01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Brown lost the NCAA women's rowing championship by two-tenths of a second Sunday, or about three inches.

It was the closest finish in a varsity eight grand final that John Murphy had seen in his 21 years as Brown's coach.

"We had to look at the pictures," he said yesterday after returning from Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.

Brown had to finish ahead of California in the varsity eight grand final to win its fifth national championship, but the Cal boat edged the Brown boat in a finish so close that neither crew knew who had won the championship.

"The last two or three strokes they inched ahead, maybe by the bow ball," Murphy said, referring to a small ball affixed to the bow of each boat.

Brown was in first place overall heading into the final race, thanks to victories by the varsity four and second varsity eight. The Bears had 36 points to 33 for Cal.

"Both crews knew what it was about. They knew it would come down to something like this," Murphy said.

With about 400 meters, roughly four football fields, to go, Brown clung to a six-seat lead over Cal, or about three-quarters of a boat length. But Murphy knew the race was far from over.

Cal picked up the pace and closed the gap. Then Brown surged. Then the Cal rowers tapped some reserve for those last two or three strokes.

"We were disappointed. It was like someone scores a basket at the buzzer," Murphy said, "but I have great respect for what our crew did. This is athletics, and that's part of it. And I have a lot of respect for California. They came back, and they came on at the end. They did a great job."

Princeton won the race in 6:36.9. Cal was second in 6:43.3, Brown third in 6:43.5. Cal and Brown tied in the final standings with 66 points each, but Cal won the tiebreaker based on the varsity eight result. Princeton was third in the standings with 56 points.

Brown's varsity eight boat included Gillian Almy , Rachel Dearborn , Alex Hammer , Kelly O'Brien , Jessica Stage , Emma Olson , Caitlin Flynn and Deborah Dryer . Mira Mehta was the coxswain. The second varsity eight included Vanessa Rathbone , Elizabeth Fison , Katie Reynolds , Corey Finnerty-Ludwig , Dove West , Meg Anderson , Sarah Bowman and Jeannette Saraidaridis . Sara Wu was the cox. The varsity four consisted of Annie Van Beuningen , Joanna Jacob , Casey Collins and Carly Traub . Christina Caligiuri was the cox.

Brown has finished among the top three in all 10 NCAA women's rowing championships. The Bears won in 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2004. Cal has won the last two titles.

Keeping track

Junior Dana DeIngenis, of Cranston, is returning home as Stonehill's first female track All-America after finishing eighth in the 1,500 meters at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Emporia, Kan. She was seeded 14th in the nation but ran a 4:47.15 and jumped six spots. The winning time was 4:35.17.

"Words can't describe how happy I am for Dana . . . Dana has been such a consistent performer all year long," coach Karen Boen said.

DeIngenis was All-Northeast-10 and All-Region in cross country and All-Northeast-10 in outdoor track.

Providence College senior Mary Cullen won the 5,000 at the NCAA East Regional at Greensboro, N.C., last Friday and qualified for the NCAA Division I Championships June 7-10 at Sacramento, Calif. Cullen finished in 15:50.18.

Martin Fagan of PC was third in the men's 5,000 in 14:06.19 and qualified for the national meet. Sophomore Max Smith ran fourth in the 1,500 (3:45.79).

Manhattan senior Michael Freeman (East Greenwich) finished 10th in the hammer (190-07). URI sophomore Michael Bernardo was 17th (182-08). Penn State senior Scott Vernon (North Kingstown) was 22nd (174-05). Ryan McCarthy of URI fouled three times in the shot put. In the 110 hurdles, Yudehweh Gbaa (Providence/Hope) finished 30th in the preliminaries (14.71).

Oregon freshman Matt Maloney (Barrington/La Salle) finished third in the javelin at the West Regional with a throw of 222-05 and qualified for the nationals.

Duke junior Kelly Reynolds (Warwick/Toll Gate) broke her own school record in the hammer (181-5) and finished 11th. Sarah Thornton of URI was 18th in the discus (143-09).

Springfield College freshman Kelsey Bishop (Warwick/Pilgrim) finished ninth in the hammer (163-8) at the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships at Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill. The only freshman in the competition, she was 9 inches shy of eighth-place and All-America recognition.

Earlier this spring, Bishop threw 168-3, her personal-best and second on the Springfield career list. She won the Silfen Invitational at Connecticut College and the NEWMAC championship and finished third at the Division III New Englands, sixth at the Open New Englands and third at the ECAC Championships.

Locals rack up honors

Area collegians garnered an impressive number of awards this month.

Andrea Marcoccio (Warwick/Pilgrim) received the Rev. Armand Desautels, A.A. Memorial Award as Assumption College's top female student-athlete. Two-year captain and most valuable player of the Greyhounds' soccer team, she was a two-time first-team All-Northeast-10 Conference selection, and last fall was first-team All-New England and third-team All-America. She finished with 106 career points and 18 game-winning goals, a school record. Assumption was 49-25-5 during her career. She played in the ECAC tournament as a freshman and the NCAA Tournament as a junior and senior. She ranks first in career games (79), points in a game (7) and assists in a season (12). She had a 3.5 GPA with a double major in Spanish and communications.

Senior Jeff Furtado (Warwick/Bishop Hendricken) and junior Nicole Pankey (Portsmouth) were named MVPs of Assumption's golf and women's outdoor track teams, respectively.

Heather Carr (South Kingstown) received Merrimack College's female scholar-athlete of the year award. She finished her junior year with a 3.68 GPA as a sports medicine major and will be captain of the 2006 women's soccer team.

Nichols College presented its Dan Cardin Memorial Award for integrity and leadership to James McCabe (Charlestown), who has played golf, worked in the athletics department, managed women's basketball and softball and men's ice hockey and worked on the field during football and soccer games.

Eastern Connecticut State swimmer Meredith Hoskins (Cumberland) was one of eight recipients of the ECSU/E-Club Outstanding Scholar-Athlete Award. She has a 3.51 GPA in environmental earth science, has qualified for the New Englands three times and helped the team to its seventh consecutive winning season.

Justin Deveau (North Attleboro) received Rhode Island College's John E. Hetherman Award for his accomplishments in athletics and academics and his campus involvement. A four-time All-New England wrestler, he was an Academic All-America in 2004.

Katie Benevides (North Dighton, Mass.) received RIC's Helen M. Murphy Award for her accomplishments in athletics and academics and her campus involvement. She lettered in soccer and softball for four years and was a captain of the Little East Conference championship softball team this spring.

Roundup

RIC's Caitlin Gavin (Portsmouth) made first-team All-Little East in lacrosse for the third time. She had 97 goals and 10 assists this season. . . . Basketball player Melinda Hunold (North Kingstown) is heading to Georgian Court University, a Division II school in Lakewood, N.J. . . . Caitlin Hostetler (Portsmouth/La Salle), the Rhode Island Gatorade Player of the Year in soccer, is going to Providence College. . . . Danielle O'Neill (Providence/Classical) is the captain of the 2006 Simmons College field hockey team. . . . Dick Bergel, a Providence native, Mount Pleasant High graduate and football and track athlete at Brandeis, was inducted into the Brandeis Athletic Hall of Fame this spring. A former vice chairman of Montgomery Ward and chairman and CEO of Lechmere, he is retired and living in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. . . . Incoming freshmen Matt Tommasiello (Cranston), John Cavanagh (Warwick) and David Cavanagh (Warwick) will skate for the Providence College hockey team next winter. . . . Blair Flynn (Middletown) was honored this month as the outstanding freshman on the PC women's swim team.

mszostak@projo.com/ (401) 277-7340