Students-Athletes Named All-Conference NESCAC Honorees
Olivia Drake  |
| Goaltender Mike Palladino ’09 was named to the 2007 New England NESCAC All-Conference first-team. (Photo by Richard Orr) |
| Posted 04/17/07 |
| Seven Wesleyan athletes and one coach were named to the 2007 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) All-Conference Teams.
Mens hockey team members Will Bennett ’07 and Mike Palladino ’09 were first-team choices.
Womens basketball player Ali Fourney 09 was named to the second-team. Fourney, pictured at right, led the team in both scoring (15.0) and rebounding (7.0) average this year and was named all-NESCAC second team after a vote of the coaches. Last season she was the NESCAC Rookie of the Year.
Wesleyan had three repeat performers in swimming as Ben Byers ’07, left, Amanda Shapiro ’08, second from left, and Kate Krems ’08, third from left, all earned all-NESCAC laurels in the pool, the latter two for the second straight year and the former as a four-time honoree. Byers was a top-three finisher at the NESCAC meet in both the 1000-yard (2nd) and 1650-yard (2nd) freestyle while Shapiro was top-three in both the 50-yard (3rd) and 100-yard (2nd) breaststroke and Krems was second in the 50-yard butterfly. All three went on to become All-Americans in their respective specialties. In addition to the NESCAC award, Bennett and Palladino were both named as one of 18 semi-finalists for the Joe Concannon Award, presented to the top New England Division II or III American-born player. This year’s winner was Colby’s Greg Osborne. Both Bennett and Palladino were selected to the NESCAC/ECAC East all-star squad as chosen by the New England Hockey Writers Association. |
Bennett, pictured at right, was the hockey teams top scorer, and Palladino was the starting goaltender for the hockey Cardinals. Bennett, the 2004 NESCAC Rookie of the Year, is tied for second in the conference in scoring with 11 goals and 24 assists for 35 points through 24 games for the Cardinals, a career-high in points and assists. 
Palladino, pictured at left, backboned a Cardinal defense that finished third in the conference at 2.67 goals per game. After seeing action in only 15 games as a freshman, Palladino appeared between the pipes in 20 of Wesleyans 24 games this year, posting a 10-6-4 mark. Bennett came up one point shy of becoming just the third Cardinal to amass 100 career points over the last dozen years. He ended his four years with 45 goals and 54 assists for 99 points in 89 games. 
Mens hockey coach Chris Potter was named the NESCAC Coach of the Year. Potter, pictured at right, was named Coach of the Year for the second time in his four-year tenure. He was the Coach of the Year his rookie season in 2003-04. Potter guided the Cardinals to an 11-8-5 overall record and a 9-6-4 conference mark to finish in fourth place in the NESCAC standings, the highest place ever for Wesleyan.
Susanna Morrison ’07, at right, was named the Four-Year High Point Diver. 
Mike Mavredakis
Jeff Harder