Alpine Skiing Opens EISA Season With Colby Carnival
After a delay in last week's scheduled Alpine portion of the UVM Carnival pushed back the downhill start to the EISA season, the Colby Alpine Ski team welcomed contestants to their home away from home Sugarloaf Mountain t kick off the competition season.
The women's team kicked off the Giant Slalom with a fourth place finish led by Meagan Olsen less than half a second out of first place in fourth. In 2023, the Women's team earned a team finish in fourth or better in six of the 12 Carnival races. In Saturday's Slalom, the Women's team placed sixth out of the 13 competing teams. Carissa Cassidy finished in the top-15 both days, and Molly Mueller raced into the top-20 in each race as well.
Women's Team, Top-30 Finishes:
- Olsen - 4th GS
- Cassidy - 14th SL, 15th GS
- Hannah Soria - 17th GS, 26th SL
- Mueller - 18th GS, 20th SL
- Lydia Riddell - 28th GS, 28th SL
The Men's team finished fifth in Friday's Giant Slalom and jumped up to third in Saturday's Slalom. The podium finish was the team's first since placing second in the same discipline at the Saint Michael's Carnival in 2022. First-year Noah Riemenschneider matched Olsen's result from day 1, narrowly missing the slalom podium in fourth. First-year Harrison Digangi led the Mules in the GS with a 7th place finish and fellow first-year Nolan Sweeney narrowly missed the GS top-10, racing into 11th place after winning the second run.
Men's Team, Top-30 Finishes:
- Riemenschneider - 4th SL, 25th GS
- Digangi - 7th GS, 15th SL
- Sweeney - 11th GS
- Brooks Reed - 17th SL
- Tucker Strauch - 22nd SL, 24th GS
- Patrick Coughlin - 23rd GS, 25th SL
The Mules will head to Vermont next weekend for the makeup races of the UVM Carnival.
Women's Ice Hockey Goes 3-0 on the Week, Sweeps Williams
After topping Suffolk 8-0 Tuesday with eight different goal scorers, Colby welcomed the Williams College Ephs to Mayflower Hill. Williams came into the matchup sitting atop the NESCAC standings and the Mules had their sights set on swapping places.
In the first game Colby gained control immediately with three first period goals, two by Meg Rittenhouse. The two foes traded goals in the third, and despite a late score by the visitors Colby walked away with the victory 4-2.
Saturday's rematch was a different script, with Williams tallying back with scores of their own after Anna Staton scored Colby's first goal and Audrey Shirer scored their second. Heading into overtime (the Mules entered the game winless in two extra period games this season), it took a mere 14 seconds for Rittenhouse to score her second game-winner in as many days. She leads the NESCAC in goals and points after four goals and three assists on the week. Sophie Melsness leads the conference with 11 assists in 15 games.
Colby is now 11-3-1 and ranked fourth in NESCAC.
Nordic Skiing Battles the Cold at Quarry Road
With Miller Library in view from the starting line at the Colby Carnival, the Nordic Ski team completed the second leg of their EISA Carnival tour.
The Men's team followed up last weekend's pair of third place results with a fourth place in the Classic and fifth place in the Freestyle. Zach Nemeth placed sixth in Saturday's Classic for his second top-10 finish of the year while Jack Young led the way a day earlier with a seventh place finish in the Freestyle, his third top-10 finish on the year.
Men's Team, Top-30 Finishes:
- Nemeth - 6th CL, 18th FR
- Young - 7th FR, 10th CL
- Benjamin Lewis - 16th FR, 19th CL
- Andrew Defor - 17th FR, 25th CL
- Matous Matousek - 29th CL
The Women's team continued its string of fast skiing with four skiers in the top-19 for a season-best fifth place finish in the Classic. Gretta Scholz has been the top finisher for the Mules in all four races this season.
Women's Team, Top-30 Finishes:
- Scholz - 13th CL, 14th FR
- Isabel Seay - 18th CL, 29th FR
- Maddie Hooker - 19th CL, 20th FR
- Lili Baer - 29th CL
Colby will get a break in the schedule next weekend before returning to the trails in February for the Harvard Carnival.
