Swimming & Diving Combines to Take Top Honors in Maine
Behind thrilling efforts from the women's team (1st of eight teams) and men's team (4th, 79.5 points out of first), the two squads combined to top UMaine Orono, Bates, Bowdoin and others in this weekend's Maine Collegiate Invite.
Out of the 45 events raced, the Mules had 11 event winners, 37 podiums (1-3), and swept the podium in the women's 100yd Freestyle.
Women's Scores:
- Colby 1185.5
- UMaine Orono 995
- Bowdoin 695.5
- Bates 488
- Wheaton 355
- UNE 69
- MMA 45
- Husson 36
Men's Scores:
- UMaine Orono 811.5
- Bates 791
- Bowdoin 773.5
- Colby 732
- Wheaton 426
- Husson 113
- MMA 113
- UNE 13
Eliza Marco collected serious hardware for the women with victories in the 50yd Breaststroke, 50yd Freestyle, 100yd Freestyle, and 100yd IM. The first-year also teamed with Gabriella Landau, Zoe Buzzelli, and Lily Moy to win the 200yd Freestyle Relay and the 200yd Medley Relay. Landau also won an individual event, taking the top step in the 50yd Backstroke, and first-year Caitlin Lacey claimed the victory in the 100yd Butterfly.
Brandon Xiong won two events for the men (50yd Backstroke and 50yd Freestyle), and Ivan Knoepflmacher claimed the top honor in the 1mtr Dive.
Overall both teams swam and dove great. I cannot remember a time when we had as many personal best's at a mid-season invitational. The women really shined, setting multiple Colby Records, Meet Records and NCAA B-Cuts. Their win was dominant!
- Head Coach Tom Burton
The team will pick back up after the holiday break taking on Middlebury on January 11.
Young Competes in Lillihammer World Cup Sprints
Colby senior Jack Young competed against the world's best this past weekend at the Lillihammer, Norway FIS Freestyle Sprint. He finished as the second American, placing 25th in the 87-athlete field. Ben Ogden, former athlete for the University of Vermont, won the race.
Young, who competed in two World Cup events last winter, is slated to compete in his next event in Davos, Switzerland on December 14.
*Headline photo courtesy of Leann Bentley
Women's Ice Hockey Storms to 3-0 Week
The Women's Ice Hockey team topped UNE (4-2), Wesleyan (3-1), and Trinity (3-2) in a thrilling week to close out the first semester.
In Tuesday's contest against the Nor'Easters, UNE jumped out to a 2-1 lead early in the third period. The Mules tallied for two scores in a four-minute span and added an empty netter in the closing seconds to seal the victory. Courtney Schumacher tallied two goals while Abby Wick and Beth Sinson scored one apiece.
In Middletown Friday night, Colby scored all three goals in the middle frame with Anna Staton starting the celebrations and Breanna Studley scoring twice to close the door on the Cardinals. Paige Bolyard tallied 26 saves, including 14 in the final period.
Facing a Trinity team Saturday that is off to one of its hottest starts in recent memory, Georgia Pettygrove tied the game in the second before Studley put the Mules in front with a coast-to-coast score early in the third period. The Bantams tied the game with eight minutes to play, but Molly Lefebvre tallied the game-winner with less than five minutes to play.
Colby is now 5-2-0, ranked #4 in the most recent Pairwise rankings. NESCAC institutions make all the top-four teams.
Track & Field Opens with Elm City Classic
Hosting Thomas, UMaine Farmington, and St. Joseph's, Colby's Track & Field teams kicked off their indoor season in the Harold Alfond Athletics and Recreation Center. In front from start to finish, both the men's and women's teams took first place by wide margins.
The women's team won eight events including sweeping the podium (1-3) in the 600m Dash and the 200m Dash. Simone Waheed set a new school record in the 60m Dash and also won the 200. Kaitlyn Ewald also won two events, the long jump and 600m Dash.
Women Event Winners:
- Pole Vault - Gabriella Bresnick
- Long Jump - Ewald
- 60m Dash - Waheed
- 400m Dash - Charlotte Brake-Hoffman
- 600m Dash - Ewald
- 3000m Run - Emily Jeon
- 200m Dash - Waheed
- 4x400m Relay - Kristina Pizzi, Quinn Cushing, Marielle Goganian, Brake-Hoffman
The men's squad won six events including sweeping the Pole Vault and 1 Mile Run. Liam McGoldrick won the 1 Mile Run and was part of the winning relay for the 4000m Distance Medley.
