ITHACA - It's safe to say that the Nazareth College swimming and diving team is thrilled to have Southwestern alumnus Jeff Green (Lakewood) on its side.
A freshman for the Golden Flyers, Green had already "shattered" a school diving record back in early February, but saw fit to snap a few more during the final two events of his first collegiate season.
Starting off at the Upper New York State/Empire 8 Conference meet in early March, the former Trojan posted an 11-dive score of 466.75 (his previous record was 443.15) and secured a seventh-place finish in the 1-meter competition.
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JEFF GREEN
NAZARETH COLLEGE PHOTO
At that same event, Green took 11th in the 3-meter competition behind a school-record setting tally of 374.95, besting the previous mark - set in 1980 - of 370.80.
As it turned out, that 3-meter record was not long for this world.
Due to his solid performance at the aforementioned meet, Green qualified for the NCAA Division III Region 4 Diving Championships.
Not only did he place sixth in the 1-meter competition (he compiled an 11-dive score of 450.25), but he also managed an 11th-place finish in the 3-meter competition.
His score in that event?
A school-record 410-35.
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Jeff Green wasn't the only former area standout to post a record-breaking performance of late.
Leslie Beaton (Bemus Point/Maple Grove) ran a school-record 800-meter time of 2:19.59 to finish 13th of 24 for Fredonia State during the ECAC Division III Indoor Track & Field Championship meet at the New Balance Armory in New York City.
Beaton's time was four-tenths of a second faster than the previous mark, which was set by Rachel McNamara in Feb. 2005.
The senior also ran the second leg of a record-breaking distance medley relay. Together with teammates Lauren Kotas, Katie Tresino and Amanda Cocchiara, they foursome finished with a combined time of 12:36.48, good for seventh place and over eight seconds faster than the previous record set back in 2007.
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Travis Nagle (Randolph/Randolph), a sophomore at Alfred State, broke his own school record in the heptathlon with 4,441 points for eighth place at the NJCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championships at Texas Tech.
The total was 120 points more than his previous record, which at the time was fourth-best in the nation, set when he clinched the heptathlon title at the Region III championships.
The 2011 Randolph graduate's best showing was in the pole vault, where he cleared 4.30 meters (that's over 14 feet).
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Shelby Overturf (Falconer/Falconer), a freshman on the Mercyhurst North East softball team, has picked up right where she left off a Falconer a year ago.
Overturf, a 2012 Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 first-team selection, has been perfect in the circle thus far this season, posting a perfect 4-0 record in five starts. In 29 innings pitched, the right hander has surrendered just 12 earned runs and 36 hits for a 2.90 earned-run average.
She hasn't been too shabby in the batter's box either, actually.
Overturf is hitting .390 (16-for-41) with 10 runs, six doubles, two homeruns, and 16 RBIs. She is also reaching base at a .435 clip.
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Michelle Persons (Sherman/Sherman) was honored by the Empire 8 Conference recently.
The Houghton senior and former Lady Wildcat was named to the Women's Basketball Sportsman of the Year Team. One member of each squad in the Empire 8 was chosen, and those selected were judged to, as the accolade states, "have distinguished themselves and consistently (exhibited) the critical traits as outstanding sportswomen."
In 23 games this season, Persons averaged 31.8 minutes, 7.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per contest.