Swimming & Diving Takes Home Four All-American Awards at NCAA Championships
Closing their season in Greensboro, N.C. this week for the NCAA Division III Championships, Colby's Women's Swimming & Diving team saved the best for last to take home four All-American awards. The Mules finished the four-day event in 24th place.
Five relay squads competed for Colby, with two finishing in the top-16 to earn All-American honors (1-8 qualifies for first team, 9-16 second team).
RELAY RESULTS:
- 11th place: 200 Medley Relay (Tahlia Crowley, Kellen Mottl, Gabriella Landau, Eliza Marco)
- 16th place: 200 Freestyle Relay (Marco, Landau, Lily Moy, Lucy Mackey)
- 17th place: 400 Freestyle Relay (Marco, Landau, Moy, Zoe Buzzelli)
- 18th place: 400 Medley Relay (Alexis Coates, Mottl, Lexi Asch, Marco)
- 21st place: 800 Freestyle Relay (Buzzelli, Mackey, Moy, Asch)
With over 50 of Division III's best swimmers competing in some individual events, Colby collected four top-25 finishes in individual events led by All-Americans Coates and Mottl.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS:
- Coates: 13th 100 Backstroke, 24th 200 Backstroke
- Mottl: 15th 100 Breaststroke, 28th 200 Breaststroke
- Marco: 24th 50 Freestyle, 26th 100 Freestyle
- Landau: 27th 100 Backstroke
- Asch: 32nd 200 Butterfly, 42nd 100 Butterfly
- Crowley: 37th 100 Backstroke
Women's Ice Hockey Falls in NCAA Quarterfinals
After returning to the NCAA tournament for the third time in four years and advancing to the quarterfinal round with a 4-3 win over Wilkes last week, the Colby Women's Ice Hockey team ran into a familiar yet powerful foe in the Amherst Mammoths for their matchup in Massachusetts.
Colby stood toe-to-toe with the NESCAC Champions nearly matching in faceoffs won and shots on goal, but the Mammoth defense was tough to crack, matching Colby's All-Conference goaltender with one of their own.
Amherst got the scoring going just three minutes into the opening frame and added a power play goal at the 14-minute mark to take a 2-0 advantage into the first intermission. The Mammoths added another in the second, and a fourth score in the third before Colby got on the board with an Anya Jiang tally. Despite a furious attack by Colby that put eight shots on goal in the final four minutes, Amherst held on for a 4-1 victory to advance to the NCAA Final Four.
The Mules finish their season 18-7-2, marking their fifth consecutive full season with 15 or more wins.
Women's Tennis Starts Spring Break with Thriller Over Occidental
The Colby Women's Tennis team started their spring break trip to the west coast with a thrilling comeback victory over host Occidental.
The Mules fell behind after Occidental took the doubles point 2-1. Michaela Landry and Jade Finestone won at the #2 spot for Colby's lone doubles win.
In singles, Landry (#2), Anna Rende (#5), and Amelie Gal (#6) each took two-set victories, leaving the match tied at three awaiting the results of the final pairing. Finestone pushed her match to a third set at the #1 spot, and sent the Mules into celebration mode when she finished off her opponent 6-2 in the third to give Colby the win.
Colby will have three matches in California later this week (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday) to close out their trip.
Women's Lacrosse Improves to 6-0 with Win Over Hamilton
The Women's Lacrosse team ran off their sixth straight win to start the year, the best opening segment since the Mules went 8-0 to begin 2013.
Saturday was a tale of two halves for Colby and Hamilton. The first half saw the teams combine for 12 goals as the Mules took a 7-5 lead into the break. Each team tallied four goals in the third quarter, but then transitioned into a matchup of defense and possession through a scoreless fourth. Jillian Kane and Continental goalkeeper Clara Paolucci combined for six saves in the final frame.
Julia Jardina (headline photo) led the Mules with four goals and an assist, while Charlotte Michener and Ainsley Burke tallied three goals apiece. Gretchen Biegel collected three ground balls and Julia Maimonis and Izzy Wang recorded two caused turnovers each.
The Mules travel to Pennsylvania Wednesday to put their perfect record to the test against #3 Franklin & Marshall. The game kicks off at 4:00pm.
A Sweep of Thomas Jumpstarts 2025 for Softball
With a 3-1 and 5-1 double-header sweep of Thomas on Wednesday, the 2025 season is officially underway for Colby's Softball team. Taking their momentum to Clermont, Fla. for Spring Break, the Mules split games Saturday and Sunday to move to 4-2 on the young season.