Men Event Winners:
- Pole Vault - Peter Martel
- 60m Dash - Ian Irwin
- 1 Mile Run - Liam McGoldrick
- 600m Dash - Ren Zanze
- 3000m Run - Danny Reyes
- 4000m Distance Medley Relay - Alex Bingham, McGoldrick, Nate Goodman, Hugh McGuire
Five distance athletes traveled to Boston University to face off against some of the top Division I, II, and III runners across the nation in the mile. Maddie Bush finished 42nd and Henry Reichle finished 48th to lead the Mules.
Men's Ice Hockey Tops Tufts and USM, Falls to Conn.
With five goals against USM (5-3 win), six against Tufts (6-4 win), and three more against Conn. (6-3 loss), the Men's Ice Hockey team runs its record to 6-2-1 and has scored the most goals in the NESCAC with 37 goals in nine games this season.
Five different scorers lit the lamp Tuesday against USM. Massimo Gentile and Nick Stapleton each tallied a goal and an assist as the Mules ran their record to 4-0-1 over the Huskies in the last five outings.
Friday night Colby snapped a four-game winless streak against the Jumbos, led by Jayden Grier's hattrick. The sophomore scored once in the first period to tie the game 2-2 and then tallied twice more in the third period to put the Mules in front for good. Cooper Rautenstrauch made 22 saves in net to move to 4-0 in his first year.
Despite goals by Reese Farrell and Bobby Landry (two scores) Saturday against Conn., the Mules fell to a spirited Camel team 6-3. Farrell and Grier are tied for the NESCAC lead in goals with six, while first-year Gentile is tied for fifth with seven assists.
Colby's 6-2-1 record is good for third in the NESCAC.
Squash Earns Wins at Denison
While the Men's Squash team already had battles against ranked opponents earlier this season, the women's team took to the court to open their 2024-25 campaign this past weekend.
Facing off against Denison on Friday, the women's team won at every position en route to a 9-0 victory. Six of the points were won in straight sets including Amanda Miller (headline photo) in the 7th spot and Abhisheka David in the 3rd spot. The two finished their matches in 17 minutes and 18 minutes respectively.
Similar to their match against Navy two weeks ago, the men's squad won in its first five spots to triumph in their match at Denison 5-4. Inwoo Lee (playing at one) and Avery Rosenberg (playing at five) gave up a mere 14 and 18 points respectively in their 3-0 sweeps.
Men's Basketball Travels to St. Louis to Face #2 WashU
Keeping with team tradition for a road trip to the states of its seniors (Jack Lawson is from St. Louis), the Men's Basketball team traveled to second-ranked Washington University for the Lopata Classic tournament.
In Friday's matchup against the Bears, Colby kept pace with the national power trailing by only five at the half. The Mules were able to close the gap to within three with 13 minutes to play in the game, but WashU connected for a series of consecutive scores to create space and pace to the win 89-77. Lawson and Marcos Montiel tallied in double-digits with 19 and 12 points respectively.
In Saturday's consolation game against Denison, Lawson sank a season-high 25 followed closely by Max Poulton with 22. In a tight matchup with the score as close as one point with three minutes to play, the Big Red connected for 10 unanswered points (two jumpers and six free throws) to seal the victory. Lawson was named to the all-tournament team for his efforts on the weekend.
Colby will take its 7-3 record into the holiday break set to open NESCAC play when they return in January.
Women's Basketball Faces CBB Foes for Non-Conference Action
In their traditional non-conference first semester matchups (their CBB games in January will count towards conference standings), Colby's Women's Basketball team ended the early part of their season with showdowns against Bates and Bowdoin.
Trailing just behind Bates Tuesday through the first three quarters, Amelia Hanscom's layup with under two minutes to play vaulted Colby into the lead. Despite gritty play at both ends of the court for the Mules, the Bobcats were able to take the lead and make their free throws in the final seconds to steal the win 66-63. Kate Olenik played all 40 minutes and netted a season-high 25 points, including 12 points in the final frame.
In Saturday's matchup against #7 Bowdoin, the undefeated Polar Bears entered the fourth quarter with a 22-point lead. The Mules, reluctant to let the game slip away, fought back to bring the deficit to single digits before they ran out of time, conceding the first round against Bowdoin to the crew from Brunswick. Lydia Mordarski led the way for Colby with a season-high 19 points.
The Mules will close out 2024 at the Florida Sunshine Shootout in Daytona Beach December 29-30.
Special thank you to the photographers who helped make this production possible: Bonnie Baker Photography, Steve Cheney P25, Stephen R. Clouthier, Traigh DeMasi '28, Jamie Fiedorek '25, Steve Fuller @flyingpoint, Peter Li '26, Michael Maher, Reese Robinson '27, Junan Shimizu '25, Ansley White '26, and the Colby Communications team.