Women's Lacrosse Opens NESCAC Tournament with Win Over Hamilton
The Colby Women's Lacrosse team closed out the regular season after Wednesday's matchup at Bates settling into the 4th-seed and set to return to Mayflower Hill for the opening round of the conference tournament Saturday. With sparks early and often, the Mules held onto a 12-6 second half lead for a 13-11 victory at the end of regulation. Colby advances to the NESCAC semifinals for the third consecutive year.
With five goals in the first, three in the second, and four in the third, Colby outpaced the visitors by a wide margin. Ally Franz played a part in six scores, all coming in the first three quarters as Colby held a six-goal lead late in the third. Despite a fourth quarter charge by the Continentals, the early pace and stellar defensive play paved the way for the Mules to advance to championship weekend next week at Middlebury.
Sarah Hearns was fantastic in net collecting 10 saves, the third time this year the netminder has been in double digits. Hearns now has 29 saves over her last three games.
Coby owned the draw by a mark of 21-6. Julia Jardina and Kat Munter led the way with eight and seven respectively. Emily Darby paced the Mules with five ground balls, and Jardina netted her seventh hat trick of the season.
The semifinals round will feature the top four teams in the conference in Middlebury, Tufts, Wesleyan, and Colby. All four are also currently ranked inside the top-10 in the IWLCA Division III standings.
The Mules and Panthers are set for a Saturday faceoff at 12:00 PM. Fans can follow along via live stats and video stream at the championship page below.
Track & Field Claims Four Event Champions, Seven All-Conference Awards at NESCAC Championships
The Mules collided with the NESCAC's best this past weekend at Tufts University for the NESCAC Championships, coming away with four event winners and seven All-Conference awards en route to a sixth place team finish for the women and seventh place for the men.
With nine athletes scoring points (top-8 finish) for the women's team and 11 for the men, Colby had their fair share leading the pack. Erin Daugherty took gold in the 100m Hurdles, Fiona Mejico in the 400m Hurdles, Myles Thornton-Sherman (headline photo) in the Pole Vault, and the 4x100 Relay team of Daugherty, Mejico, Simone Waheed, and Sade Greenidge not only took the top step but they set a new NESCAC Conference meet record.
Women's Point Scorers (top-8 finishes):
- 1st - Daugherty, 100m Hurdles
- 1st - Mejico, 400m Hurdles
- 1st - 4x100 Relay (Daugherty, Mejico, Waheed, Greenidge)
- 2nd - 4x400 Relay (Haley Wims, Kristina Pizzi, Kaitlyn Ewald, Mejico)
- 3rd - Greenidge, 100m
- 5th - Waheed, 100m
- 6th - Ewald, 400m
- 8th - Pizzi, 400m
- 8th - Maddie Bush, 1500m
Men's Point Scorers (top-8 finishes):
- 1st - Thornton-Sherman, Pole Vault
- 3rd - Peter Martel, Pole Vault
- 4th - Gordon Doore, 1500m
- 4th - Levi Biery, 400m Hurdles
- 4th - 4x100 Relay (Henry Riley, Ren Zanze, Martel, Terrel Hood-Simeon)
- 4th - 4x400 Relay (Jackson Coelho, Raghav Kadambi, Martel, Zanze)
- 7th - Hood-Simeon, 100m
- 7th - Biery, 110m Hurdles
- 7th - Kyle Dube, 400m Hurdles
- 8th - 4x800 Relay (Doore, Liam McGoldrick, Henry Reichle, Thomas Speltz)
The Mules will now turn to regional meets to hit marks in hopes of sending as many Mules as possible to NCAA Championships in late May.
Softball Tops #15 Tufts and Sweeps Bowdoin to Highlight Busy Week
The Colby Softball team had a packed week filled with eight games, CBB showdowns, a visit from #15 Tufts, as well as a senior day celebration. After sweeping the Polar Bears Tuesday and splitting with the Bobcats Friday, Colby stole a game from the perennial power Tufts Jumbos Saturday with a superb display of execution.
Abby Orso was fantastic in the circle this week, picking up her 8th, 9th, and 10th wins of the season, going the distance in all three games. She allowed three earned runs in 22.2 innings this week, and currently sits at 29 wins and 298 strikeouts over her career.
Chloe Wilcox has been hot at the plate all season but took it to a new level this weekend. She hit home runs in each game against Bates, including a grand slam to guide the Mules to victory in game two. In the opener against Tufts on Saturday, she went 3-3 and had long balls in the third and sixth innings as Colby defeated Tufts for just the second time since 2006.
Victoria Ramirez (headline photo) matched Wilcox's 10 hits on the week, and Carissa Cassidy and Emma Burnham each had five. Burnham's biggest hit of the week (and potentially season) was a grand slam Tuesday that erased a four run deficit en route to a victory in game one against Bowdoin.
The Mules are currently sitting in 5th place in the conference standings with potential to shift up with one final series remaining. Colby has split with each of the top four teams in their matchups this season.
Baseball Completes NESCAC Schedule With Series Win Over Bates, Enters Playoffs as Top Seed
The Mules had been earning votes for the nation's top-25 ranking list for several weeks, but splashed into the official numbers at 24th last Tuesday. This marks the first time in program history Colby has been ranked in Baseball, ahead of almost all of the other 389 Division III baseball teams in NCAA.