Caroline DeSimone hit home runs in her first two at-bats of the opener against the Terriers to tie a Colby record for home runs in a game. Ashley Correll, KC DeSarno, and Sophia Meade combined to hold Thomas without an earned run for the Mules.
After dropping its Florida-opener to #18 Wisc-Whitewater, the Mules bounced back with a thrilling 8-7 win over Buffalo State. Kelsey Sullivan's three-run homerun in the top of the seventh erased a two-run deficit and put the Mules in front for good.
Sunday brought along another split as Colby was edged by Lewis & Clark before taking care of business against Westminster College 6-1. The Mules had multi-hit games from Emma Burnham, Carissa Cassidy, Ella Wilcox, and Avery Lyman.
Colby has three more double-headers scheduled throughout the week before their return to Maine for NESCAC showdowns.
Track & Field Moves Outdoors at Emory
With the close of the Indoor season barely in the rearview, Colby's Track & Field teams traveled to Atlanta for outdoor training as well as their first outdoor competition.
The men's and women's teams combined for 19 top-10 finishes, led by event winners Brady Clegg, Levi Biery, and Fiona Mejico. The most dominant event for Colby was the men's pole vault, as Lexington Lehnert placed second to lead five Mules in the top-7.
TOP-5 RESULTS:
- 1st - Brady Clegg, Steeplechase
- 1st - Levi Biery, 400m Hurdles
- 1st - Fiona Mejico, 400m Hurdles
- 2nd - Lexington Lehnert, Pole Vault
- 3rd - 4x100 Relay (Tally Zeller, Mejico, Simone Waheed, Charlotte Brake-Hoffman)
- 3rd - Olivia Doherty, 400m
- 4th - Myles Thornton-Sherman, Pole Vault
- 5th - Waheed, 100m
- 5th - Wyatt Patterson, Pole Vault
Colby will remain in the Peach State for a week of training before closing Spring Break with the second installment of the Emory Invitational this coming Friday and Saturday.
Baseball Takes Out Husson Before Heading South
The Colby Baseball team took down Husson 5-2 before heading to Davenport, Fla. for their 6-game Spring Break trip. Facing two strong teams in the opening weekend in the Sunshine State, Colby fell to Kalamazoo and NYU to drop to 8-3 overall.
First-year Matt Higgins was stellar Wednesday against the Eagles in relief, throwing four scoreless innings to earn his second save of the season. Fellow first-year Myles Gythfeldt (headline photo) delivered the fatal blow offensively when his 2RBI double capped a four-run first inning for the Mules.
Colby stayed close with Kalamazoo until a four-run sixth inning for Hornets tipped the scales. Duncan Cullinane hit a three-run bomb in the seventh to make it a two-run game, but Kalamazoo closed it out for a 5-3 win. Gythfeldt collected his first three-hit game of his career.
Cullinane hit another three-run homerun Sunday against NYU, but the Mules couldn't keep the Violets' potent offense at bay, surrendering runs in five of the nine innings. Gythfeldt stayed hot at the plate collecting another base knock to run his hit streak to 10 straight games.
The Mules have five more games spread out across the week before returning north.
Men's Lacrosse Plays Hamilton Tight in Clinton, N.Y.
With scheduled conference games keeping Colby's Men's Lacrosse team in the northeast for spring break, the Mules kicked off their break with their longest road trip of the season to Hamilton.
The Mules and Continentals matched up nearly even for the first 45 minutes, as Colby entered the final quarter down 6-5. Hamilton picked up the pressure for four more scores in the final frame and held Colby scoreless to secure their first conference win.
Gavin Rothenberg had a hand in all five of Colby's scores with two goals and three assists. He leads the Mules this season with 13 goals and 19 points. Will Heisler tallied 13 saves in the cage for Colby, giving him 64 through five games.
The Mules will travel to Cambridge Tuesday to take on MIT before returning home for a Saturday showdown with #1 Tufts.
Special thank you to the photographers who helped make this production possible: Bonnie Baker Photography, Steve Cheney P'25, Stephen R. Clouthier, Traigh DeMasi '28, Jamie Fiedorek '25, Steve Fuller @flyingpoint, Peter Li '26, Michael Maher, Reese Robinson '27, Junan Shimizu '25, Daryn Slover P'28, Marty Thornton Photos, Ansley White '26, and the Colby Communications team.