Men’s Basketball Picks up Two Victories Against Husson and Bowdoin
In their two games this week the Mules took down their conference rival Polar Bears 86-73 on the road Saturday after narrowly taking a win against the Eagles at home Tuesday with a 82-81 final score. The defeat was only Husson's third of the season.
Tuesday night against the Eagles, the two teams battled back in fourth with 14 lead changes and giving the crowd an electrifying game to watch. Although Husson went into the break up seven and led most of the second half, Colby was able to take the lead off a Max Poulton triple with just over three minutes remaining. In the final seconds, Marcos Montiel sealed the win for the Mules after laying in a clutch bucket with 11 seconds to go followed by a game winning steal for the one point victory. The Colby trio of Max Poulton, David Stewart (career-high 19 points), and Liam O’Connell were on fire from behind the arc, all hitting five three pointers while combining for 61 of the team's 82 points.
After a close 36-34 halftime score Saturday in Brunswick the Mules pulled ahead netting 52 second half points leading to their first conference win of the season and fifth straight win against Bowdoin. Montiel led the way dropping 21 points for a new career-high followed by Poulton and O’Connell with 14 points and two steals apiece. First-year Sam Hinman added 12 points (career-high).
The 9-9 Mules (1-4 in conference play, good for ninth) will look to carry this moment into next weekend taking on Conn. College.
Squash Splits with Amherst, Takes Command over St. Lawrence
Following their busy five match week last week, the Mules stayed on Mayflower Hill taking on the Mammoths Friday and the Saints on Saturday.
Both the Men’s and Women’s team played Amherst tight as the Men's team grabbed a narrow 5-4 victory while the Women's team fell 6-3. For the men, Inwoo Lee, Seif Ashraf and Sebastian Campos all earned 3-0 wins and Youssef Mostafa and Carlos Zendejas netted 3-1 victories. On the women’s side Andrea Lee, Aileen Dominguez and India Spencer picked up the victories.
Against St. Lawrence Saturday both Colby teams dominated as the Men's team pulled out a 9-0 sweep and the Women's team a 7-2 victory. Winners against the Saints for the men include; Lee, Ashraf, Jonathan Sosa, Youssef Mostafa, Sen Subramaniam, Zendejas, Campos, Rintaro Yamamoto and Avery Rosenberg. The women’s winners include; Lee, Abhisheka David, Dominguez, Spencer, Amanda Miller, Juliette Love and MacKenzie O’Shea.
The 7-3 Colby Men’s Squash team and 3-5 Colby Women’s Squash team will go up against both Maine rivals this week, facing Bates Wednesday and Bowdoin Saturday.
Swimming & Diving Tops WPI and Splits with Conn. College
After splitting with Conn. College early in the week Monday with the Women winning 177-121, and the Men falling 167-131, the Mules outpaced WPI as both the Men’s (180-113) and Women’s teams (194-98) found victories.
Men’s Event Winners Against WPI:
- 200 Medley Relay - Brandon Xiong, Alexander MacLennan, Neil Mortimer, Allen Zhu
- Mortimer - 50 Freestyle & 100 Butterfly
- Carson Rehkopf - 200 Freestyle
- Nathaniel Chon - 500 & 1000 Freestyle
- Spencer Cohen - 100 & 200 Backstroke
- Max LaRoche - 100 Breaststroke
- MacLennan - 200 Breaststroke
- Skylar Yoham - 200 Butterfly
- Tate Weltzin - One & Three Meter Dive
Women’s Event Winners Against WPI:
- 200 Medley Relay - Tahila Crowley, Kellen Mottl, Gabriella Landau, Lily Moy
- Moy - 50 & 100 Freestyle
- Landau - 100 Backstroke
- Annabelle Mullin - 200 Backstroke
- Mottl - 100 & 200 Breaststroke
- Anna Coleman - 100 Butterfly
- Lexi Asch - 200 Butterfly & 500 Freestyle
- Avery Rappaport - One & Three Meter Dive
Colby's Swimming & Diving team will be back at it Saturday at Wesleyan University.
