GORHAM, Maine   –  Completing another successful academic year highlighted by tremendous achievement in and out the competitive arena, four University of Southern Maine Huskies' teams have earned 2022-2023 Little East Conference Team Academic Awards. The LEC Team Academic Award is given to the team with the highest grade point average (GPA) during the current academic year among each of the Little East's 21 championship sport offerings. 
 
Huskies' field hockey, men's cross country, men's indoor track & field and men's outdoor track & field led the way for Southern Maine. With four team recipients, the Huskies' Athletic Department has the second highest number of teams honored for the 2022-2023 academic year.
 
At the conclusion of the 2022-2023 academic year, University of Southern Maine's ~450 student-athletes combined for a department grade point average of 3.23, and 20 of the Huskies' 22 teams had team GPAs of 3.0 or higher.  Two hundred twenty-four USM student-athletes were named to the LEC Academic Honor for the 2023 spring semester.
 
The 2022 LEC Regular Season Champion, Huskies' Field Hockey earned 2022 National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division III National Academic Team honors, and had 17 individual players named to the NFHCA National Academic Squad, and five NFHCA Athletes of Distinction. Additionally,  juniors Hannah Banks (Belfast, Maine) and Jordan Cummings (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little) and sophomore Sage Drinkwater (Steep Falls, Maine/Bonny Eagle) earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors.
 
All three Huskies were among the record 17 NFHCA Division III National Academic Squad members selected from Southern Maine field hockey, and helped lead USM to a 15-8 overall record and a 10-2 mark in the Little East Conference regular season, claiming the 2022 Little East Conference regular season championship.  During the season, the Huskies set a single-season record for goals (52), and head coach Bonny Brown Denico '91 earned her 250^th career win, and was named the LEC Coach of the Year.  Banks, Drinkwater and Cummings were all members of the 2022 All-Little East Conference team, while Cummings was named the Little East Conference Defensive Player of the Year.  The Huskies have a team GPA of 3.53 for 2022-2023.
 
Named a United States Track & Field, Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team, men's cross country team combined for a GPA of 3.58.  All-Conference selection sophomore Jordan Duplessie (Caribou, Maine) also earned All-Academic Athlete recognition for the 2022 NCAA Division III Cross Country season. 
 
Highlighted by junior Ben Drummey's (Biddeford, Maine) second national title in the pole vault, Huskies' men's indoor track & field had another successful season and combined for a team GPA of 3.29.  Drummey, senior Riley Peterson, and freshmen Michael D'Amico and Christian Burke each earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors.
 
Drummey again highlighted the outdoor season earning his fourth NCAA Division III All-America honor in the pole vault in the outdoor championship in late May, and the Huskies' men's outdoor track & field team combined for a team GPA of 3.29. Drummey and Peterson both earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors, while Burke was named the conference's Rookie Field Athlete of the Year.
 
At the conclusion of the cross country and track & field seasons, four members of the squads earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors, and Drummey was named a CSC Academic All-American. 
 
Committed to excellence on and off of the field of competition, USM Athletics places emphasis on its Five Pillars of Huskies' Athletics: Academic Excellence, Athletic Achievement, Personal Growth, Professional Development and Service to Community.  Continuing to achieve its goal of excellence in competition, USM finished second in the LEC Commissioners' Cup standings with a scoring average of 6.26 points.  The Huskies' second place finish in the Commissioner's Cup -  the LEC's top honor for overall institutional athletic performance among the conference's nine primary institutions in its championship sports – marks the second consecutive academic year that the Huskies have placed second.
 
Additionally, Huskies' Athletics were second in the Little East Conference's Sportsmanship Cup.  The newest institutional honor sponsored by the Little East Conference. Huskies' Athletics was the inaugural winner of the award in 2021-2022.  The Huskies finished LEC Sportsmanship Cup standings with a scoring average of 6.66 across their 19 LEC sports.  Eleven of USM's teams ranked in the top three in voting, and the Huskies were the top-ranked program in baseball, field hockey, men's soccer and women's basketball.  Additionally, 15 of the Huskies' 19 programs were in the top four. 
 
RECIPIENTS BY SPORT
 
Baseball: Keene State College – 3.16
Softball: Castleton University – 3.63
Men's Basketball: Castleton University – 3.60
Women's Basketball: Castleton University – 3.63
Men's Cross Country: University of Southern Maine – 3.58
Women's Cross Country: Castleton University – 3.57
Field Hockey: University of Southern Maine – 3.55
Men's Golf: Castleton University – 3.68
Men's Indoor Track & Field: University of Southern Maine – 3.29
Women's Indoor Track & Field: UMass Boston – 3.65
Men's Lacrosse: Castleton University – 3.06
Women's Lacrosse: Plymouth State University – 3.51
Men's Outdoor Track & Field: University of Southern Maine – 3.29
Women's Outdoor Track & Field: UMass Boston – 3.58
Men's Soccer: Plymouth State University – 3.58
Women's Soccer: Eastern Connecticut State University – 3.67
Men's Swimming & Diving: Bridgewater State University – 3.35
Women's Swimming & Diving: University of New England – 3.73
Men's Tennis: Rhode Island College – 3.63
Women's Tennis: Castleton University – 3.89
Women's Volleyball: UMass Boston – 3.66
 
RECIPIENTS BY INSTITUTION
 
Bridgewater State: Men's Swimming & Diving (3.35)
Castleton: Men's Basketball (3.60), Women's Basketball (3.63), Men's Golf (3.68), Men's Lacrosse (3.06), Softball (3.63), Women's Tennis (3.89)
Eastern Connecticut: Women's Soccer (3.67)
Keene State: Baseball (3.16)
UMass Boston: Women's Indoor Track & Field (3.65), Women's Outdoor Track & Field (3.58), Women's Volleyball (3.66)
Plymouth State: Women's Lacrosse (3.51), Men's Soccer (3.58)
Rhode Island College: Men's Tennis (3.63)
University of New England: Women's Swimming & Diving (3.73)
University of Southern Maine: Men's Cross Country (3.58), Field Hockey (3.55), Men's Indoor Track & Field (3.29), Men's Outdoor Track & Field (3.29)
 
About the Little East Conference
The Little East Conference (LEC) was formed in 1986 when six public institutions gathered to create a single sport athletic conference, and has expanded into what is now New England's premier athletic conference for public institutions in NCAA Division III. The LEC features 21 championship sports and sponsors quality competition for our student-athletes, while following the Division III mission of "passion, responsibility, sportsmanship and citizenship."
 
The Little East consists of nine primary institutions that encompass all six New England states – Castleton University (Vt.), Eastern Connecticut State University, Keene State College (N.H.), UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth, Plymouth State University (N.H.), Rhode Island College, University of Southern Maine, and Western Connecticut State University.
 
 
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