May 06, 2008 07:05 pm Matt Langone With several collegiate spring sports seasons coming to a close recently, now is a good time to check in and take a look at how some of our college athletes from Cape Ann performed. Manchester's Chris Landers enjoyed a fantastic freshman year on the Wheaton College men's lacrosse team. Landers, who played his high school lax at Proctor Academy in Andover, N.H., capped off his first season with the Lyons by being named the Pilgrim League Rookie of the Year and an All-Conference selection. Landers was the first Wheaton player to earn Rookie of the Year honors since 2001. Playing attack, Landers led his team and all Pilgrim freshmen in points (39) and goals (29), placing fourth and fifth overall in those categories respectively. He also netted the most goals by a Wheaton freshman since 1996, scoring on 50-percent of his shots. He registered three game-winning goals, all during league play, while notching five hat tricks. Landers' production also paid dividends for his team. The Lyons advanced to their first Pilgrim League Tournament championship game since 1996, before falling to Springfield College, 9-5. Wheaton closed out the campaign with a record of 8-9. The Lyons should be a force to be reckoned with next year, as they will graduate just three seniors. nnn The near-namesake (at least in terms of last name) of Chris Landers, also had a stellar spring season, but in a different sport. Gloucester native and former GHS baseball player Jeff Lander had a surprising campaign on the diamond for Division 3 Anna Maria College in Paxton, Mass. Replacing Anna Maria's injured starting left fielder in the beginning of the season, Landers made the most of his opportunity. He started 30 of the 33 games and he led the team in batting average (.373), runs (27), home runs (4) and RBIs (23). The team closed out the season at 12-23. nnn There was plenty of Manchester flavor on the Hamilton College women's tennis team. Twin sisters and Manchester Essex graduates Kara and Marni Powers were key contributors on the court for Division 3 Hamilton, which is located in Clinton, N.Y. The sisters, who both graduate this spring, teamed up to win their 38th and final doubles match with a 9-7 victory over St. Lawrence in late April. Both were All-Conference doubles performers and finished the season ranked 14th in the region as a doubles pairing. The twins also each had a winning record in singles play. Hamilton finished with a 5-10 record this year. nnn Gloucester native and former GHS track star Jeff Destino is still involved in his spring season with the UMass Lowell outdoor track team. The senior captain and sprinter, will help lead the River Hawks into the New England Championships at the University of New Hampshire this weekend. Last weekend, Destino helped UMass Lowell place second at the Northeast-10 Conference Men's Championships at Bryant University. Destino placed fifth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.6 seconds at the Northeast-10 meet. The week before that, Destino ran a leg in the River Hawks' 4x400 meter relay, which placed second at the Brown Springtime Invitational.
Matt Langone is the sports editor at The Gloucester Daily Times. He can be reached at mlangone@gloucestertimes.com
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