Shelby Turcotte spotted every other Little East Conference women’s lacrosse player three games this season.

It was neither a handicap nor an equalizer.

The Lewiston High School graduate, now at the University of Southern Maine, still proved herself one of the top players in the region.

Turcotte raced off the early-season sidelines and finished second on the Huskies in scoring with 34 goals and eight assists for 42 total points.

For those exploits, she was one of five Southern Maine players named this week to the Little East all-conference team. Turcotte was a first-team selection.

Season highlights for the sophomore attack included five goals April 27 in a 16-10 victory at Plymouth State and four goals April 12 in a 14-8 triumph over next-door neighbor Saint Joseph’s.

USM was 8-11 overall but 4-2 in conference play, earning a No. 3 seed in the Little East tournament. The Huskies fell to Keene State in the semifinals.

Net gains

They’re at opposite ends of the career spectrum and the singles and doubles ladders, but Mike Sarrazin of Lewiston and Corey Dyke of Monmouth played equally pivotal roles in leading the Southern Maine men’s tennis team to the Little East semifinals.

Sarrazin, the Huskies’ captain and one of only two seniors on the squad, went 7-4 in singles competition, winning five of his last six matches. He also was 6-6 in doubles action with Matt Larson and Jonathan Sproul.

Dyke, a freshman, finished his rookie season 8-5 in singles, including a four-match winning streak at season’s end. He also was 11-3 in doubles, collaborating with Christopher G. Ross and Ryan Boucher, capped by five consecutive wins to round out the schedule.

For the period ending May 1, Dyke was named Little East rookie of the week. He went undefeated in two singles and two doubles matches in that stretch.

Lewiston’s Boucher was a perfect 3-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles for Southern Maine this spring.

Bowdoin’s ace

Another Lewiston graduate has emerged as one of the top women’s players in New England at Bowdoin College.

Sophomore Chantalle Lavertu was 12-4 overall entering this weekend’s NCAA Division III team round of 16 in Williamstown, Mass.

Lavertu’s only losses on the season came against three of the top five teams in Division III — No. 1 Amherst, No. 2 Williams and No. 5 Tufts — and Division I Dartmouth.

Bowdoin met either Bridgewater State or the College of New Jersey in Saturday’s national second round. The winner advanced to the national quarterfinals.

Hammer down

Matt Harmon continues to cross out his own USM records almost every time he sets foot in the throwing circle.

Harmon, a senior from Auburn (Edward Little) extended his own school standard in the hammer throw last Saturday, when he placed 12th in the New England Division III championship meet.

For those who recall their elementary school lessons in the metric system, Harmon’s distance of 164 feet, 1 inches represented the first time a USM thrower has eclipsed 50 meters in the event.

‘Cats tales

Bates College’s 4×800 meter relay team just missed the podium at the New England Division III showcase.

Senior Tom Esponnette of Auburn (EL) was part of a fourth-place performance for the Bobcats. Bates’ quartet completed the race in 7:50.70.

Also at Bates, with a doubleheader sweep of Saint Joseph’s, the Bobcats’ baseball team clinched its second straight 20-win campaign and the second such season in school history.

Bates went 21-15 after posting a best-ever 25 victories last spring.

The season finale also allowed Bates to establish a flurry of school records.

Noah Lynd tied Bates’ all-time mark with his 21st career home run. Paul Chiampa is the all-time strikeout leader among Bates pitchers after whiffing his 131st victim. Jake Simon matched a 23-year-old mark with his 106th career RBI. And Pat Murphy padded his own superlative for stolen bases, swiping his milestone 50th.

koakes@sunjournal.com

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