Six Trailblazers Earn CSC At-Large Academic All-District Honors

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Men's Ice Hockey players Matthew Castillo (Ozone Park, NY), Quinn Murphy (Champaign, IL), and Charlie Addesa (Andover, MA), Lacrosse player James Julian (Leominster, MA), and dual sport athletes Mathew Gover (Atkinson, NH) and Easton Moore (Red Deer, AB) have earned All-District recognition by the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-American program.

This is the first time Murphy, Addesa, Julian, Gover, and Moore have been honored, while it is the second time Castillo has won this recognition, having previously been honored as part of the All-District team last year. They join the three other volleyball, six men's soccer, six women's soccer team members announced in the fall, one men's basketball team member announced after the winter season, two softball players from the spring season, three women's hockey players, and nine athletes from the 2023-24 school year. Prior to last season, no MCLA athlete had been honored by CSC since 2019, when softball outfielder Kaitlyn Berghela was named to the Academic All-American Division III third team.

The captain and one of the few upper classmen on the very young MCLA Lacrosse team, Julian tied for fifth on the team with 20 ground balls and was third on the team with 13 caused turnovers. The Junior's influence was most felt during the Trailblazers 7-6 overtime victory over Hilbert College on March 18^th when he had one ground ball and a turnover caused. Julian was part of a defense corp that bottled up the Alleghey Mountain Collegiate Conference's second leading scorer, Joey DiMaria, off the scoresheet. In the Trailblazers' season finale against Husson, Julian had a team high six groundballs to go with a pair of turnovers caused. Julian is a three-year member of the Trailblazer lacrosse program and is an English major.

Another upper classman on a young team, Castillo was the lone senior on the MCLA Men's Ice Hockey team. The senior brought some physicality to the Trailblazers blue line, always willing to get into the mix on the ice. Castillo had a pair of points MCLA's 4-2 win over Rivier University on December 7^th when he assisted on the opening goal by Cade Herrera in the first period and then scored what would turn out to be the game winner on a power play during the second period. He also provided a helper in the Trailblazers' 5-3 win over UMass-Dartmouth on January 16^th, pairing with Luke Rhoss to provide the assist on Colin Ogborn's tally. Castillo graduated this past spring with a degree in political science.

Murphy was primarily the center on the MCLA's second line this season and tied for fourth on the team with 12 points, including a team-high three power play goals. He tied for fifth on the team with four goals and was fourth on the team with eight assists. Murphy picked up three points in the Trailblazers game with Framingham State on February 22^nd with a goal and two assists and finished the game with a +2. As the season was moving into crunch time, the center picked up 11 points in the span of 14 games, capped by that three-point performance at Framingham. Murphy finished his second season with the Trailblazer hockey program and is majoring in business.

The selfless Addesa was another centerman for the MCLA, but showed off his versatility by joining the blueline for several games when injuries decimated the team's supply of defensemen. He finished the season with six points on five assists and a goal. That goal came on a power play in the Trailblazers' 5-3 win over UMass-Dartmouth on January 16^th. Addesa also tacked on an assist when Murphy provided an insurance goal in that matchup with the Corsairs. Addesa is a two year member of the Trailblazer hockey program and is majoring in business.

Moore is the first of our dual-sport athletes to qualify for the CSC At-Large All-District Team. He is a co-captains of the hockey team and a member of the MASCAC runner up golf team. On the ice, Moore led the team with 13 assists and was second on the team with 19 points. He had two multi-point games, notching a goal and three assists in MCLA's 5-3 win over UMass-Dartmouth on January 16^th and notched three assists against Anna Maria on February 8^th. As the Trailblazers made their surprise run to the MASCAC championship game, Moore provided points in all three games, including the game winning goal in the semifinal round at Anna Maria. Moore finished his second season with the Trailblazer hockey program and is majoring in business.

Rounding out the MCLA contingent is the two-time MASCAC Golfer of the Year and two-time Louis Parisien Memorial Award winner in Gover. During the fall season, Gover brought home five MASCAC Golfer of the Week awards while also adding a MASCAC Goalie of the Week award for the winter season. On the links, Gover defended his MASCAC title shooting a two under par 144 during the two-day championship weekend. Moving into the winter season, Gover was the force that helped propel the Trailblazers to the MASCAC championship game. Gover led the MASCAC in saves (1106) and minutes (1656:02) while his .922 save percentage was fifth. Gover just finished his second season with the MCLA hockey and golf programs and is majoring in health sciences.

Per the College Sports Communicators (previously known as COSIDA) website, the Academic All-American is a title reserved for college student-athletes who perform at an elite level in their chosen sport and in the classroom. The all-time list of 40,000+ Academic All-Americans includes major sports stars and some of the world's most accomplished individuals in medicine, business, science, and the arts. Established in 1952 and selected by College Sports Communicators, Academic All-America is the longest-running and premier award for athletic and academic success across championship college sports at all NCAA levels, the NAIA, two-year colleges, and Canadian institutions. Teams are announced year-round and amplified by CSC member colleges, universities, and conferences on a wide local, regional, national, and even international scope.

To be eligible for consideration, student-athletes must demonstrate the best traits of a student-athlete, both on and off the playing field. Among the requirements are:

• Outstanding student-athletes are nominated for Academic All-District® recognition by communications directors and must have a minimum 3.50 GPA and meet high athletic standards. (25,000+ nominations annually)
• A select group of student-athletes advances to the national ballot, where CSC members vote on Academic All-America teams. (approximately 2,000 selections annually)
• A Team Member of the Year is selected in each sport and division. (66 recipients)
• An overall Academic All-America of the Year is selected as the top student-athlete across all sports in each NCAA and NAIA division. (4 recipients)

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