Women's Lacrosse Takes Down TCNJ to Advance to Sweet-16
Entering the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse tournament with an at-large bid, the Colby Mules skipped past the first round straight into a second round matchup at TCNJ. Exploding for the first four goals of the game, Colby never looked back.
The Lions entered with a 14-4 record, winning the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) with an 11-8 victory over Rowan University. Colby led 7-4 at halftime, but TCNJ fought back to tie the match at nine goals apiece with four minutes left in the third quarter. The Mules responded with two goals to close the third and another three to start the fourth, shocking the Lions for a five-goal lead. Colby held on down the stretch to extend their season another week.
Cami McDonald led Colby with five goals, while Julia Jardina had seven points with four goals and three assists. Ainsley Dion collected seven draw controls and Lydia Carr led the Mules with four ground balls.
Four NESCAC teams advanced to the next round making up 25% of the remaining squads. Colby will head to Wesleyan for the third and fourth rounds, facing the Cardinals Saturday at 12:00pm. Fans can follow along with the live stats and video streams found on the team schedule page.
Mules Top Amherst, Fall to Middlebury, Tufts
After eliminating Wesleyan with a sweep in the quarterfinals of the NESCAC tournament, Colby took on the Amherst Mammoths in the opener of the double elimination rounds hosted by Tufts University. Winless against Amherst dating all the way back to when NESCAC play began in 2001, the Mules defeated the Mammoths in dominant fashion, 11-3.
Derek Woods toed the rubber, scattering 11 hits over 7.2 innings for his sixth victory of the season. Colby nursed a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth before exploding for nine runs over the next three frames. Five Mules collected multi-hit games led by Clint Flippo and Patrick McConnell who had three hits apiece. McConnell's four RBI all came with two outs, knocking in Colby's first four runs.
In Saturday's matchup with Middlebury in the winner's bracket, Colby held leads of 2-0 after three and 5-3 after six. The Panthers clawed their way to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh inning and drove the first pitch in their half of the ninth over the right field wall for the 6-5 walk off win. Thomas Rioux scattered seven hits over five innings on the mound and seven different Mules collected a hit led by Ethan Hillenberg with two.
In the second game of the day Colby faced Tufts, last season's NESCAC champion. The hosts jumped in front with three runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth. The Mules struggled to get the bats going, managing only six hits and one run in the nightcap. First-year Patrick Shrake collected three hits, recording his 15th multi-hit game of the season.
Middlebury went on to defeat Tufts in the final game on Sunday.
Despite falling short of the conference championship, the 29-10 Mules received uplifting news Monday afternoon when they were delivered an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III tournament, the first in program history.
Fans can follow along with live stats and video feed via the teams schedule page.
Softball Falls to Trinity in NESCAC Tournament
The Colby Softball team battled with Trinity in the opening round of the NESCAC tournament, hosted by Tufts University.
Neck and neck across the first four innings, the Bantams lengthened their lead in the top of the fifth inning with a six-run frame. Colby scored a solo run in the bottom of the fifth. Julianna Kiley had one of Colby's two hits, plating Emma Burnham. Trinity tallied again in the top of the sixth to invoke the 8-run rule and advance to the semifinals.
Trinity ended up defeating Tufts 3-1 in the semifinals and falling to Williams for the championship crown.
Senior Chloe Wilcox ended the 2024 campaign as one of the league's top power hitters, sitting in the top-10 in several major categories.
The Mules complete their season with an 18-19 record, after reaching the conference tournament for the third straight season. The program has won 64 games over the last three seasons.
Track & Field Competes at Williams, Countdown to NCAA Championships Begin
With the deadline for entries to the NCAA Championships less than a week away, the Colby Track & Field teams took to the oval at Williams College for the Farley Inter-Regional Extravaganza. Athletes from all over the region turned up hoping to hit their marks for the national meet.
Going on nine straight weeks in the Division III top-25 national ranking, the women's team posted eleven top-8 finishes at Williams led by Fiona Mejico (400 Hurdles) and the 4x100 Relay team, winning their events.
Top Women's Team Results:
- 1 - Mejico, 400 Hurdles
- 1 - 4x100 Relay (Erin Daugherty, Mejico, Simone Waheed, Sade Greenidge)
- 3 - Greenidge, 100m
- 3 - 4x400 Relay (Haley Wims, Kristina Pizzi, Kaitlyn Ewald, Mejico)
- 5 - Waheed, 100m
- 6 - Daugherty, 200m
- 6 - Maddie Bush, 800m
- 7 - Olivia Doherty, 400m
- 7 - 4x400 Relay (Doherty, Tally Zeller, Marielle Goganian, Anna Mackey)
- 8 - Zeller, 200m
- 8 - Wims 400m
The men's team landed eight top-8 finishes, including podiums by Peter Martel, Ren Zanze, Levi Biery, and the 4x400 Relay team.
- 2 - Martel, Pole Vault
- 3 - Zanze, 400m
- 3 - Biery, 110 Hurdles
- 3 - 4x400 Relay (Raghav Kadambi, Martel, Biery, Zanze)
- 4 - Gordon Doore, 1500m
- 4 - Myles Thornton-Sherman, Pole Vault
- 6 - 4x400 Relay (John Silberman, Sam Graubert, Hayden Bailey, Jackson Brielmann)
- 8 - Brady Clegg, 3000 Steeplechase
Athletes will have one final chance to better their marks before submissions close Thursday night. Several Mules will head to Cortland, N.Y. for the AARTFC Championships this Wednesday and Thursday.
Crew Competes in the National Invitational Rowing Championships
The Mules headed back to Worcester, Mass. Sunday to compete against the best-of-the-best in the National Invitational Rowing Championships on Lake Quinsigamond. The race also acted as the NESCAC Championship which is awarded based on the performance of the first varsity eight in the grand final race for both men and women.
The women's V8 placed 19th overall with a time of 7:47.83, good for 8th in the NESCAC . The young crew without any current seniors will continue to build on their speed next year.
On the men's side of competition, the V8 boat grabbed an overall 7th place finish (winners of the petite final) securing a time of 6:10.59. The men topped conference opponents Hamilton and Conn. College to net a 6th place finish in the NESCAC. This was the crews best finish ever in this regatta.
The men also had a 2V8 boat competing as well who placed 4th in the Petite final (10th overall) with a time of 6:40.56.
The Mules will now await for the NCAA DIII rowing championship selection show taking place Tuesday starting at 4:30pm.
Tennis and Women's Lacrosse Earn Multiple All-NESCAC Awards
The NESCAC announced conference awards this week with Men's Tennis, Women's Tennis, and Women's Lacrosse earning several distinctions.
Women's Lacrosse tallied four on the All-NESCAC list this season with attacker Julia Jardina and defender Kat Munter making the First Team, and attacker Ally Franz and defender Izzy Wang making the Second Team. Jardina added on to her 2023 second team selection.
In women's tennis, Head Coach Erin Reeves and assistant Devin Lachapelle were honored as the Coaching Staff of the Year for the first time since 2001. Sydney Landau was named the Senior Sportswoman of the Year and is the second Colby player to ever earn the recognition (Sara Hughes – 2005). Sophomore Ellie Gershaw and senior Sam Riordan were named to the All-NESCAC Second Team Singles list.
In Men's Tennis Joey Barrett was named to the All-NESCAC First Team Singles adding on to his long list of pervious honors; 2023 2nd Team Singles, 2022 2nd Team Singles, 2021 2nd Team Singles, 2021 2nd Team Doubles. Jake Cohen joins Barrett on the All-NESCAC list earning Second Team recognition.
Check out colbyatheltics.com for the full stories on these awards.
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