LOWELL, Mass.- UMass Lowell Field Hockey Head Coach Shannon LeBlanc has announced the addition of 10 newcomers to the roster for her program’s upcoming 50th season.
 
The River Hawks will welcome Holly Beckinsale (Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland), Alexa Guarneri (Hockessin, Del.), Helena Herlocher (State College, Pa.), Megan Macmiller (Tarzana, Calif.), Veerle Mous (Breda, Netherlands), Rena Pistilli (Lambaré, Paraguay), Jaedyn Scarlatos (South Setauket, N.Y.), Brynn Somers (Berlin, N.J.), Haley Wernig (Franklin, Mass.) and Abby Wortmann (Nazareth, Pa.)  in 2025.
 
“We are excited about the strength of this class,” said LeBlanc. “They each bring a unique, high-level skill set and all of them are committed to our program’s core values. They are accomplished both on the field and in the classroom, and have some fantastic leadership qualities. We have high expectations for this group and are looking forward to August when their newest chapter with UMass Lowell field hockey begins.”
 
RIVER HAWK PLAYER PROFILES
 
Name: Holly Beckinsale
Hometown/High School: Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland/Belfast
Class: Freshman
Position: Midfielder
Height: 5-5
Club Team: Mossley Ladies Hockey Club
Major: Exercise Science and Kinesiology
 
HIGH SCHOOL: School 1XI captain and Ulster captain for UK School Games Tournament in Loughborough, England as a senior … named Ulster U18 captain and selected to the Ireland U18 Regional Squad as a junior … also played tennis … Northern Ireland Tennis runner-up as a senior.
 
PERSONAL: Daughter of Michael and Beverley … has one younger sibling (Chloe) … lists piano, harmonica, baking, Girls Brigade, coaching and scrapbooking as her favorite hobbies … names Friends, Young Offenders and Gilmore Girls as her favorite TV shows … Shirley McCay is her favorite sports figure, while Ireland Hockey and England Women’s Soccer are her favorite sports teams … chose to attend UMass Lowell because she has never seen a team with a better atmosphere and morale than this one.
 
Name: Alexa Guarneri
Hometown/High School: Hockessin, Delaware/The Charter School of Wilmington
Class: Freshman
Position: Midfielder/Forward
Height: 5-5
Club Team: Delaware Sharks
Major: Nursing
 
HIGH SCHOOL: Three-year varsity starter and two-year captain … two-time First Team All-Conference and First Team All-State selection … set single-season (38) and career goals (60) record at her high school … helped her team to three semifinal appearances … two-time NCCs qualifier … also played soccer.
 
PERSONAL: Daughter of Jason and Julie … has two brothers (Kyle and Cole) … both parents were college athletes … her favorite hobbies include skiing, going to the beach, wakeboarding and hiking … How I Met Your Mother and Impractical Jokers are her favorite TV shows … calls the New York Yankees her favorite sports team and lists Katie Ledecky as her favorite sports figure … chose to attend UMass Lowell for the high-quality field hockey program and the nursing program.
 
Name: Helena Herlocher
Hometown/High School: State College, Pennsylvania/State College Area
Class: Freshman
Position: Midfielder/Back
Height: 5-7
Club Team: Blue Stripe Field Hockey Club
Major: Business
 
HIGH SCHOOL: Named team captain as a senior … four-time District 6 champions … tabbed Mid-Penn First Team as a senior … selected to the All-State Second Team as a junior … helped her team win the Mid-Penn Commonwealth Championship as a sophomore … named to the Pennsylvania Academic All-American Team … also played lacrosse and was part of the indoor track & field team.
 
PERSONAL: Daughter of Neil and Sharon … has two siblings (Phebe and Charlie) … both parents and her siblings were all college athletes … favorite hobbies are
traveling, hanging out with friends and her dog, reading, cooking, baking and hiking …
Narcos and The Office are her favorite TV shows … names Ilona Maher and Billie Jean King as her favorite sports figures … lists the Eagles and Liverpool FC as her favorite teams … chose to attend UMass Lowell for the academic opportunities and welcoming team environment.
 
Name: Megan MacMiller
Hometown/High School: Tarzana, Calif./Chaminade College Preparatory
Class: Freshman
Position: Goalkeeper
Height: 5-4
Club Team: Ventura County Red Devils
Major: Business
 
HIGH SCHOOL: Four-year varsity team member … team captain as a senior … two-time All-Star … named MVP as a junior and ranked first in the nation for saves by MaxPreps … earned Best Defensive Player honors as a sophomore and Rookie of the Year as a freshman … scholar-athlete all four years … member of the National Honors Society.
 
