When you’re a 5-foot-2 defensive dynamo for a team that has won three straight NCAA Division III women’s hockey championships, there’s a good chance that your role on the team is clearly defined. And scoring probably isn’t it.

That hasn’t stopped Randi Dumont of Greene from getting into the act and lighting the lamp during a typical Middlebury College winning streak early in the 2006-07 season.

Dumont, who split her prep career between Leavitt Area High School in Turner and St. Mark’s in Southborough, Mass., has scored a goal in two of the Panthers’ last three games. She found the net for her first point of the season in a Dec. 1 victory over Connecticut College and repeated the feat a week later against Neumann.

Those performances coincided with a stretch in which Dumont and her defensive mates have been as dedicated to their craft as ever. Middlebury has shut out four straight opponents, winning six in a row headed into the semester break after a 4-2 opening-night loss to Plattsburgh.

Seven games into her sophomore year, Dumont has scored seven career goals and notched two assists.

Middlebury is a staggering 260-41-1 over the last 12 seasons, capturing five of the last seven national titles.

Local fans will have a chance to catch the team and its familiar face in a weekend swing at Colby on Jan. 5 and at Bowdoin on Jan. 6.

Run and shoot

Indoor track and field season commenced in earnest last weekend, and several area athletes exploded from the starting blocks in impressive fashion.

The most accomplished returning letter winner actually makes her mark in the field events. Louise Duffus of Raymond (Gray-New Gloucester) started her senior season at Bowdoin College in the same fashion that characterized her All-America junior campaign.

Duffus won both the shot put and weight throw in the Polar Bears’ season-opening home meet against the University of Southern Maine. Her weight throw distance of 15.99 meters topped the NCAA milestone that provisionally qualifies for the Division III indoor championships.

By finishing seventh in the New England Division III championship in the weight throw last winter, Duffus achieved All-America status for the second time. Duffus was the Polar Bears’ leading scorer as a sophomore and junior, and school records in the hammer and 20-pound weight throws are hers.

While Bowdoin swept USM in last Saturday’s event, two Southern Maine competitors enjoyed a triumphant afternoon. Forrest Tobie of Mt. Vernon (Maranacook) won the men’s mile with a time of 4:32.88. Sophomore Emily Poliquin of Lisbon captured the women’s triple jump with a distance of 10.45 meters.

In a separate competition, USM sophomore James Spaulding of Lewiston finished eighth in last weekend’s Bates College Pentathlon. Spaulding was the top individual finisher in the shot put. He also placed second in the 1,000 meters and long jump.

The University of Maine track teams dropped their America East conference opener at New Hampshire, but three local freshmen quickly made a name for themselves with outstanding finishes for the Black Bears. Tess Perry of Farmington (Mt. Blue) took top honors in the women’s triple jump. Jeff Ramos of Turner (Leavitt) won the men’s high jump. And on the track, Dylan Cayer of Mexico (Mountain Valley) sprinted to second behind only teammate Andrew Horner in the 200 meters.

It’s a snap

Robie Leavitt of Sabattus (Oak Hill) experienced something on the football field this year that will elude the blue-chip talent at Ohio State, Florida, Michigan and Southern California: An honest-to-goodness playoff to determine a national champion.

Leavitt earned his varsity letter as a freshman reserve at center, tackle and long snapper for Curry College in Milton, Mass. The 6-foot-4, 290-pound Leavitt was one of 75 players to make the travel team for the Colonels, who went 11-0 to win the NCAA Division III New England Football Conference for the fourth consecutive year.

That earned Curry an automatic berth in the 32-team Division III tournament field. The Colonels fell in the first round to No. 15 Springfield College, 42-14.

Curry was ranked as high as No. 3 in New England and No. 8 in the East. Leavitt is one of two Oak Hill graduates on the roster. Troy Jannelle of Litchfield joined the team as a sophomore transfer at defensive back this season. Morse High School product Shawn Perkins also suited up for the Colonels at linebacker.

Down on the farm

University of Maine at Farmington freshman Caitlyn Laflin was named North Atlantic Conference Rookie of the Week for the period ending Dec. 9.

Laflin, a six-foot forward from Farmingdale and former Mountain Valley Conference all-star, averaged 13.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in two wins and a loss for the Beavers. She scored 20 points in a 66-56 defeat at Bates. Laflin leads UMF with 14.0 points and 5.3 boards per contest.

On the men’s side, Farmington faces an extreme but potentially fun test this evening. The Beavers will travel to Orono for a date with Division I Maine. The game will be played not at Alfond Arena but next door at Memorial Gymnasium, better known as “The Pit,” which Maine called its regular home through the early 1980s.