Baseball Sweeps Wesleyan to Advance to Championship Weekend
Winning Monday's final regular season conference game 11-1 over Bates gave Colby the top-seed in the NESCAC East and allowed the Mules to host a quarterfinal series for the fourth straight year. Three of those matchups have been against the Wesleyan Cardinals, and all four of those years the Mules made quick work of their opponent taking the series in two games. This year was no different.
In the opener, Ryan Grecco was at his best on the mound, throwing a complete game gem and scattering three hits for a 2-0 shutout, and earning NESCAC Pitcher of the Week honors. Corey Aubuchon's RBI single in the eighth broke a 0-0 tie, and Ethan Hillenberg tacked on an insurance run with an RBI single later that same inning. Patrick Shrake led the Mules with three hits.
In the nightcap the Cardinals jumped out to an early lead, but Hillenberg's 2RBI double in the fifth put the Mules in front. Greg Levin and Kyle Bourque were excellent out of the pen, holding Wesleyan without a run across the final five frames to send Colby back to the NESCAC Championship Finals for the fourth straight season.
The Mules will be joined in Brunswick next weekend by Middlebury, Williams, and Trinity for the remaining rounds, a double elimination format. Colby opens up play against Williams Friday evening at 5:00pm. The Mules and the Ephs met three times during their spring break trip earlier this season, a trio of close games won by the Ephs two games to one.
Women's Lacrosse Falls to NESCAC Champion Tufts, Earns NCAA At Large Bid
After defeating Trinity a week ago in the conference quarterfinals, Colby earned a spot in the semis to face Tufts. The Jumbos issued Colby their largest margin of defeat in the regular season, but the Mules had their sights set on an upset heading into Saturday.
Scoring in the first five minutes of action was fast and furious and the two foes combined for six goals off the bat with Tufts in front 4-2. The Jumbos' firepower was on display as they lengthened their lead to 11-3 midway through the second, but Colby netted three more goals before the break to narrow the gap.
Colby outscored Tufts 2-1 in the third frame, making it 13-8 heading into the final quarter, but another strong fourth quarter for Tufts sent them to the championship game with an 18-9 win. The Jumbos defeated Wesleyan Sunday for the conference crown.
Julia Jardina led the way with three goals and an assist, now sitting two shy of the career single-season mark. Kins Helmer added a pair of goals, Gennie Littlejohn collected a goal and an assist, and goalkeeper Jillian Kane had 13 saves in the cage.
Currently ranked fourth in all of Division III, Colby earned an at large bid for the 47-team NCAA tournament. Colby College will host a first round game between Endicott and Emmanuel Saturday with the winner set to face off against the Mules Sunday. Game time is set for 1:00pm.
Softball Sweeps Bates and Amherst en Route to 4th Seed in Tournament
Entering the final week of the regular season eighth in the NESCAC standings, the Mules saved their best for last with a 4-0 week, vaulting to the 4th seed heading into the NESCAC tournament.
Stellar pitching, great defense, and timely hitting led Colby to a pair of 2-0 victories Wednesday against the Bobcats. KC DeSarno and Sophia Meade each threw complete game shutouts, and Carissa Cassidy, led the way with three hits across the set.
The Mules took care of the Mammoths with ease in Saturday's opener 9-0, and it took some late-game magic for Colby to snare the nightcap. Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the 7th, the Mules got an RBI double from Victoria Ramirez to tie the game and an RBI single from Julianna Kiley to walk it off, her third hit of the game.
With her two complete game shutouts, DeSarno was named NESCAC Pitcher of the Week. Also receiving recognition was Cassidy who made it another sweep for the Mules earning NESCAC Player of the Week.
Colby celebrated the careers of three seniors in between Saturday's games.
All rounds of the NESCAC tournament will be hosted this Friday-Sunday by top-seeded Tufts University. Colby is set to face Middlebury Saturday morning at 9:00am for the quarterfinal matchup. The Mules and Panthers are 1-1 in head-to-head play this season.
Track & Field Shines at D3 NE Championships
Hosted by the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, the Mules posted two school records, multiple personal bests and national-level marks at the Division III New England Championships meet. As a team the women took fifth overall out of the 39 competing teams while the men placed seventh out of 36 teams.