PERSONAL: Daughter of Cary an Amber … has two siblings (Ian and Erin) … lists reading, horseback riding and spending time with friends and family are her favorite hobbies … Bridgerton is her favorite TV show … names the Dodgers and the LA Kings as her favorite sports teams … lists Katie Bing and Maddie Hinch as her favorite sports figures … chose to attend UMass Lowell because of the field hockey community.
 
Name: Veerle Mous
Hometown/High School: Breda, Netherlands/De Nassau
Class: Freshman
Position: Goalkeeper
Height: 5-9
Club Team: BHV Push Breda
Major: English
 
HIGH SCHOOL: Helped her club finish third in the Super A U16 National Championships.
 
PERSONAL: Daughter of Tim and Karien … has two brothers (Klaas and Ot) and a twin sister Feline … spends her free time skiing, snowboarding, hanging out with friends and shopping … favorite TV show is Gossip Girl … calls Lando Norris and Frenkie de Jong her favorite sports figures … chose to attend UMass Lowell because she sees an opportunity to merge her passions for journalism and field hockey into a unique and meaningful experience.
 
Name: Rena Pistilli
Hometown/High School: Lambaré, Paraguay
Class: Freshman
Position: Midfielder
Height: 5-6
Club Team: CURDA
Major: Liberal Arts
 
HIGH SCHOOL: Totals 30 FIH caps with eight goals … helped lead her club to two Senior Vice Champion titles in the national tournament … captained her team at the Pan American Senior Challenge and the FIH Hockey5s World Cup in 2024 … also served as captain at the 2023 Hockey5s Pan American Cup … youngest member of the Senior National Team to participate at the 2022 Odesur Senior Tournament … made the Senior National Team at 16 years old and traveled to Peru for 2021 Pan American Challenge.
 
PERSONAL: Daughter of Carlos and Raquel … has three siblings (Fabriccio, José and Lara) … enjoys drawing and cooking in her free time … lists Twilight as her favorite TV show … names the Chelsea and Olimpia soccer teams as her favorite professional teams … Julieta Jankunas and Frederique Matla are her favorite sports figures … chose to attend UMass Lowell because it offered the perfect balance between competitive DI athletics and strong academics.
 
Name: Jaedyn Scarlatos
Hometown/High School: South Setauket, N.Y./The Hill School
Previous School: Bryant
Class: Sophomore
Position: Back/Forward
Height: 5-3
Club Team: WC Eagles
Major: Psychology
 
AS A FRESHMAN (2024 AT BRYANT): Started all 18 games … posted first collegiate goal against Queens (NC) … finished the season with one goals and two assists for four points.
 
HIGH SCHOOL: Helped lead her team to three MAPL Championships … led her team in assists and was named to the All-State Second Team twice … member of the 2022 State Championship winning squad … earned an All-State honorable mention as a sophomore … was also a member of the track & field team.
 
PERSONAL: Daughter of John and Kimberly … has three siblings (Jonathan, Jamison and Jaxson) … mother Kimberly played field hockey at UMass Amherst … enjoys reading, cooking, going to the beach and hanging out with friends and family in her free time … Gilmore Girls is her favorite TV show … calls the New York Islanders her favorite sports team and Michael Jordan her favorite sports figure … chose to attend UMass Lowell because she loved the community, team and culture, and felt it was the perfect home for her.
 
Name: Brynn Somers
Hometown/High School: Berlin, N.J./Eastern Regional
Class: Freshman
Position: Midfielder/Back
Height: 5-5
Club Team: Uprise
Major: Undeclared
 
HIGH SCHOOL: Four-year varsity starter and two year-captain…named First Team All Group 4, First Team All-Conference, First Team SJFHCA All-South Jersey as a senior … SJFHCA All-Star selection and Top 100 Senior in New Jersey … selected to the All-Conference First Team and named the Top 100 junior in N.J. … first place in U19 Disney Tournament and second place in the U19 Junior Premier League as a junior … U16 National Club Championship as a sophomore and freshman … also played lacrosse … member of the Spanish Honor Society.
 
PERSONAL: Daughter of Shannon and John…has four sisters (Kayla, Peyton, Tara and Maura) … sisters Tara, Kayla and Maura all played collegiate field hockey … favorite hobbies are playing piano, cooking, watching movies and hanging out with friends and family … favorite TV shows are How I Met Your Mother and Modern Family … the Phillies and the Eagles are her favorite sports teams … lists Simone Biles, Bryce Harper and Saquon Barkley as her favorite athletes … chose to attend UMass Lowell for the atmosphere and environment of the place and people, on and off the field.
 
Name: Haley Wernig
Hometown/High School: Franklin, Mass./Franklin
Class: Freshman
Position: Forward/midfielder
Height: 5-5
Club Team: Premier
Major: Business
 
HIGH SCHOOL: Four-year varsity team member … four-year Hockomock League Champions … named Best of 60 Senior All-Star, Hockomock League MVP, and NHSCA All-Region as a senior … Division I Massachusetts State Elite 8 as a senior and Final Four as a junior … surpassed 100 career goals as a senior … named Boston Globe, Boston Herald and Metrowest Daily News All-Star, and the 2023 Field Hockey Top Performer in Massachusetts as a junior … also played ice hockey and served as a four-year varsity captain.
 
