Conner Dean has played a significant role in making that lofty ranking happen.

The 2025 Jamestown High School graduate has turned in a banner freshman campaign thus far for the Violets.

Among the personal highlights for the former New York State Public High School Athletic Association champion and All-American was his performance at the University Athletic Association Championships at the University of Chicago in February.

A member of the men’s 800-freestyle “A” relay, Dean and teammates set a program record on the first day with a second-place time of 6:30.79, besting the record set at last year’s UAA championship by 0.2 seconds. For his part, Dean’s 1:37.44 leg set a new program record for the men’s 200-yard freestyle relay.

Conner Dean

“He’s worked hard all year and deserves that record,” NYU head coach Trevor Miele said in a press release on the school’s website.

On the second day, Dean held his own amongst a number of juniors in the field, posting a second-place time of 1:47.08 in the 200-yard individual medley, just 0.41 seconds off the winning pace.

“I was proud of Conner for his performance in the IM final, hanging with a strong field,” Miele said.

On the third day, Dean scored the first UAA win of his freshman season, capturing the 400-yard individual medley final in 3:49.97.

On the final day, Dean placed third in the 200-yard breaststroke (1:58.14).

As a team, NYU placed second for the four-day meet.

As a member of the Frewsburg/Southwestern/Jamestown/Falconer swim team during his high school days, Dean capped his career at the NYSPHSAA Championships in 2025. In addition to winning the 200-yard individual medley and subsequent All-American honors in that event, Dean was also a member of the three first-place public school relays that also earned All-American recognition.

Dean is the son of Mark and Joanne Dean of Jamestown.

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Bryan Hodgson was named the head basketball coach at the University of South Florida not quite a year ago, but the 2005 Jamestown High School graduate has wasted little time putting his stamp of excellence on another college program.

Hodgson has been named American Conference Coach of the Year, capping a dominant regular season that saw South Florida claim its second regular-season title in program history and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament.

The Coach-of-the-Year honor is in recognition of a regular season in which Hodgson guided the Bulls to a program record-tying 23 regular-season wins, and a program-best nine road victories.

Furthermore, South Florida led the American Conference in offensive and defensive efficiency rating (per KenPom), and averaged 88.4 points per game, which broke the Bulls’ previous scoring record of 83.8. In addition, the Bulls broke the conference record for most 100-plus point games in a single season with six, while recording three of the four highest-scoring conference games in program history.

Hodgson’s coaching career has included assistant stops at Fredonia State University, Jamestown Community College, Midland (Texas) College, the University of Buffalo and the University of Alabama. Prior to arriving at South Florida, he spent two seasons as the head coach at Arkansas State University.

On his current staff with the Bulls are Jamestown natives Marty Stockwell and his daughter, Jenna. Marty serves as the director of player personnel, while Jenna is a graduate assistant manager.

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Tori Spacciapolli (Fredonia High School ’22, Canisius University ’26), swam to a fine finish at the recent Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships.

She finished the 100-yard breaststroke with a season-best time of 1:06.19 for 12th place overall, and in the 200 breaststroke she swam a career-best time of 2:24.41 to finish 14th overall. Those times put her in the B finals for both the 100 and 200 breaststroke.

During the regular swim season at Canisius, she had 14 top-five finishes, including four for second place.

Spacciapolli was a member of the Canisius University All-Academic Team for all three years in attendance. She also is now ranked fourth all-time in the school’s 100 and 200 breaststroke and eighth in the individual medley.

Her last MAAC participation capped a 13-year competitive swimming career, which began as a Hammerhead as an 8-year-old.