TOP-10 WOMEN'S RESULTS:
- 200m - Fiona Mejico 1st (24.55, school record), Simone Waheed 2nd (24.59), Tally Zeller 9th (25.39)
- 400m - Olivia Doherty, 3rd (57.25)
- 4x100m Relay, 1st (46.68) - Zeller, Mejico, Waheed, Charlotte Brake-Hoffman
- 4x800m Relay, 3rd (9:16.10) - Michelle Barnes, Kailtyn Ewald, Doherty, Mejico
- 4x400m Relay, 4th (4:01.55) - Zeller, Waheed, Jordan Roskiewicz, Brake-Hoffman
TOP-10 MEN'S RESULTS:
- 110m Hurdles - Levi Biery, 6th (14.86)
- 200m - Ian Irwin 5th (21.51), Peter Martel 6th (21.55)
- 400m - Ren Zanze 5th (48.85), Samuel Graubart 7th (49.09), Jackson Coelho 10th (49.28)
- Pole Vault - Lexington Lehnert 4th (4.85m, school record), Martel 5th (4.70m), Logan Lehnert 6th (4.70m), Myler Thornton Sherman 7th (4.55m), Wyatt Patterson 10th (4.25m)
- 4x400m Relay, 5th (3:18.44) - Coelho, S. Graubart, Mark Graubart, Thornton-Sherman
Colby Track & Field will reenergize before competing in back to back meets at Williams starting with the F.I.R.E. Meet on May 9th and the AARTFC Championships May 14th.
Men’s Tennis Faces No. 1 Seeded Jumbos
Colby traveled to the Conference Tournament hosts Middlebury on Friday for a first round matchup against the third ranked Division III team in the country, the Tufts Jumbos.
Despite dropping the third doubles spot, the Mules bounced back with Jake Cohen and Jason Daly taking a 6-4 win in the number one doubles position. However, the pairing of Aidan Kwong and Marco Ziets-Segura in the second doubles spot came up just short 6-4 handing the Tufts the overall doubles point.
In singles, the Jumbos continued on their winning path taking the first set across all six courts. The third singles match concluded first followed by the fifth and first all in Tufts favor to end the overall match with a 4-0 scoreline.
Colby Men’s Tennis finishes their season with a 7-10 record. They will lose five seniors to graduation but will be a young team ready to perform in the upcoming fall season.
Women’s Tennis Battles with Wesleyan in NESCAC Quarterfinals
Heading into the tournament as the seventh seed and looking to pull off an upset, the Mules traveled to Middletown Friday to take on the two seeded Cardinals.
In doubles play Jade Finestone and Waka Aida teamed up in the three spot securing a dominant 6-2 win after Colby fell in the one doubles spot. It came down to Amelia Gal and Ella Novion (headline photo) looking to clinch the doubles point but they ultimately fell by just two points to their opponent 7-6(5).
On to singles, the first match to finish was the two spot with Wesleyan winning in straight sets. The Cardinals would go on to complete the 4-0 team victory winning the fifth and sixth singles spots as well.
Colby Women’s Tennis finishes the year with a 7-10 overall record. With no seniors graduating the team will look to add incoming recruits and be hungry to improve off this spring season starting in the fall.
Crew Takes on the Best in the Northeast at Lake Quinsigamond
On Saturday the Mules headed back to Worcester, Mass. once again, this time for the New England Rowing Championships. Despite over half the finals being halted in the early afternoon due to high winds, Colby was still able to finish out the morning grabbing some solid placements.
The Men’s V8 finished 9th overall on the day of the 14 competing varsity one crews with a time of 8:24.07 following a solid morning heat. They topped three fellow NESCAC schools in Middlebury, Bowdoin and Conn. College. The Women’s V8 took 14th place out of 17 crews with a time of 8:39.01 improving on their mornings opening heat and beating Conn. College, Mt. Holyoke and Simmons.
The Men’s 2V8 and 3V8 both had their final canceled after placing third in each of their morning heats. The Men’s 3V4, despite three race restarts, came away with a silver medal topping Coast Guard. Lastly, the Women’s 2V4 had their race cancelled due to the weather.
Next up is the National Invitational Rowing Championships which also acts as the NESCAC Championship taking place May 11th right back in Worcester.
Coach Tom Dexter Announces Retirement
Colby Athletics is proud to celebrate the 36-year career of Tom Dexter as he prepares for retirement later this spring. Dexter has dedicated his professional life to the Mules, serving as a coach for both football and baseball.
Dexter threw out the first pitch before Wednesday's regular season finale against Thomas College.
"I have had the privilege of working in a profession that I am extremely passionate about," said Dexter, "as well as working at a school and living in a community I am so proud of. Colby Athletics for me became my extended family. Together we learned how to navigated the highs and lows as teammates, understanding how to win with humility and lose with grace. Having this vast support group of close friends and co-workers made my experience here very important to me."
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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.