The two teams that shared the 2016 Northeast Conference football crown were the top-two vote getters in the league’s preseason predicted order-of-finish.
Duquesne earned the No. 1 Preseason Ranking for the second straight summer, while Saint Francis U, which earned the NEC’s automatic FCS Playoffs bid last fall, was the runner-up in the poll of the conference’s head coaches.
PRESEASON #NECelite
Sharing significant summertime headlines from each of our 10 core member institutions and using tweets to do the job.
BRYANT
Bryant alumnus Craig Schlitter has taken another step up the Colorado Rockies’ organizational ladder and it has landed him in his home state of Connecticut. The 2014 NEC Pitcher of the Year, a former 27th Round draft pick, has been promoted to the Eastern League and will compete for the Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado’s AA affiliate).
“Who says you can’t go home?
There’s only one place they call me one of their own
Just a hometown boy born a rolling stone” -Bon Jovi pic.twitter.com/Keue8zhd6o— Hartford Yard Goats (@GoYardGoats) July 5, 2017
CENTRAL CONNECTICUT
CCSU’s decorated senior swimmer added more impressive experience to her aquatic resume. The 2017 NEC Swimmer of the Year contested the 50m breaststroke and the 100m breaststroke at the USA Swimming National Championships in Indianapolis. She posted two top-50 finishes.
Maddy Garber swims 1:11.81 in the 100m breaststroke at US National Championships. #GoBlueDevils pic.twitter.com/DvdYHf80qW
— CCSU Blue Devils (@CCSUBlueDevils) June 30, 2017
FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON
The former NEC men’s golf individual champion has played his way into the US Amateur Open Championships.
.@FDUGolf U Minn Woon qualifies for U.S. Amateur Championship https://t.co/u8kjz6pWpg #uKnighted pic.twitter.com/WQ1CaK1Lz9
— FDU Knights (@FDUKnights) July 14, 2017
LIU BROOKLYN
NEC men’s record holder Brendon Rodney, who won a bronze medal for Team Canada at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, ran a personal-best 100m time at the @AthleticsCanada Championships and earned a silver medal for the effort. Rodney, the defending Canadian 200m champion, came up 0.06 second shy of a repeat at the 2017 Canadian Track & Field Championships in Ottawa. His 20.02 time made him the runner-up behind Andre De Grasse, whose winning time (19.96) matched the championship record that Rodney clocked last summer.
Yup, the men’s 200m finish at #ACTF2017 was close.
🥇 @De6rasse
🥈 @RodneyGetEm
🥉 @KingsleySC #London2017 pic.twitter.com/jqf2aBDNnT— CanadianRunning (@CanadianRunning) July 10, 2017
MOUNT ST. MARY’S
Three months after locking up the second NEC title of his Mount coaching tenure, Jamion Christian has been invited to stay in Emmitsburg a little longer.
Mount St. Mary’s Announces Multi-Year Contract Extension for Head Men’s Basketball Coach Jamion Ch… https://t.co/oPwTOSBdy9
— Mount Athletics (@MountAthletics) June 29, 2017
ROBERT MORRIS
John Banaszak and Dusty Baker share a common bond. Robert Morris’ football coach and the Washington Nationals’ manager are going into the US Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame together.
Super Bowl Champ w/@steelers ✔️ Head Coach of NCAA DI @RMUFootball ✔️ and now…@USMC Hall of Famer ✔️ https://t.co/OqLQqN62dq👏🏻👏🏻
— Robert Morris Univ. (@RMU) July 12, 2017
SACRED HEART
Five years removed from winning the NEC Baseball Tournament MVP award, former Sacred Heart right-handed hurler Troy Scribner is thriving in the professional ranks. The Nutmeg State product, who is the younger brother of former CCSU pitcher and Major Leaguer Evan Scribner, has made the Triple A All-Star Game.
Former @PioBaseball standout Troy Scribner named 2017 Triple-A All-Star! #WeAreSHU #GoPioshttps://t.co/P4nusQA30v via @milb
— SHU Pioneers (@SHUBigRed) July 6, 2017
SAINT FRANCIS U
Joe Haigh is taking his high-octane offense to the Preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament. In what will be their 2017-18 season opener, the Red Flash will visit MAC member Toledo on November 10 to tip off play in the 16-team WNIT bracket.
TEAM PROFILE: Saint Francis boasts a talented roster for this year’s Preseason #WNIT Read up on the Red Flash >> https://t.co/5KfexvXv2A pic.twitter.com/BrIhz6b76r
— WNIT (@WomensNIT) June 26, 2017
ST. FRANCIS BROOKLYN
Vincent Bezecourt’s has successfully navigated a path from Brooklyn Heights to the big league. The former Terrier, and NSCAA All-American, has moved up from the United Soccer League to Major League Soccer where he will compete for the New York Red Bulls.
New York Red Bulls Loan Vincent Bezecourt from @NYRBII
📰 ➡️ https://t.co/F2fDZgpxcF#RBNY pic.twitter.com/S2CVp2EMlB
— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) July 13, 2017
WAGNER
It’s official! Wagner and Syracuse will meet again on the gridiron in 2018. The Seahawks, who have faced a FBS opponent during every season since 2012, will face the ACC member for the second time.
Elite Competition: @Wagner_Football‘s game at @CuseFootball will be the 9th FBS game in program history; 7 straight years against FBS school pic.twitter.com/Cwhuw10n2G
— Wagner Seahawks (@WagnerAthletics) June 26, 2017
The following 14 student-athletes will join the #NECFB Social Media Day festivities at MetLife Stadium on July 20.
These select athletes will be available for questioning from the traditional media members in attendance and all 14 men will also appear during the live on-air program carried by NEC Front Row and ESPN3.
They competed during the 2017 spring sports season while performing remarkably well in the academic arena.
They are the NEC Spring Scholar-Athlete of the Year award winners.
Bryant, Sacred Heart, Saint Francis U and Wagner each earned multiple selections. Fairleigh Dickinson, Robert Morris and Saint Joseph’s are home to single honorees.
Four all-Northeast Conference baseball honorees received an unforgettable phone call this past week.
Bryant starting pitcher James Karinchak, Fairleigh Dickinson shortstop Matt McCann, Central Connecticut third baseman Ryan Costello and LIU Brooklyn infielder Andrew Turner were chosen in the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft.
Duquesne’s AJ Hines won the NEC Rookie of the Week award 10 times in 2016.
When Athlon Sports unveiled its Top 10 Running Backs in the FCS in 2017, there was a surprising omission from the main list.
The name of the 2016 NEC rushing champion does not appear until the reader scrolls to the bottom of the page and looks over the “More Running Backs to Watch” section.
Duquesne’s AJ Hines is coming off a freshman season that saw him rush for a league-high 1,291 yards and 13 touchdowns while adding another 200 yards receiving.
Only one man and one woman can hold the NEC Student-Athlete of the Year title.
Check out the groups of 2016-17 finalists below…
MEN’S SAOTY FINALISTS
WOMEN’S SAOTY FINALISTS
