Regina University (13-5) at 8 tonight in Newport. The winner hosts either Becker (14-5) or Regis (9-7) in the final on Friday. The Mariners beat Becker and Regis on the way to winning the New England Collegiate Conference for the second straight year.

Shane Sullivan, a senior from Waterford, is one of the team's top scorers with 16 goals and 10 assists. Fitch graduate Jordan Cook, a junior midfielder, has eight goals and eight assists.

Also Monday, the men's lacrosse team picked up three major awards from the NECC. In his first year, coach John Keysor was selected as coach of the year while senior Demetre Lyras was named the co-player of the year for the second time and J.D. LeMay earned co-rookie and goalie of the year honors.

Seniors David Klapp and Wayne Brookbanks and sophomore Maxx Crowley joined Lyras and LeMay on the first team.

Lyras led the team in points (38) on 31 goals and seven assists and added 60 ground balls. LeMay, a five-time rookie of the week pick, started all 15 games, averaging 13.7 saves.

• Ashley Murtha made quite a first impression, winning NECC rookie of the year honors for women's lacrosse. Murtha, an All-NECC honorable mention pick, led the league with 26 goals and 36 draw controls in five conference games. Overall, she finished with 54 goals and three assists.

The Mariners, who went 2-8 in their debut season, received the NECC's Team Sportsmanship Award.

• Softball coach Jillian Ortega and three players earned NECC All-Conference honors. Sophomore Jenny Groman made first team while sophomore Shannon O'Neil and freshman Brittany Fiederlein were named to the second team.

Ortega, the coach of the year, led the Mariners to a 19-19 overall record, 12-6 in the NECC. They reached the NECC Championship final before losing to Lesley University 4-2 on Saturday.

Groman, a centerfielder, batted a team-high .434 in conference games and hit safely in 16 of 18 games. She ranked second in the NECC in runs scored with 22 and also had 14 RBI. O'Neil batted .429 and tied for second in the league with a team-best 20 RBI while Fiederlein posted an 8-2 record in nine league starts and owned a 1.62 earned run average.

• Five Mariners from the NECC Championship baseball team received All-NECC honors. Sophomore Tyler Shamus earned his second straight league pitcher of the year award while Neftali Arroyo, Kenneth Olszewski and Marc Dorsi also were selected to the first team. Axel De Jesus was an honorable mention pick.

Shamus went 6-0 with six complete games in league play and was the only pitcher to beat every team in the conference. He led the NECC in earned run average (1.07), strikeouts (36) and complete games in league play.

The Mariners (23-12-1) qualified for the NCAA tournament for the second time in program history.

The NECC also handed out weekly honors to Mike Tandy (pitcher), De Jesus (rookie) and Waterford's Gavin LaLima (player).

Camels in the spotlight

• The 16th-ranked Connecticut College coed sailing team has a few weeks to prepare for the 79th Intercollegiate Sailing Association/Gill National Dinghy Championships starting June 3 in Maryland.

The Camels are one of 36 teams that qualified for the national event. Coast Guard Academy also is in the field.

Keith Martland and Lea Bushnell, All-New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association second team selections, are two of the top competitors for the Camels.

Around the region

• Becker College senior Christina Boucher of Pawcatuck made the NECC All-Conference first team in women's lacrosse. She had a team-best 48 goals and three assists in 16 games.

• Freshman Shatajah Wattely, a Montville High School graduate, was named the Southern Connecticut State University athlete of the week for women's track and field. Wattely helped pace the Owls to runner-up status at the Northeast-10 Conference Championship last weekend. She finished second in the 200 meters and third in the 100 meters while also running a leg on the winning 4x100 relay team that set a conference meet record (46.40). She was on the 4x400 relay team that took second.

• Wheaton College sophomore Madison Cohen of East Lyme was named to the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference academic team. Cohen has appeared in 19 games, starting three. She has nine goals and four assists.

The Lyons (13-6) won the NEWMAC Tournament title and qualified for the NCAA tournament, hosting Emmanuel College tonight in Norton, Mass.

• Becker College's David Deschense, a junior attack from Gales Ferry, made the NECC All-Conference first team for men's lacrosse. He leads the team in goals (50), assists (44) and points (94).

• Ryan Foster had a stellar senior season playing for the Western Connecticut State University men's lacrosse team. A Ledyard graduate, he had 27 goals and 14 assists for the Colonials (7-10). Sophomore Nate Wilson, an NFA graduate, led the team in goals (46) and points (49) while junior Zach Bartlett of East Lyme started all 17 games.

- Gavin Keefe