Two local athletes have achieved academic all-conference status at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., with one poised to reap more rewards at the NCAA Division III swimming and diving championships.

Stephany Perkins of Monmouth, a sophomore, qualified for the NEWMAC classroom honor in her first season of eligibility by maintaining a GPA in excess of 3.5 with full-time status on the swim team.

One of five Wheaton swimmers or divers to make the academic honor roll, Perkins played a role in three school records at the recent conference championship meet.

She is qualified in five NCAA relay events: 200 and 400-yard medley and 200, 400 and 800 freestyle. After sending only one woman to the nationals in the history of its program, Wheaton will watch four of its women compete in a total of 11 events.

Perkins’ 200 freestyle outfit is seeded No. 9 in the nation.

Jon Lecznar of Poland, a reserve frontcourt player on the men’s basketball team, also was an all-academic selection. Lecznar, a 6-foot-6 junior, appeared in 21 games this season.

Straight A’s in the Triple-C

Livermore’s Brad Bryant has been named Commonwealth Coast Conference senior scholar athlete of the year in men’s basketball.

Bryant, a starting guard at Wentworth Institute of Technology, holds a 3.9 GPA in engineering and has qualified for the dean’s list every semester of his four-year career. In 22 starts for Wentworth this winter, Bryant distributed a team-high 64 assists.

A multi-sport athlete at Livermore Falls High School, Bryant is a past winner of the John Taglienti Award, symbolic of the outstanding senior football player in the Class C division of the Campbell Conference.

On the defensive

Randi Dumont of Greene capped her career with first team women’s hockey recognition in the New England Small College Athletic Conference.

Dumont, Middlebury team captain and a four-year mainstay on the back line, headlined a defense that permitted only 1.88 goals per game for the Panthers. She also scored a goal and dealt 13 assists.

Middlebury, which captured the NCAA Division III national title Dumont’s freshman year, remains in line for a shot at another championship or two. The Panthers (17-3-4) played in their conference tournament this weekend.

What a racket

Adam Wilding of Lewiston recently won Northeast-10 men’s tennis player of the week honors for the second time this young season.

Wilding, a senior at Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass., did not lose a game in either of his outings against Pace University. He prevailed 6-0, 6-0 in No. 1 singles and was part of an 8-0 shutout at No. 1 doubles.

Last spring, Wilding was a first team all-conference selection after accumulating a 9-5 singles mark. The Warriors advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time ever. Merrimack is 4-0 to start this season, including a 3-0 ledger in Northeast-10.

Fabulous finish

Lewiston High School graduate Tracy Bradley concluded her women’s basketball season Saturday at Ithaca (N.Y.) College as the team’s leader in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage.

Top-seeded Ithaca lost a chance to play in the NCAA Division III tournament when it dropped a 59-57 verdict to Stevens in the Empire 8 Conference final. The Bombers took advantage of a second chance at postseason play, however, with a 69-64 victory over Potsdam in the semifinals of the ECAC Upstate New York tournament Friday night.

Bradley, now a Brunswick resident, led Ithaca (19-9) with 17 points and nine rebounds. Her team played in the title game Saturday afternoon.

Ground breaker

Mike Morin of Fryeburg became the first All-American in the 12-year history of the University of Southern Maine wrestling program this weekend.

Morin ran his season record to 39-1 with a victory over Patrick Nagel of Wisconsin-Whitewater. That consolation bracket triumph clinched a finish of no worse than eighth to seal the All-America distinction.

Ranked second nationally at 165 pounds by one wrestling publication, Morin entered nationals as the sixth seed in his division.

Huskies’ heavy hitters

Four players with local ties completed their hockey season at USM last weekend.

Auburn’s Kyle Smith wrapped up his career with four goals and 10 assists as a senior.

In his final season between the pipes, Jamie Gilbert of Lewiston was 7-7-1 with a shutout and a 3.10 goals-against average while turning away 90.6 percent of the shots he faced.

Sophomores and former St. Dominic Regional High School teammates Jon Rutt of Scarborough (4-16-20) and Mike Carpenter (1-4-5) fueled the offense.

Southern Maine dropped a 4-3 decision to New England College in the ECAC East quarterfinals.

Rocky Mountain high

Local skiers from the University of Maine at Farmington performed solidly last week in the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association national meet in Winter Park, Colo.

Nate Dumais took 55th in the giant slalom and 38th in the 8.5-kilometer classical Nordic race. Kendall Ricker was 71st in GS and 40th in the Nordic sprint. Both skiers hail from Turner.

Scott Hilton of Farmington registered top-40 results in both cross-country racers. Winthrop’s Jon Dennett secured 66th in giant slalom.