Last modified: Friday, July 18, 2008 1:01 AM EDT GOBIS: Connors back in the water No sooner has Bishop Feehan High swimming star Kristen Connors of Mansfield landed back in New England after spending two weeks at the U.S. Olympic Team trials in Omaha, Nebraska, she is off with the Attleboro Bluefish Swim Club this weekend for the U.S. Swimming Federation championships in the outdoor pools at Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "It was awesome being at the trials, I learned from the experience and it'll be good to use in four years," said the Boston University-bound Connors, who clocked a 2:34 in the 200 breaststroke. "I've had experience swimming at big meets (like the Olympic Trials), so I wasn't really in awe or intimidated." - Mansfield High grad and University of Virginia sophomore Ryan Collins ran a disappointing 14:30 at the World Junior (19 and under) Championships last week in Poland. "They went out really fast and I died the last mile, I got it handed to me," said Collins of his disappointing showing. "I can't blame the weather, it had rained right before the race, but it was a great experience for me." - Former King Philip High (and Northeastern) slugger Mike Lyon of Plainville, starting at third base for the Staten Island Class A Yankees, is batting .321 through 22 games (25 hits, 13 walks, 12 RBI) with a .424 on-base percentage and a .487 slugging percentage. - Former Seekonk High hurler Ryan George, now a junior at Holy Cross College, is having a great summer pitching for Watertown, N.Y. in the New York Collegiate Baseball League. George has a 1-0 mound record and two saves for the Wizards and was selected to the all-star team, after notching 49 strikeouts in 43.1 innings of work with the Crusaders this spring. - And former North Attleboro High Rocketeer Nick Caparell is batting .352 in the No. 5 spot of the order for Boise in the Idaho (wooden bat) Summer League, the rightfielder being one of 34 players selected to the all-star team. - The Mass. Premier Courts under-18 boys' hoop team, coached by former Mansfield High Hornet Ryan Gordy reached the semifinals of the National AAU Division 2 Tournament in Little Rock, Arkansas behind the play of Bishop Feehan High juniors Michael Adams and Ryan Sheehan. - Perennial Attleboro Area Golf Association top-10 finisher and 2005 champion Ryan Riley will become the new head golf coach at Norton High School. "I've been wanting to do this for a while and there are so few opportunities," said Riley. - He's back! Bo, that is. The esteemed former boys' hoop coach at Foxboro High and King Philip High, Bo Ruggiero has resurfaced after a one-year hiatus as the new boys' head coach at Cohasset High. "I'm excited about having the chance to turn another program around," said Ruggiero as the Skippers have won just two South Shore League games over the past three seasons. "It's a good challenge." - The Elite Eight in the "Championship" flight for the Highland Country Club championship series this weekend has defending champ Wayne Delaney against Mark Cunningham, Dan O'Brien against Mike Michel, Derek Johnson against Justin Ciombor and Dave Bliss against Mark Zerba. - At the breakup dinner for Jason Feid's North Attleboro High girls' track team, Kristen McLoughlin received the MVP Award, jumper-hurdler Amanda Cagiano received the Most Improved Award and sprinter Lauren Goldberg received the Unsung Hero award. Lauren Alix and Amanda Parker were recipients of the Coaches Award. Captains-elect for next year will be distance runner Katie Czepiel, sprinter Julianne Cappadona and Goldberg. - Norton High track coach Kent Taylor engaged himself for the 70.2 mile Ironman Half-Triathlon last weekend across the state of Rhode Island, starting with a swim at Sand Hill Cove in Galilee, then a bike ride and road race up into Providence. - Kiara Gravel and Pat Ennis, respectively representing the Attleboro High girls' and boys' spring track teams, were the recipients of the Old Colony League's Sportsmanship Awards. - At the breakup dinner for the Mansfield High boys' track team, hurdle champion and Hockomock MVP Matt Callanan earned the Hornet MVP Award, javelin thrower and jumper Paul Davis was the Most Improved Hornet, distance runner Patrick Grimes the Unsung Hero as well as being a captain-elect for the 2009 team, along with J.D. Chalifoux, Brysen Dowd, Kevin Meagher and Dan Glavin. - A half-dozen members of the King Philip High boys' lacrosse team are playing with the Plasma Panthers Select team - Ryan Sullivan, Joe Purdon, Chris Pellichero, Andrew Sutton, Dan Feeney and Nate Robeson. - At the Bay State Games, two members of the King Philip High baseball team, pitcher-first baseman Brandon Howard and leftfielder Greg Davey were members of the gold-medal winning Southeast team. - At the under-12 National AAU Girls' Basketball Tournament in Minnesota, North Attleboro's Julia Wood, via the Foxboro Charter School, representing the Lady Predators, scored 11 points in an upset of No. 1 ranked Tennessee in their pool play and have several other double-digit games as the team went 5-4. - Attleboro High sophomore soccer player Tom Wampler played at midfield for the Bruno United under-15 soccer team, which battled nationally ranked FC Delco to a scoreless tie and lost 1-0 to defending champion Baltimore at the Region 1 AAU Championships in Maine. Wampler scored a pair of goals in an upset win over Eastern Pennsylvania. - North Attleboro's Eric Marchetti took second place at the NEPGA Junior Tour 36-hole tourney at the Ponkapoag Golf Course in Canton. Marchetti had a first day round of 78, good for third place then moved into first place with a second day score of 74, only to be nudged out by an eagle at No. 18. PETER GOBIS may be contacted at 508-236-0375 or via e-mail at pgobis@thesunchronicle.com