Alpine Skiing Lands Two on All-EAST, Harlow Coach of the Year
The EISA Carnival circuit concluded Saturday with the NCAA Eastern Collegiate Championships hosted by Middlebury College. The completion of the 12th and final race also marked the release of the EISA All-EAST team. Harrison Digangi and Hannah Soria claimed their spots in the EISA's top-10. Only two men and two women from Division III schools made the cut, with the rest filled out by Division I competition. Head Coach Eric Harlow was named EISA Alpine Coach of the Year as voted by his peers.
With all 12 qualifying races complete, the league also announced their 17 men and 17 women who will compete at the NCAA Skiing Championships. Digangi is joined by Nolan Sweeney on the men's side, and Soria is joined by Meagan Olsen on the women's side.
As for the weekend's events, the women finished 4th in the Middlebury Slalom and 5th in Giant Slalom, while the men placed 5th in the SL and 10th in GS.
Individual Top-30 Results:
- Digangi - 10th Men's SL, 20th Men's GS
- Olsen - 11th Women's GS, 18th Women's SL
- Soria - 16th Women's SL, 21st Women's GS
- Marit Kaiser - 16th Women's SL, 25th Women's GS
- Lydia Riddell - 16th Women's GS
- Carissa Cassidy - 20th Women's SL
- Molly Mueller - 26th Women's GS
- Noah Riemenschneider - 30th Men's SL
Next up for the Mules will be the NCAA Skiing Championships hosted by the University of Colorado March 6-9.
Men's Swimming & Diving Matches Women's 5th Place at NESCAC Championships
All 11 NESCAC teams converged on Waterville this past week for the Men's Swimming & Diving Championships. Last hosted by Colby two years ago, the Mules turned out with several top marks throughout the four-day event, including an event champion with Neil Mortimer taking the gold in the 50 Butterfly.
Brandon Xiong joined Mortimer on the All-NESCAC team when he placed 2nd in the 50 Backstroke. The duo teamed up with Ethan Chang and Carson Rehkopf to take the bronze medal in the 200 Freestyle Relay. The top three in each event earn All-NESCAC recognition.
Diver Tate Weltzin earned the conference's Career High-Point Diver Award, a culmination of championship points scored across his four years.
During the meet, the top eight swimmers in the preliminary rounds earn a spot in the championship finals. Below are Colby's appearances in event championship finals:
- 1st - Mortimer, 50yd Butterfly
- 2nd - Xiong, 50yd Backstroke
- 3rd - 200yd Freestyle Relay: Mortimer, Xiong, Chang, Rehkopf
- 4th - Mortimer, 100yd Butterfly
- 4th - Spencer Cohen, 200yd Backstroke
- 4th - 200yd Medley Relay: Xiong, Jerome Wiater, Mortimer, Allen Zhu
- 5th - 400yd Medley Relay: Xiong, Alexander MacLennan, Mortimer, Rehkopf
- 6th - Mortimer, 50yd Freestyle
- 7th - 800yd Freestyle Relay: Rehkopf, Skylar Yoham, Cohen, Brandon Morrison
- 7th - Ivan Knoepflmacher, 1mtr Diving
- 7th - Yoham, 200yd Butterfly
- 7th - 400yd Frestyle Relay, Mortimer, Xiong, MacLennan, Rehkopf
- 8th - MacLennan, 200yd IM
- 8th - Xiong, 100yd Backstroke
- 8th - Weltzin, 3mtr Diving
- 8th - Rehkopf, 100yd Freestlye
The Mules will host the Men's and Women's NCAA Diving Reginal Championships this coming weekend before the full fields are announced for the NCAA Championships later in March.
Women's Ice Hockey Wins Fourth Straight Quarterfinal Match
After jumping up to the third seed in the NESCAC seeding a week ago, Colby greeted Wesleyan for the quarterfinal matchup n Saturday. Leading for most of the game, the Mules defeated the Cardinals 3-2 for their fourth consecutive quarterfinal victory dating back to 2019-20.
