TOWSON, Md. – Veronique Archambault-Leger (Verdun, Quebec) and Sean McNamara (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) of the University of New Hampshire ski team were voted to a 2009 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District at-large team, CoSIDA announced Thursday afternoon.
    Archambault-Leger, a junior alpine skier with a 3.93 grade-point-average in chemical engineering, is a District 1 University Division First Team honoree and will now be on the national ballot. McNamara, a senior alpine skier with a 3.66 GPA in kinesiology: exercise science, was named to the Second Team.

DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire ski team recently held its annual team banquet to honor an MVP in all four disciplines and recognize the overall accomplishments of a team that finished ninth in the NCAA championships as well as second at the UNH Carnival during the Eastern circuit.
    Aileen Farrell (Ottawa, Ontario) and Sean McNamara (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) were named the women’s and men’s alpine MVPs, respectively, while Dylan McGuffin (Concord, N.H.) was feted as the men’s Nordic MVP and Sarah Wright (Wyoming, Minn.) received the women’s Nordic MVP.
    Head coach Cory Schwartz also cited head alpine coach Brian Blank as the EISA Alpine Coach of the Year as well as the 10 student-athletes named to the NCAA All-Academic Team, the five skiers who garnered All-America accolades and the quintet that received All-East honors.

DURHAM, N.H. – Kacey Bellamy (Westfield, Mass.) of the women's ice hockey team and Sean McNamara (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) of the men's ski team were named the 2009 recipients of the Jim Urquhart Student-Athlete of the Year by the University of New Hampshire athletic department at Tuesday night’s annual Senior Banquet.
     The Tina True Memorial Award, given annually since 2007 to two Wildcat athletes for their commitment to strength and conditioning, was presented to Bellamy and Tom Bishop (Newfield, N.Y.), a senior punter/placekicker on the football team.

DURHAM, N.H. – The quartet of All-Americans Veronique Archambault-Leger (Verdun, Quebec), Michael Cremeno (Pembroke, N.H.), Willie Ford (Plymouth, N.H.) and Sean McNamara (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) highlight a list of 10 University of New Hampshire skiers named to the 2009 NCAA All-Academic Team.
    McNamara has been selected to the NCAA All-Academic Team all four years as a Wildcat – 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Archambault-Leger and Marlijne Cook (Saranac Lake, N.Y.) were honored for the third consecutive year while both Ford and Michael Lessard (Greene, Maine) were repeat selections from ’08.
    Cremeno is one of five UNH first-time honorees. The University’s other 2009 NCAA All-Academic Team members are Alex Norden (Eaton, N.H.), Sam Norden (Eaton, N.H.), Ethan Weibrecht (Lake Placid, N.Y.) and Sarah Wright (Wyoming, Minn.).

RESULTS
RUMFORD, Maine – Sarah Wright (Wyoming, Minn.) finished 14th in the women’s 15K freestyle technique race on the final day of competition to help the University of New Hampshire ski team to a ninth-place finish at the 2009 NCAA Skiing Championships, which were held by Bates College from March 12-14 at Black Mountain and Sunday River.
   UNH returns to the top 10 for the first time since 2006, when the Wildcats also finished in ninth place; the ‘Cats had finished 11th each of the past two years. New Hampshire compiled 394 points overall and had the second-highest alpine team score of 353 on the strength of eight All-America performances.

RESULTS
BETHEL, Maine – Bolstered by All-America efforts from Veronique Archambault-Leger (Verdun, Quebec), Aileen Farrell (Ottawa, Ontario), Willie Ford (Plymouth, N.H.) and Sean McNamara (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.), the University of New Hampshire ski team climbed to seventh place following Friday’s day of competition at the 2009 NCAA Skiing Championships, which are being held by Bates College.
    The Wildcats amassed a total of 173 points in the slalom competitions to raise their two-day total to 368 points. The UNH women’s alpine team compiled 89 points, which was the third-highest team score, in the slalom. The men’s alpine squad also tallied the third-highest team total in the slalom with 84 points.

RESULTS
BETHEL and RUMFORD, Maine  — Veronique Archambault-Leger (Verdun, Quebec), Michael Cremeno (Pembroke, N.H.), Aileen Farrell (Ottawa, Ontario) and Willie Ford (Plymouth, N.H.) of the University of New Hampshire ski team each garnered All-America recognition in Thursday’s opening day of competition at the 2009 NCAA Skiing Championships, which are being held by Bates College at Sunday River and Black Mountain.
   All four Wildcats received All-America accolades in the giant slalom, which was originally scheduled for Wednesday but was postponed due to inclement weather. Both the men’s and women’s alpine squads, comprised of the maximum allotment of three skiers, recorded the third-best team scores with 93 and 87 points, respectively. The Nordic team garnered 15 points to bring UNH’s one-day total to 195 points, which places the ‘Cats in ninth place overall.

SCHEDULE | CHAMPIONSHIP PAGE
BETHEL, Maine — Due to harsh weather conditions, the men's and women's giant slalom competition at the NCAA Skiing Championships scheduled for Wednesday, March 11 have been postponed and are rescheduled to Thursday, March 12 at the same time (women: 9 a.m.; men: 12:30 p.m.).
    The Nordic events will proceed as originally scheduled on March 12: the men's 10K classical race starts at 10 a.m., followed by the women's 5K classical race at 12 p.m.

NCAA Championship Page | Alpine course | Nordic course
DURHAM, N.H. – Led by All-East First Team honorees Willie Ford (Plymouth, N.H.) and Sean McNamara (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.), the University of New Hampshire ski team will have a full alpine contingent and seven student-athletes overall competing at the 2009 National Collegiate Men’s and Women’s Skiing Championships. The event, hosted by Bates College, will be held March 11-14 at Sunday River (Bethel, Maine) and Black Mountain (Rumford, Maine).
   Ford and McNamara will be joined in the alpine competition by All-East Second Team selections Michael Cremeno (Pembroke, N.H.), Veronique Archambault-Leger (Verdun, Quebec) and Aileen Farrell (Ottawa, Ontario), as well as Cynthia Tessier (Rawdon, Quebec). Sarah Wright (Wyoming, Minn.) will be the lone Wildcats’ competitor in the Nordic events.

This is the ninth installment of  “Cat Trax,” a series of feature stories that will periodically appear on the UNH athletics web site.
   By Patrick Villanova, UNH Athletic Media Relations
DURHAM, N.H. — Ever since he could walk, Willie Ford has been on a pair of skies, carving his own trail on the slopes. Years of training led him to the  University of New Hampshire, where he has quickly ascended into the elite tier of collegiate skiers. But despite all of the individual accolades and success he has enjoyed this season and throughout his career, Ford is not done.
   After placing 11th in the slalom in last year’s NCAA Championships and missing All-America honors by the narrowest of margins, the standout junior is set to compete again next week and has high hopes for this year’s event.