2023-2024 Year In Review
As the curtains close on a milestone year for athletics at York County Community College, it’s time to reflect on the moments that defined the sporting landscape of 2023-2024 for the Hawks.
Track and Field
The 2023-2024 Track season was one for the record books for both the Men’s and Women’s teams – as they combined to set 23 new school records and bring home eight individual conference championships and two individual golds at the USCAA national championships!
On the women’s side, the team was led by a pair of second year athletes and team captains – Izze Gray and Amy Stults. Izze set the shot put and weight throw records during the indoor season in the winter, while Amy set records in the 3000m and 5000m distance events.
For the men, indoor season was highlighted by record setting performances from second year runner and team captain Michael Crosby. Crosby broke records in the 600m run, the 60m hurdles and joined Nolan Tosoni, Andre Dellaire and Tyler Davies to set the school’s 4x400 relay record.
The leadership from the trio of captains was on display as the Hawks stormed into their spring season in full stride. With the weather getting in the way of early events, the team had just one event to prepare themselves before entering the YSCC conference tournament.
At the Runnin’ Monks meet in Sabego, Amy Stults finished first in the conference in both the 1500m and 5000m competitions. Fellow team captain Izze Gray followed suit with her performances in the discus, shot put and hammer throws, and first-year Blair Martin placed third in the conference in the long jump competition. The men had similar success, as first year Blake Proctor set school records in the shot put, discus and javelin throws, taking the conference lead in the latter. Michael Crosby won the 400m hurdles at the same event.
At the conference tournament, all the Hawks were in top form, bringing home eight gold medals between the two teams:
Amy Stults – 800m run, 1500m run, 5k run
Izze Gray – shot put, hammer throw
Blair Martin – long jump
Michael Crosby – 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles
The team finished up their season at the USCAA National Championships, where both Izze Gray and Michael Crosby walked away with gold on their neck. Gray won the hammer throw competition with a mark of 33.9 meters, and Crosby picked up gold in the 400m hurdles, finishing with a time of 58.16 seconds.
All Conference Selections
Amy Stults
Izze Gray
Blair Martin
Muichael Crosby
USCAA National Medalists
Gold
Michael Crosby – 400m hurdles
Izze Gray – Hammer throw
Silver
Michael Crosby – 110m hurdles
Izze Gray – Shot put
Amy Stults – 5000m
Bronze
Izze Gray – Discus throw
Tyler Davies – Triple jump
Blake Proctor – Javelin Throw
A complete list of school records can be found at yorkcountyhawks.com
Baseball
In their inaugural baseball season, the Hawks took the field 32 times between the Fall and Spring seasons, ending the year with a 16-16 record and reaching the championship game in the YSCC tournament.
The season started with a bang, when YCCC traveled down to NHTI in September and picked up the first wins in program history with a double-header sweep of the Lynx. The remainder of the fall was highlighted with a walk-off win against Bridgton Academy and a 4-0 Shutout of NHTI to close the fall with a 6-8 record.
The Hawks came out red hot in the spring, scoring 16 runs in the season opener against Holyoke, 21 runs in the following game against Bunker Hill, and 20 runs against CMCC to secure the first conference victory in the history of the program.
The Hawks finished the spring with a record of 9-7, winning the conference series matchups against Central Maine Community College, New Hampshire Technical Institute and Quincy College.
After automatically qualifying for the conference tournament, the 3-seed Hawks defeated 2-seed CMCC in the semi-finals matchup to reach the conference championship game in their first season. The Hawks matched up against Southern Maine Community College in the finals, in a game that went down to the wire – eventually seeing SMCC come out on top 7-6.
All Conference Selections
Maksim Masse, Pitcher/Infielder (First Team)
Caden Petit, Catcher (First Team)
Ashton Smith, First Base (Honorable Mention)
Team Captains
Dan Williams – Third Base
Emerson Brown – Centerfield
Jack Sullivan – Shortstop/Pitcher
Notable Wins
9/16/23: 12-8 Win @ NHTI. This marked the first victory in program history. The game ball from this game can be found in the trophy case and is signed by the entire team.
4/11/24: 20-9 Win @ CMCC. This was the first conference victory in program history. Maksim Masse was the winning pitcher of record.
5/04/24: 5-2 Win vs. CMCC. This win was the first playoff victory in program history and sent the Hawks to the YSCC Championship game. Maksim Masse was the winning pitcher of record, Ashton Smith drove in 4 runs.
Golf
YCCC introduced Joe DeMaida as their newest Co-Ed Golf Coach this season. Joe spent several years serving as the Dean of Students and Head Golf Coach at a private high school in Connecticut before moving to Maine and taking over the Head Coaching duties at YCCC. The team competed in the fall season, and multi-sport star Amy Stults was named as the team’s Most Improved Player of the season.
E-Sports
The library of competitions for the Hawks E-Sports team is ever expanding, and the team competed in several competitions this season from Super Smash Bros Ultimate to Mortal Kombat 1. First year student Dominic Ramirez made it to the second round of the ECAC Mortal Kombat 1 tournament this season.
The E-Sports team aims to add more competitors for Street Fighter and teams to compete in Fortnite and Overwatch next season.
Looking Ahead
As the athletics expansion at YCCC continues, 2024-2025 promises to be an exciting year for the Hawks.
Two new sports are being brought to YCCC, as Chris Melino has been introduced as the Head Men’s Soccer Coach and Andrew Dumond has been hired to coach Women’s Softball.
Head Golf Coach Joe DeMaida has high hopes for his new-look team heading into next season, with several promising recruits coming to campus.
E-Sports Coach Garrett McLean has indicated that – in addition to expanding their online PVP catalogue – the team would like to introduce tabletop games to their collection. McLean has expressed interest in hosting a Dungeons and Dragons campaign through the team's club side.
Thank you to everyone who supported Hawks athletics in the 2023-2024 campaign, we look forward to continued success from our student athletes as we head into the fall of 2025!
2023-2024 Dean’s List Student Athletes
Dan Williams – Baseball
Emerson Brown – Baseball
Jack Sullivan – Baseball
Caden Fontaine – Baseball
Blair Martin – Track and Field
