ODU produces 5 of 25 best-of-best stars

Staff report

RICHMOND

Twenty-five years, 25 stars.

The Colonial Athletic Association put together a committee that sifted through the 50,000 student-athletes who competed in the league and came up with the best.

And Old Dominion took five of the 25 slots.

"The process of selecting the 'Silver Stars' was an ominous task for our committee," commissioner Tom Yeager said of a league that has produced hundreds of All-Americans and numerous Olympians and pro athletes.

In addition to the ODU stars, George Mason basketball player George Evans, a 1989 Norcom graduate, made the list. Evans played for the Patriots from 1997-2001 after a stint in the Army, was a three-time CAA Player of the Year.

ODU's field hockey and women's basketball programs produced four of the school's five Silver Stars: hoops players Ticha Penicheiro and Clarisse Machanguana and field hockey greats Marina DiGiacomo and Kelli James.

James (1988-92) was the Honda Award winner in 1993 and led ODU to three national titles. DiGiacomo (1997-2000) also won the Honda Award, in 2000, and finished as the all-time NCAA leader in points (414) and No. 2 in goals (167).

Penicheiro (1994-98), a guard, was the national Player of the Year in 1997-98 and a two-time first-team All-American. She played part of her career alongside Machanguana (1994-97), also a two-time All-American.

ODU's other Silver Star was pitcher Justin Verlander (2002-04), the all-time strikeout leader (427) in the CAA. He has played five seasons with the Detroit Tigers, has thrown a no-hitter and was named to the 2007 and 2009 All-Star teams.

The other Silver Stars:

Daniel Andersson (VCU/men's tennis), Istvan Bagyula (George Mason/men's track and field), Brett Blizzard (UNC Wilmington/men's basketball), Adin Brown (William and Mary/men's soccer), Sean Casey (Richmond/baseball), Diane Guthrie-Gresham (George Mason/women's track and field), Kate Hynes (Drexel/women's diving), Kellen Kulbacki (James Madison/baseball), Matt Lane (William and Mary/men's cross country and track and field), Kayleigh Lotti (Hofstra/softball), Jon Masa (Hofstra/wrestling), Eric Maynor (VCU/men's basketball), Megan Moulton-Levy (William and Mary/women's tennis), Natalie Neaton (William and Mary/women's soccer), Johnny Newman (Richmond/men's basketball), Aline Pereira (George Mason/volleyball), David Robinson (Navy/men's basketball), Alex Smith (Delaware/men's lacrosse) and Carole Thate (James Madison/field hockey).