Men's Ice Hockey Sets New High Mark with Nine Goals Against SNHU
Six different Mules tickled the twine Tuesday night against Division II Southern New Hampshire en route to a 9-1 win and a new high mark for goals this season. Nick Stapleton scored twice while James Tepper tallied his first career hat trick.
Over the weekend Colby turned to the second half of their NESCAC campaign. After tying Middlebury in a scoreless season opener, the Panthers got the best of the Mules in the return trip, topping Colby 4-1. Jake MacDonald scored Colby's lone goal for his first of the year.
In Saturday's matinee in Williamstown (Colby won the first matchup in November 4-2), Colby erased a 3-1 deficit in the final two minutes to shock the Ephs and earn the hard fought draw. Matthew MacDonald scored at the 18:36 mark and Jake MacDonald scored his second in as many days with 51 seconds left on the clock. Goaltender Andy Beran turned away all five shots in overtime for a game tally of 38 saves.
The Mules are now 5-8-3 overall and sit in 8th place in the NESCAC.
Mules Split to Ramapo Opener and Bates Invitational
The Track & Field teams split this weekend in search of high level challenges and new personal bests as they close in on the D3 New England meet at the end of next month. While team scores were not recorded at Ramapo, the Mules finished third for men and fourth for women at Bates.
Podium Results, Women:
- 1st - Maddie Bush, 800M (Bates)
- 2nd - Alene Fernandez, 600M (Bates)
- 3rd - Sierra Guite, High Jump (Bates)
- 3rd - Kaitlyn Ewald, 400M (Ramapo)
- 3rd - Erin Daugherty, 60 Hurdles (Ramapo)
- 3rd - 4x400 Relay, Tally Zeller, Ewald, Kristina Pizzi, Fiona Mejico (Ramapo)
Podium Results, Men:
- 1st - Peter Martel, Pole Vault (Ramapo)
- 1st - Thomas Speltz, 800M (Bates)
- 1st - Kevin Yan, Triple Jump (Bates)
- 2nd - Terrel Hood-Simeon, 60M (Ramapo)
- 2nd - 4x400 Relay, Henry Reichle, Hayden Bailey, Liam McGoldrick, Speltz (Bates)
- 3rd - Levi Biery, 60 Hurdles (Ramapo)
- 3rd - Jackson Coelho, 400M (Bates)
Women’s Basketball Battles #15 Bowdoin, Trinity and Husson
Before falling in tough battles to #15 Bowdoin and Trinity over the weekend, the Mules took on Husson for their final non-conference game of the season.
Colby maintained a small lead after the conclusion of the first half 35-28 but the Eagles were able to bounce back after the break by taking a one point lead with just under four minutes to go in the third quarter. From that point on the teams stayed neck in neck, resulting in 11 total lead changes in the game. In the end, Kate Olenik hit a three to bring the Mules within one with just nine seconds to go but Husson sank their free throws to take a 67-64 victory. Despite the loss, Olenik dominated, netting 27 points and setting a new career high to go along with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Amelia Hanscom added 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals with Lydia Mordarski right behind with nine points.
Olenik currently ranks fifth in the NESCAC with 15.7 points per game.
Colby now has a 9-9 record this season (1-4 in the NESCAC, good for ninth) and will face Conn. College Sunday in the Margaret M. Crook Center.
Special thank you to the photographers who helped make this production possible: Bonnie Baker Photography, Cole Burkhart '24, Steve Cheney P25, Stephen R. Clouthier, Ashley Conti, Jamie Fiedorek '25, Colin Flood '26, Steve Fuller @flyingpoint, Michael Garrett P23, Andrew Hearns P24, Peter Li '26, Michael Maher, Joshua McKee, Dustin Satloff '15, Ellie Sawyer P25, Bill Stevenson P24, Isadora Wells '26, Ansley White '26