Massachusetts Maritime seniors Alexander Barnas and Elise LaBonte were named today to their respective Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Men’s & Women’s Cross Country Sportsmanship teams as selected by the league’s coaches, while Buccaneer men’s coach Chris Ryan was honored by his peers as the 2014 MASCAC Sportsmanship Coach of the Year.

Barnas, a native of Easton, Pa. and a graduate of Easton Area High School, served as one of Massachusetts Maritime’s tri-captains this fall and helped lead his squad to a fifth place finish at last weekend’s MASCAC Championships as well as three top three finishes in regular season competition.  LaBonte, a native of Weymouth, Mass. and a native of Weymouth High School, helped guide Head Coach Tricia O’Brien’s squad to a seventh place finish at the MASCAC Championships, as Massachusetts Maritime also claimed the team title at the Pine Manor Invitational during the regular season.

Ryan adds the Sportsmanship Coach of the Year accolade to a month already filled with honors, as he was tabbed as the 2014 MASCAC Coach of the Year by his colleagues in the conference for the third time in his 18-year career on November 1^st.  Ryan is the only MASCAC mentor in any of the fall sports this season to earn both Coach of the Year and Sportsmanship Coach of the Year honors.

The MASCAC instituted the inaugural Sportsmanship teams in each of its championship sponsored sports during this academic year to recognize student-athletes for displaying good sportsmanship both in and out of competition.  Four Massachusetts Maritime coaches have already been named as their respective sport’s Sportsmanship Coach of the Year:  Ryan, Greg Perry (men’s soccer), Ray Cabral (women’s soccer) and Chris Ratches (volleyball).