Ryan Laubauskas is in the middle of an experience at Saint Joseph’s College of Indiana that is nothing new to him.
A winning streak.
After losing two of their first three games. the NCAA Division II Pumas have bounced back with two straight wins. St. Joseph’s out-slugged Central State, 42-36, a week ago before edging Quincy, 24-21, on Saturday.
Laubauskas, a 6-foot, 284-pound junior and criminal justice major from Mexico, is at center for the second straight season. He has started all five games there for the Pumas after making eight starts in 2011.
He sat out the 2010 campaign after transitioning from Mountain Valley High School, meaning that Laubauskas, in football eligibility terms, is a redshirt sophomore.
St. Joseph’s already has topped its win total of 2011, when the Pumas went 2-8.
Laubauskas was a four-year starter and a three-sport athlete at Mountain Valley. He starred on a pair of Class B championship football teams.
CLIMBING THE LADDER
Chantalle Lavertu of Lewiston split two singles matches and went 3-2 in doubles for Bowdoin College against Division I competition at the Cissie Leary Invitational, hosted in Philadelphia by the University of Pennsylvania.
Lavertu defeated Katarina Kovacevic of Columbia, 6-3, 7-5. She dropped a match to Laila Judeh of Cornell, 6-0, 6-3.
Along with doubles partner Emma Chow, Laveertu topped two teams from Delaware and a tandem from Drexel. They also played well in losing efforts against Maryland and Penn.
Lavertu and the Polar Bears are competing in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association New England Regional at MIT. It concludes Sunday.
LOCAL FLAVOR
Sophomore forwards Annika Durrell of Livermore and Makayla Stevens of Lisbon have appeared in all 11 games for the Husson University field hockey team this season.
Durrell has a pair of defensive saves for the Eagles, who won for the fourth time in five games Saturday, beating Thomas 3-2 and moving above the .500 threshold.
Mountain Valley product Emily Child of Mexico has one assist on the season for Husson. Oxford Hills graduates Kali Bellefleur-Dixon of Hebron and Ashley West of South Paris also are on the squad.
CLASSROOM STAR
University of Maine football kicker Brian Harvey is in the running to be named the top football scholar-athlete in the nation.
The National Football Foundation named Harvey a semifinalist for its William V. Campbell Trophy and Scholar-Athlete Awards.
Harvey already owns a degree with a double major in marketing and management.
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