| Bolton resident Kate Sorenson in action for Wellesley College.=20 |
Globe West Sports Notebook
Sorenson dives into All-America status
By Marvin=20
Pave
March 29, 2009
=96 =
+=20
- |
Wellesley College senior diver Kate Sorenson wasn't = totally=20 satisfied with her performance on the 1- and 3-meter boards at last = year's NCAA=20 Division 3 swimming and diving national championships, even though her = 12th- and=20 14th-place finishes, respectively, earned her All-America honorable = mention.
"My goal was to compete at my best this year," said Sorenson, = recently named=20 the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference Diver of the Year. = "I was=20 more ready heading into nationals this year than last. I understood the = pressure=20 more and prepared for it - and it was my last chance."
Sorenson, who grew up in Brookline, N.H., and moved to Bolton four = years ago,=20 trained last summer for two weeks in Coral Springs, Fla., with former = Olympic=20 coach Dick Kimball and practiced three times a day = during=20 winter break this season.
The extra work paid off: She finished fourth on both boards and = earned full=20 All-America status ("and two awesome trophies") at the NCAA Division 3=20 championships, held March 18-21 in Minnesota.
"Kate was always mentally strong," said her coach, Joe=20 Chirico, a Dover resident who was named the NEWMAC Diving Coach = of the=20 Year. "We worked on getting her more polished - toes pointed, legs = straight, and=20 clean entry. She had the potential to finish first at nationals, but she = just=20 ran out of time, having to learn 10 years of skills in just three years = while=20 competing against more experienced divers."
Sorenson, an accomplished tennis player and gymnast, never dove = competitively=20 until her sophomore year of college.
After doing a back flip that won a karaoke contest her freshman year, = Sorenson received an e-mail from a Wellesley diver who noted her = dexterity and=20 urged her to try out.
"Since I had never done it before, I had to gain confidence as a = diver," she=20 said. "When I won my first meet in college I had a feeling I could go = far. I=20 couldn't have done anything more to prepare for the NCAAs this year. I = left it=20 all on the boards and that's a great feeling."
Sorenson hit NCAA qualifying marks in every regular season = competition this=20 winter while posting a 29-1 record prior to the NCAAs. Her proudest = moment as a=20 diver took place at the NEWMAC championships last month at MIT.
"The diving coach from the Coast Guard Academy was in the stands = talking to=20 my mother," she said, "not knowing our relationship, and he said to her, = 'You=20 see this one walking toward us? She was the class of the pool,' = referring to me.=20 It made us both feel special."
She plans to attend Harvard's Graduate School of Education.
Babson's O'Brien shines as starter
Although =
Babson=20
College junior pitcher Michael O'Brien of Shrewsbury =
entered=20
the season with a 7.36 career earned-run average and no victories on his =
college=20
resume, Beavers head coach Matt Noone knew the =
statistics were=20
not a true measure of O'Brien's capabilities.
"Mike pitched primarily out of the bullpen for us and he did very = well=20 overall. He got hit around a little in a game or two that inflated his = ERA, but=20 he was pretty solid and last year was our number one guy out of the = pen," said=20 Noone. "He also pitched well last summer in the Boston Park League, and = based on=20 what we were losing to graduation and what I thought of his attitude and = ability, I made him our number three starter this season."
O'Brien, a lefty out of St. John's High in his hometown, responded = with a=20 pair of complete-game victories through last weekend, including Sunday's = six-hit, 4-1 verdict over Rochester Institute of Technology. In 14 = innings this=20 season, he allowed 11 hits, walking three and striking out nine, with a = 1.29=20 ERA.
"He's pitched great and he's throwing strikes," said Noone, whose = team was=20 8-4 overall, "but that hasn't surprised me. He didn't all of a sudden=20 mysteriously arrive."
Freshman first baseman Travis Jonasson of Needham = was also=20 off to a fine start for Babson, batting .452 (14-for-31) in 10 games, = nine as a=20 starter. Jonasson, a former Catholic Memorial star, hit his first = collegiate=20 homer against RIT in support of O'Brien.
Marvin Pave can be reached at 508-820-4223 or marvin.pave@
=A9 Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper=20
Company.
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