PERSONAL: Daughter of Adam and Carrie …has two brothers (Nathan and Jack) … mom Carrie played field hockey at Providence College … favorite hobbies include spending time with friends, skiing and ice skating … Gossip Girl is her favorite TV show … the Boston Bruins are her favorite sports team … lists her mom, Riley Heck and Ashely Sessa as her most influential sports figures … chose to attend UMass Lowell because the coaching staff left a profound impression on her, in addition to the program’s excellence and close location.
 
Name: Abby Wortmann
Hometown/High School: Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area
Class: Freshman
Position: Midfielder
Height: 5-6
Club Team: PPA Lehigh Valley
Major: Civil Engineering
 
HIGH SCHOOL: Three-year varsity starter … team captain as a senior … named to the All-State First Team and EPC First Team as a senior … nominated for Morning Call Athlete of the Week and Senior Cup … finished her career with 118 total points, including 13 goals and 15 assists as a senior … EPC Second Team and Morning Call All-Area Honorable Mention as a junior after helping her team to the EPC semifinals and the District XI quarterfinals … also played lacrosse … graduated with high honors.
 
PERSONAL: Daughter of Steve and Melissa … has a brother (Matt) and two sisters (Brittani and Alycia) … spends her time kayaking, paddle boarding and hiking with family … lists The Mandalorian, The Bear and From as her favorite TV shows … her favorite sports team is the Steelers … chose to attend UMass Lowell because she loves the atmosphere of the team and the academic programs it offered.

Class of 2026 offensive lineman Marlen Bright went public with his Penn State commitment on Saturday. The DePaul Catholic (Wayne, N.J.) High School senior spent significant time on campus this summer, including “Big Man Challenge” participation with Nittany Lions coaches directing him.

Penn State is set to add a DePaul Catholic offensive lineman for the second straight cycle, as center/guard Michael Troutman enrolled last January and has impressed position coach Phil Trautwein so far. Bright is considered the No. 43 offensive tackle in 247Sports’ 2026 recruit rankings.

Upon making Penn State his pick, Bright noted Trautwein’s presence as a primary motivation during a detailed discussion with 247Sports’ Brian Dohn.

“It’s amazing to be able to play for him,” Bright said. “It’s a development process with him. He develops young tackles. He doesn’t really take transfers. They want to develop their own players.”

The 6-foot-6, 260-pound Bright took plenty of tips from Trautwein last month throughout the aforementioned Big Man Challenge. For a significant span, Penn State head coach James Franklin and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki walked over for a closer look at drills. Lions247’s Mark Brennan kept his camera on the action and put together a highlights package.

Watch Bright’s Big Man Challenge Highlights above!

So what does Bright bring to Penn State’s next recruiting class?

Parts of New Orleans, including its international airport, are sinking nearly 2 inches per year, according to a new study. Wetlands and parts of the city’s levee system are sinking, too.

The geography of New Orleans resembles a bowl, and it’s protected from flooding by a system of earthen levees, concrete flood walls, pumps and canals that took the Army Corps of Engineers nearly 15 years and $15 billion to build. That makes it particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels and other environmental stresses.

“Subsidence can compromise protective infrastructure over time,” said Leonard Ohenhen, an expert on remote sensing at the University of California, Irvine, who was not involved in the study. “I hope we get more work like this, quantifying subsidence over time in cities.”

As levees and flood walls sink, they can crack and accumulate structural damage. They also become shorter, making them less effective against storm surges and rising sea levels. That’s a particularly big concern in New Orleans because the Gulf of Mexico has the fastest sea level rise in the country.

To assess where and how quickly land elevation in New Orleans has changed in recent decades, the authors of the new study, published in the journal Science Advances, used radar collected by satellites over two time periods, from 2002 to 2007 and from 2016 to 2020. In each period, a satellite passed over the city multiple times, letting researchers compare elevations over time. The later time series included the levee system and wetlands. The researchers then compiled a map showing the land’s rising and sinking over time.

Much of the city was stable during the study period, but some hot spots of elevation change — around levees, wetlands, industrial sites and the airport — stood out.

Levees and flood walls are sinking up to 28 millimeters per year, with the fastest rate of levee height loss near the airport and wetlands.

“These rates may affect the flood protection system in the next few decades,” said Simone Fiaschi, a remote sensing expert who led the new study while at Tulane University.

New Orleans’ storm surge protection system was built largely in response to Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the city in 2005, killing more than 1,800 people and causing more than $160 billion in damage. Now, with funding cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a month into hurricane season, the city is concerned about its ability to respond to storms.

