TEN STUDENT ATHLETES NAMED ALL-NORTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE 

The North Atlantic Conference (NAC) recently announced its All-NAC selections for the 2006 fall season and Elms College had a combined ten student athletes named to those teams as voted upon by the conference's head coaches in each sport.

The women's soccer team, which went 14-6-1 overall and advanced to the semifinals of the NAC Tournament, had two players earn All-NAC honors. Head Coach Ryan Kelly was named women's soccer NAC Coach of the Year after guiding the Blazers to their first conference regular season title since 1999.

Senior forward Jen LeDoux (Easthampton, MA), who earned Second-Team All-NAC as a sophomore in 2004, earned First-Team All-NAC honors this season. LeDoux's 15 goals and 32 total points were tops for the Blazers, and ranked among the top-10 in the conference.

Junior midfielder Jamie Walsh (Springfield, MA) joined LeDoux as a First Team All-NAC selection as she finished her first season with the Blazers third on the team in both goals (5) and points (11).

Senior defender Tina Lempke (Holyoke, MA) was named Second-Team All-NAC. Lempke, a four-year starter, made her first All-NAC appearance after she helped lead the Blazers' defense which ranked among the conference leaders in goals-against average.

For the men's golf team, which placed second in October's NAC Championship, junior Neil Daigneault (Ludlow, MA) and senior James Hurlbut (Roxbury, CT) were named First-Team All-NAC. Daigneault earned his second First-Team honor after finishing fourth at the championship, while Hurlbut earned honors after finishing fifth overall.

Freshman Ben Kwiatkowski (Chicopee, MA) was impressive in his first conference championship, as he earned Second Team All-NAC honors with a two-round total of 166 (80-86).

For the men's soccer team, which is currently 8-9-1 overall, junior midfielder Nda Kaslong (Jos, Nigeria) and freshman midfielder Ben Masse (Chicopee, MA) each earned All-NAC Honorable Mentions. Masse earned conference accolades after finishing the regular season as the team-leader in goals. Kaslong currently ranks third for the Blazers in goals (4) and is tied with Masse for second in points (12).

For the women's volleyball team, which went 7-17 overall and advanced to the NAC Tournament quarterfinals, freshman outside hitter Chie Inoue (Kochi, Japan) became the first player in the program's five-year history to be named both First Team All-NAC and NAC Rookie of the Year. Inoue registered program-records in both kills (174) and digs (273) this season.

For the field hockey team, which finished 1-14 overall, junior midfielder Catherine Thresher (West Suffield, CT) earned All-NAC Honorable Mention. Thresher, a starter in each of her first three seasons, earned all-conference honors for the first time.

The women's cross country team capped off the list of fall sports accomplishments as it earned the NAC Team Sportsmanship Award.