With a setback to start the week (Eastern Nazarene) and another to open Colby's final NESCAC series of the regular season (Friday's opener at Bates), the Mules put the hammer down in Saturday's double header. Leading 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth, Noah Reichman emptied the bases with a two out grand slam to push Colby comfortably in front.
Thomas Roux was extraordinary on the mound, hurling a complete game shutout to improve his record to 5-0 on the season.
In the nightcap Colby kept the pedal to the floor. Leading the entire way, the Mules plated runs in the first, third, fourth, fifth, and eighth innings to run away from the Bobcats and earn their fourth consecutive NESCAC series win.
Marcus Forrester broke Jon Lord's '02 single season record for hits with his 50th on the season. The senior is one hit behind the conference leader, and teammate Cole Palmeri is close behind in third place with 47. Lord had 49 hits as a first-year in 1999.
The Mules will host Wesleyan for the second time in three years this coming weekend for the NESCAC quarterfinals. Colby's 25 wins ties the program record for victories from a season ago.
Crew Battles Bates and Bowdoin for the President’s Cup
The Colby Men's and Women's Crew teams went up against Bates and Bowdoin Sunday for the annual CBB race with the winner taking home the trophy. The President's Cup is not just a race of the Varsity 8's, but instead is a measurement across the entire program (Varsity 8's, 2nd Varsity 8's, Varsity 4's and Novice 4's) as scores from all eight races are compiled.
With overcast skies and rain falling throughout most of the racing day, the Men's V8 finished second with a time of 5:43.2 less than two seconds behind Bates (5:41.5) for the "most exciting race and closest result of the day," said Head Coach Stew Stokes.
"Our 8th ranked Men's V8 pushed Bates all the way to the finish line and were closing on the Bobcats but simply ran out of race course and couldn't overtake them. They rowed a poised and mature race against a very fast crew and are excited to build on this result as our two championship weekends approach."
The Women's V8 put up a spirited fight finishing third in their race with a time of 7:12.5. The Men's 2nd V8 took second in their race (6:15.9) showing great ability to overcome an unfavorable start by building up momentum.
Other Colby Crew's who competed: Women's V4 (1st place), Women's Novice 4 (3rd of four teams), Men's V4 (3rd place) and Men's Novice 4 (2nd of four teams).
The Mules will be back on the racing waters Saturday, May 4th for the New England Rowing Championships.
Men’s Lacrosse Downs Bates in Memorial Matchup
The inaugural season for the Jack Sandler Memorial Men's Lacrosse Head Coach Jake Bernhardt at Colby came to an end with a highlight, defeating in-state rival Bates College 14-11 to finish the year with a 6-8 overall record.
Throughout the first three quarters nothing could separate the two teams as they totaled six lead changes and ten ties. The Mules were able to pull ahead in the final frame after being tied at ten as Jackson Alvord scored his first of the season, followed by a Bennett Goller goal and then Gavin Rothenberg’s third of the game. Before the final whistle the Bobcats found the back of the net once more leading to the 14-11 final score.
Cormac O’Neil led the offense with three goals and an assist in the contest as Matt Suffredini finished with ten saves.
Concluding the match, both teams took time to honor and celebrate the annual Flahive-McDuffee-Sandler Memorial namesakes. The display of camaraderie truly breaks through the rivalry and evokes a passion for life and sport.
Women’s Tennis Takes on Three Top-20 Ranked Opponents, Ready for NESCAC Tournament
To close out the regular season the Mules faced #20 Bowdoin, #10 Williams and #9 Middlebury for a tough week of competition. Despite falling to the Polar Bears 7-2 Wednesday and the Eph’s 8-1 Saturday, Colby was able to battle the Panthers for a close result on Sunday.
Sam Riordan and Michaela Landry got the Mules on the board first with a 8-3 doubles win in the one spot before heading into the singles matchups where Riordan would earn another victory for the team.
Ellie Gershaw and Jade Finestone contributed wins as well in the third and fourth spots but Colby could not secure that final victory as they took the close 5-4 loss.
With a 4-6 conference record, Colby Women’s Tennis will now prepare for the postseason with the NESCAC Championship weekend kicking off Friday, May 3rd with the quarterfinal round. The seventh-seeded Mules will look to avenge Sunday's setback as they get another shot at the Panthers.
Men’s Tennis Looks Towards Postseason Play Following Matches Against #5 Williams and #8 Middlebury
Colby played against some of the toughest competition in the nation this weekend falling to both the Ephs and Panthers 8-1.
Jake Cohen took home the lone victories in the two spot in both matches, winning 6-2, 6-4 against his Williams opponent and 6-3, 6-1 against Middlebury.
The Mules will now get ready for the conference championship weekend starting Friday, May 3rd with the quarterfinal round. With a 4-6 NESCAC record, the seventh-seeded Colby will look to take revenge from Saturdays matchup against the second-seeded Ephs.
Golf Competes at the NESCAC Championships
The two day NESCAC Golf Championships hosted in Brunswick, Maine came to a close yesterday with Colby finishing with a team score of 660, good for tenth place.
Highlighting the event for the Mules was Johnny Kinsley's second day performance scoring a 74, which was good for ninth overall on the day. Tufts took home the championship trophy with a total team score of 587 to earn their first ever Men's Golf title.
- T39 - Kinsley 160 (86,74)
- 42 - Henry Molson 162 (82,80)
- 45 - Mitchell Ham 168 (85, 83)
- T47 - Jacob Teszler 170 (85, 85)
- 50 - Ryan Harper 197 (99, 98)
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