Meg Rittenhouse, the leading goal scorer in the NESCAC, got the scoring started halfway through the first period knocking a deflection out of midair past the Wesleyan goaltender. The Cardinals tied the game shortly after, but two second period goals (Megan Martodam, Breanna Studley) pushed the Mules out in front for good. Wesleyan was able to get one back with two minutes remaining, but the Mules held firm to extend their season and advance to next weekend's semifinal matchup.
Mandy Busky had 28 saves in net for Colby, also assisting on Studley's game-winning score. The Mules dominated on the faceoff, with Beth Sinson winning an astounding 18 of the 22 faceoffs she took.
Top-seeded Amherst will host the rest of the tournament next weekend. Colby will face Middlebury Friday night (7:30pm) in the semifinal matchup with the winner advancing to the championship game on Saturday.
Track & Field Cruises Through D3 New England Championships
The top Division III track athletes in New England converged in Boston this weekend for the New England D3 Championships. With 19 men and 17 women, Colby was well represented and numerous athletes hit numbers to qualify for the All-Atlantic Region Track & Field Conference (AARTC) Championship next weekend hosted by Nazareth University.
AARTC qualifying marks that were reached at the D3 NE Meet:
- Levi Biery - Men's 60 Hurdles (9th)
- Erin Daugherty - Women's 60 Hurdles (3rd) and 200M (10th)
- Kaitlyn Ewald - Women's 200M (12th)
- Terrel Hood-Simeon - Men's 60M (11th)
- Logan Lehnrt - Men's Pole Vault (9th)
- Fiona Mejico - Women's 400M (6th)
- Kristina Pizzi - Women's 400M (10th)
- Simone Waheed (headline photo) - Women's 60M (12th)
- Men's 4x400 Relay - Jackson Coelho, Biery, Raghav Kadambi, Peter Martel
- Women's 4x400 Relay - Haley Wims, Anna Mackey, Olivia Dohery, Marielle Goganian
Additional Top-5 Performances:
- 1st Women's 4x200 Relay - Waheed, Ewald, Pizzi, Mejico
- 1st Women's 600M - Doherty
- 3rd Women's 600M - Wims
- 4th Women's 600M - Mackey
- 4th Men's 600M - Coelho
More Mules can earn a nod through the provisional entry phase. Entries will be final later this week.
Nordic Skiing Completes 2024 EISA Season at Middlebury
The Mules closed out the EISA Carnival Season this weekend at the Eastern Collegiate Championships hosted by Middlebury College. The men's team finished 3rd in the Freestyle and 5th in the Classic while the women's team placed 7th in the Freestyle and 6th in the Classic.
Top-30 Individual Results:
- Jack Young: 6th Men's Freestyle, 19th Men's Classic
- Zach Nemeth: 7th Men's Classic, 11th Men's Freestyle
- Gretta Scholz: 15th Women's Freestyle, 21st Women's Classic
- Benjamin Lewis: 17th Men's Freestyle
- Matous Matousek: 22nd Men's Freestyle, 25th Men's Classic
Jack Young was one of four Division III athletes named to the men's EISA All-EAST team, with the remaining six spots filled with Division I athletes.
Young, Nemeth, and Scholz have earned the opportunity to represent Colby at the NCAA Championships March 6-9 hosted by the University of Colorado.
Men's Ice Hockey Falls to Top-Ranked Trinity
Entering the conference tournament as the 8th seed, the Mules traveled to top-ranked Trinity on Saturday for a quarterfinals matchup.
The Mules leveled up well with the Bantams in each of the two previous matchups this season. While Trinity skated to 4-2 and 5-3 victories in those games, the games were tight all the way to the end. Saturday's playoff proved no different.
Trinity tallied first but a Jayden Grier goal off a feed from Dhillon Wilde in the second period knotted the score at one heading into the third frame. The hosts were able to score once more midway through the final period and held off a late Mule charge for the win.
Andy Beran was stellar in net for Colby, turning away 27 Trinity shots. He ends his career with 1945 saves, a 0.928 save percentage, and a 2.02 goals against average.
The Mules end their season with a 9-12-4 record.
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