Some settling is natural after levees and flood walls are installed simply because they’re heavy and the ground is soft.

“In New Orleans, you’re kind of building on pudding,” said Ricky Boyett, a spokesperson for the Army Corps of Engineers who was not involved in the study. “If you build anything on that ground, it’s going to sink.”

The new map is useful for identifying spots where settling is either increasing or happening faster than expected. The levees and flood walls were designed to accommodate some future settling, but the measurements will help repair teams prioritize which levees are maintained first.

The New Orleans airport, in the northwestern part of the city between Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River, is one of the fastest-sinking sites, dropping nearly 3 centimeters, or nearly 1 inch, per year. Other industrial sites around the city are sinking 20 to 50 millimeters per year.

And wetlands could be sinking 3 to nearly 5 centimeters per year, although these results need to be confirmed by on-the-ground measurements, Fiaschi said. Wetlands’ elevations are notoriously difficult to measure using satellites with radar imagery because of fluctuating water levels and vegetation.

“If the wetlands are subsiding this much, they are slowly dying,” he said. They could disappear within decades, he added, taking with them important ecosystems and buffers of floodwater.

Large areas of the city are stable, and some spots are even rising. For example, a former power plant site has been gaining about 6 millimeters of elevation per year because groundwater pumping stopped.

“One surprising thing was the uplift, which is not usually expected in a city,” Fiaschi said. “It means that some of this settling can be reversed, at least partially, just by halting the exploitation of water.”

The map from the study gives the city and the Army Corps of Engineers updated, high-resolution information on where the levees will need height added, Boyett said.

Levees are designed to be continually built up. Flood walls are harder to repair, Boyett said, but they are sinking less quickly because they are smaller and therefore lighter. Building a taller levee in the first place would require a larger footprint, taking away valuable space in the city.

Responsibility for monitoring, maintaining and repairing all of the flood walls and levees transferred to the state of Louisiana in 2022, but since then, Congress has authorized the Army Corps of Engineers to resume a shared support role and assess what it would take to protect the city from a more extreme flood than the system was originally designed for.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

The Tour de France picked up where it left off Sunday with another wildly aggressive day of racing in northern France.

There was a brawl between monument masters Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar for the sprint win, Visma-Lease a Bike was all offense, and there was a bizarre beef between some of the world’s top sprinters.

Van der Poel pulled on the maillot jaune for the second time in his career with what was – surprisingly – only his second win at Le Tour. He edged out Pogačar in a superstar uphill sprint that saw Jonas Vingegaard third rider home, only a length back.

Podium hopefuls Remco Evenepoel and Primož Roglič didn’t show their legs in the final kick, but they might just be thankful to have made the elite front group after they suffered costly losses on stage 1.

A couple of interesting narratives out of the stage?

Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike mean business. Just like Saturday’s opening stage, the “Killer Bees” were on the attack through the final, and the two-time maillot jaune himself threw a few jabs over the closing climb. Pogačar won’t be able to stampede his way through the Tour’s three weeks like he did last year.

The second storyline span out of the other end of the peloton. Is there something sour among the sprinters? Biniam Girmay, Brian Coquard, and Jonathan Milan were seen sharing some seriously terse words after they contested the intermediate kick.

Class of 2027 guard LJ Smith announced a scholarship offer from Indiana on Sunday afternoon.

It appears IU assistant Kenny Johnson is leading the charge here.  Smith thanked Johnson in his announcement of the offer on X.

Based on the average of the national recruiting rankings, Smith is a 4-star, the No. 49 player in the 2027 class, and the No. 2 combo guard.  Two outlets — 247Sports and ESPN — have Smith as a top-30 player in the class.  He appears to be trending favorably.

Smith played his first two years of high school at Lincolnton H.S. in Lincolnton, N.C.   As a high school sophomore he averaged 33.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.6 steals per game.  He scored at least 40 points in seven games as Lincolnton went 24-6.

In 2024-25, the 6-foot-4 Smith broke the NCHSAA sophomore single-season scoring record.

For travel basketball Smith plays for Team Thad on the Nike EYBL Circuit.  He is playing up a year with the 17u team and averaging 13.8 points while shooting 44.4% from three on 54 attempts.

Smith is a fluid athlete and a skilled guard who can score the ball at an elite level.  He’s a very good shooter and has a solid frame for his age.  That latter point should allow Smith to be a force in the paint on offense, and a top-end defender.

Smith is already one of the most coveted guards in his class.  He also has offers from North Carolina, Cincinnati, Clemson, Georgia, Kansas, LSU, Memphis, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, and West Virginia.

For a complete look at Indiana’s 2026 through 2028 offers and prospects, GO HERE.

 For complete coverage of IU basketball recruiting, GO HERE.   

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