Union head women's lacrosse coach Jessica Critchlow is slowly building her program into a regional power.

For her efforts, Critchlow was named the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association Berkshires Region Coach of the Year.

Union reached the NCAA Division III regional finals for only the second time in program history and was ranked fifth in the final IWLCA national poll, which was the highest ranking in program history.

Union tied a school record with 15 wins and lost by only one goal in the final minutes at second-ranked College of New Jersey in the regional final game. Union (15-4) received 298 points in the final poll and moved up from eighth place in the previous poll.

In other area college news, three Siena College student-athletes were named the 2008 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine. Liga Alpe-Luka, Steve Cortes and Jose Loren were recognized for their success in athletics, academics and in the community.

Alpe-Luka was named to the Sports Scholars women's basketball second team. She started all 28 games for the Saints and led the team with 115 assists.

Cortes was named to the Sports Scholars men'soccer second team. He played nine games for the Saints and earned a spot on the MAAC All-Academic team.

Loren was named to the Sports Scholars men's tennis second team. He had an overall record of 6-4 in doubles and 1-0 in singles.

In other news, Niskayuna's Jenn Primeau was one of three student-athletes who committed to play for the UAlbany women's lacrosse team next season.

Primeau, a first-team Suburban Council all-star, scored 38 goals and added 11 assists as a senior for the Silver Warriors.

Also signing were defender Brianna Day of North Massapequa and attacker Melanie Sosnowski of Massapequa Park.