Resident/Native Sports Roundup

Above: A former THawk and an ice dancer are among the native athletes whose news I’m highlighting today. (images cropped from L-R 2019 tweet by ARHS Athletics and contributed photo)

Usually on Mondays, I post the latest on Algonquin sports. But since this is spring tryouts week*, I’m instead taking the time to roundup other news related to Southborough resident/native athletes.

A former resident has been scoring points in NCAA March Madness. Another resident is skating in an upcoming “star-studded” ice show. And over 20 residents are registered to run in the Boston Marathon.

Native Alex Karaban scoring for UConn

In 2019, Southborough’s Alex Karaban was star of Algonquin’s varsity Basketball team. For his sophomore year, Karaban transferred out of the public school as part of his journey to prepare him for his ambition to play Division 1 college ball.

This season, Karaban is one of UConn’s stars (#11 in the image below) as they vie for glory in the March Madness tournament.

Life like this sure is SWEET, huh?#Made4March | #Sweet16 pic.twitter.com/JRhyAsaPzQ

— UConn Men’s Basketball (@UConnMBB) March 20, 2023

According to the Telegram, Karaban accelerated his graduation to enroll in UConn a semester early. That allowed him to practice with the Huskies in the latter half of the 21-22 season:

“That was the most important decision I made,” Karaban said in a phone interview . . . “It was a veteran team last year, so I learned a lot from the older players. They taught me what they wish they would have done going into their freshman year, and then just being around the college schedule, learning how college works, the classes and balancing it with basketball. (Read more here.)

For those who haven’t followed UConn’s performance in the brackets, they were seeded 4th for their territory. They’ve already beat Iona in the first round and St Mary’s in the 2nd. For the first time since 2014, they’re headed for the Sweet 16.

ESPN’s coverage focused on the coach, but included an interview with the redshirt freshman:

A 3-pointer from Alex Karaban gave Connecticut a 46-40 lead [over St. Mary’s]. . .

“That shot really swayed to our momentum,” Karaban said. “… I think that was like the first blow. You felt it in the huddle too. You felt the enthusiasm go up. You felt the confidence go up, everything go up as a team. (Read more here.)

The Huskies are slated to play 8th seed Arkansas Thursday, March 23rd at 7:15 pm.

Caroline Depietri in another Star-Studded Skating Exhibition

Last winter, I wrote about an ice show in which resident Caroline Depietri would be a featured skater. According to a press release from The Skating Club of Boston, in January, Depietri and her partner TJ Carey placed 14th overall in the senior ice dance division at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, California. 

In April, the club will be hosting “Ice Chips 2023: Full Throttle”. Olympic Gold Medalist Nathan Chen is the headliner. Depietri and Carey are among the other featured performers.

There will be three performances, Friday April 7th through Saturday, April 8th in Norwood. For more information and tickets, click here.

22 Residents Running in Boston Marathon 2023

This year, the number of Southborough runners competing in the big marathon is finally back up to pre-Covid numbers. 22 residents are registered to run: