By Mary Ann Tarr
DiMaggio rowing and studying well at St. Joe’s
Andrew DiMaggio of Robbinsville has been named to the 2015 Philadelphia Inquirer Men’s Rowing Academic All-Area Team. The team is voted on by the Philadelphia metropolitan area’s 28 sports information directors. In order to be eligible for the Academic All-Area team, an athlete must be in his or her second year at the institution and hold a cumulative GPA of 3.20 or better. DiMaggio is a business intelligence major.
DiMaggio, who recently finished his junior year at Saint Joseph’s University, rowed for the Hawks’ Second Varsity 8. This season, he helped SJU to a second-place finish at the Kerr Cup and to a third-place finish at the Bergen Cup.
DiMaggio received the Hawks’ Academic Award in 2013-14 for maintaining the highest grade-point average on the team. He has also been named to the Saint Joseph’s Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for multiple semesters. He played baseball and tennis and ran track at Robbinsville High School.
Burum still providing relief for Seton Hall
Sam Burum of Robbinsville made a team-high 26 appearances, all in relief, for the Seton Hall University baseball team. A former standout at Robbinsville High School, Burum went 3-0 with a 2.79 ERA in a career-high 42.0 innings pitched. He struck out 29 batters and walked 12 and batters hit just .228 off him. He made an impact in the conference, as he tied for fifth in the Big East with 14 games finished and tied for sixth with 26 appearances.
Highlights include an outing where he pitched 1.2 perfect innings with one strikeout versus Creighton and 1.2 innings of perfect relief against Georgetown. Later in that same series, he earned a victory with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief. He tossed a scoreless inning at Saint Peter’s and also retired all 13 batters he faced in 4.1 innings versus Rutgers. Burum pitched a scoreless inning at St. John’s and later pitched two scoreless innings against the same opponent. The 6-foot-5 right-hander pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts against FDU and he pitched 1.2 scoreless innings versus Connecticut. He threw scoreless innings in games with Connecticut and Saint Peter’s. The junior retired all four batters he faced against Cornell and pitched 6.2 innings in relief at North Carolina.
He made a team-high 20 appearances with two starts in 2014 and was named “All-Rookie” by the New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association in 2013.
Burum earned four varsity letters in both baseball and basketball at Robbinsville High.
Johnson finishes all-star year at Morgan State
A junior hurdler and member of the Morgan State University relay teams, Evan Johnson earned Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athlets of America All-East honors, among others during the past school year. The Bears’ 4×400-meter relay team, with Johnson as the anchor, captured the gold with a season-best time of 3:06.74, defeating the LIU-Brooklyn entry by just 0.24 seconds the IC4A Outdoor Championship at Princeton’s Weaver Stadium. Johnson represented MSU in the 400-meter hurdles finals where he placed third with an All-East time of 51.76.
He also earned all-league acclaim with a second-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2015 Outdoor Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championships and he was a member of the Bears’ MEAC championship 4×400 relay. The Ewing High alumnus was an NCAA regional qualifier in the 400 hurdles as well as with the Bears’ 4×400 relay.
His indoor junior season included highlights such as a fifth place in the 400-meter event at 2015 MEAC championship. He also helped the Bears to a third-place finish in the 4×400 meter relay at the indoor conference championship.
Johnson, who earned all-state status at Ewing High School, has continued to work hard and to excel at MSU with many accomplishments during the past six (three indoor, three outdoor) track and field seasons.
Dearden has solid baseball season
Keith Dearden of Ewing was a team leader for the Oglethorpe University baseball team. A junior infielder, Dearden saw action mostly as a first or second baseman and posted a .978 fielding percentage.
The Pennington School alumnus ranked second on the team with 46 hits and four home runs. He was also third for the Stormy Petrels in batting average (.313) and RBI (27), and was fourth in doubles with nine.
Teachen stepping up at UMASS Lowell
Three River Hawks, including Thomas Teachen of Titusville, took first-place finishes to highlight a strong day for UMass Lowell men’s track and field, at the 13th Annual George Davis Invitational this spring at the Cushing Field Complex.
Teachen won the 3,000-meter steeplechase by a wide margin, crossing the finish line at 9:50.04. The freshman led from start to finish and outdistanced the rest of the field by 14 seconds.
He also grabbed the coaching staff’s attention earlier this year when his performance was part of a solid showing by UMass Lowell men at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational at the Boston University Track and Tennis Center. The two-day event is one of the top competitions in the country and attracted colleges and track clubs from across the country and Canada and more than 1,000 competitors. Teachen ran an 8:35.03 in the 3,000 meters. He was one of three River Hawks freshmen to excel at that meet.
The Hopewell Valley High School alumnus also had success as a cross-country runner last fall.
Steinert softball alumnae excel at Cabrini
Amber Dietrich and Jess Giordano were key components of the softball program at Cabrini College this season. Dietrich, a super sophomore, led Cabrini with a team-high .426 batting average and notched 46 hits, 25 RBI, 29 runs scored and five triples this season. She tallied 13 multi-hit games and added two 10-game hitting streaks this season. She was selected to the Eastern College Athletic Conference South Division III All-Stars. Dietrich earned a second-team accolade.
The outfielder was also named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-East Region Third Team. Dietrich, who was also chosen for the All-Colonial States Athletic Conference First Team, led the Cavaliers to a 27-12 season record, including 19-3 in league play. Dietrich, a two-time NFCA All-East Region performer, ranked in the top 15 in the CSAC in numerous categories, including second in triples, seventh in batting average, 10th in hits and slugging percentage, 13th in runs and 15th in RBI.
An off-the-field highlight for Dietrich was joining more than 200 student-athletes and NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipients for the sixth annual Career in Sports Forum June 4-7 at the NCAA Headquarters in Indianapolis. Participants who expressed an interest in pursuing a career in sports and were viewed as leaders on their campus were invited to apply to attend the forum after a nomination by athletics administrators at their respective schools. The forum provided college athletes with a broader scope of the career tracks available within the sports business, with the primary focus on college athletics. Dietrich chronicled her experience at the forum for CabriniAthletics.com.
Giordano, the former HGSA World Series winner and four-year varsity pitcher at Steinert, also helped he Blue and White to make their second consecutive appearance in the CSAC championship final before ending its season in the ECAC South tournament. Giordano pitched a one-hit shutout in the CSAC conference semifinal while smacking out two doubles.
She finished her freshman season with a record of 9-6, two saves, and a team-high 48 strikeouts. The freshman batted .313, with a home run, and seven RBI. Highlights included a win over eighth-ranked Widener College in which Giordano belted a three-run homer and finished with four RBI. In a 7-1 victory, Giordano allowed just three hits while striking out four. Giordano was honored on the CSAC outstanding player list and was a Dean’s List student.
Both ex-Spartans were named to the Winter/Spring All-Colonial States Athletic Conference All-Academic Team.
Have an item for The College Crowd? Send it to Mary Ann Tarr at tarr.mary.ann@gmail.com.
