Jace Hollenbach competes in the New England 10 Conference championships on Oct. 24 in Manchester, Hew Hampshire. Photo provided by Stonehill College/Jim Stankiewicz

Jace Hollenbach wasn’t sure what to expect when he arrived at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts for his freshman season on the cross country team. Now, the former Mt. Ararat standout is off to the Division II national championships at Saint Leo University in Saint Leo, Florida.

It’s the 18th consecutive season that the school’s men’s cross country team has qualified for the national championships, which will take place Saturday.

“The road to get here was tough,” said Hollenbach. “We had to defeat several good teams to get to this point. I’m very excited, but I’m (not) sure what the experience will look like.”

Stonehill placed third out of 21 teams at the NCAA Division II East Region championships at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, New York on Nov. 6. Hollenbach finished 40th with a time of 33:44.0 in the 10-kilometer race.

“The season has gone great overall, I’ve run much faster than I’ve expected to,” Hollenbach said. “The mileage is longer, which has been an adjustment, but this season has been great.”

While Hollenbach enjoyed a strong season, former Brunswick standout Tyler Patterson couldn’t finish his because of a foot injury.

Patterson, a freshman at Cornell, injured his foot in an Oct. 1 race in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Now, the former Brunswick star is hoping to be ready for the indoor season.

“This season was a learning experience,” he said. “With the indoor season coming up, it will be a really good opportunity to see where I’m at. I consider myself a better track runner anyway, so hopefully transitioning to the track will be helpful.”

• • •

Freeport standout pitcher Blaine Cockburn officially signed his National Letter of Intent last week to play baseball at the University of Maine in Orono.

Cockburn, a senior, verbally committed to Maine in September 2020 but had to wait to sign his letter on Nov. 10.

Freeport High pitcher Blaine Cockburn, middle, signs his National Letter of Intent last week to attend the University of Maine in Orono. Photo provided by Craig Sickels

A 6-foot-1 hard-throwing lefty from Durham, Cockburn was the ace of the Freeport staff this past season. He helped the Falcons reach the Class B championship game for the second consecutive season. In 33 innings pitched, Cockburn went 5-1 with an 0.84 ERA in 2021. He allowed just 10 hits and 17 walks with 70 strikeouts and figures to be the top pitcher on the Midcoast again this upcoming season.

• • •

The Bowdoin College field hockey team dropped a 3-2 decision to No. 2 Johns Hopkins in an NCAA Division III tournament regional final game on Sunday.

The No. 5 Polar Bears, who received an at-large bid to the tournament after falling to Middlebury in the New England Small College Athletic Conference title game, breezed past Eastern Connecticut 9-0 in the opening round to earn a trip to Baltimore. Bowdoin topped Centre College 1-0 in the Round of 16 on Saturday behind a second-quarter goal from Abby Bashaw.

With a spot in the Final Four up for grabs on Sunday, the Polar Bears went down 3-0 in the third quarter and couldn’t recover.

• • •

Basketball is back at Bowdoin College after a 609-day hiatus. The men’s team handled Thomas College 89-68 on Saturday in Brunswick to give head coach Alex Lloyd his first win leading the Polar Bears. The women’s team defeated Nazareth College 65-44 on Saturday in Biddeford to give first-year head coach Sacha Santimano her first victory with the Polar Bears.

The women’s team will host the annual Bowdoin Tip-Off Tournament this upcoming weekend while the men’s team will travel to Western New England University in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Bowdoin also announced its COVID-19 protocols for spectators. Fully vaccinated spectators 12 years and older are permitted to attend indoor sporting events at Bowdoin. Fans 12 and under won’t be allowed into Bowdoin events until January — and will have to be vaccinated as well. Spectators will also be required to wear a mask while indoors.

• • •

A couple of Midcoast high school athletes were named to their all-conference teams this fall.

Former Lisbon standout and current Husson wide receiver Tyler Halls was selected to the Commonwealth Coast Football first-team offense.

In the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC), former Mt. Ararat standout goalie Emma Lapreziosa of Wheaton College (Norton, Massachusetts) was named to the all-conference first team.