Women's Lacrosse Stuns #2 Wesleyan, Advances to Elite 8
After a second round win on the road last weekend at TCNJ, the Colby Women's Lacrosse team traveled to Wesleyan Saturday for a showdown with the Cardinals in the round of 16. Colby issued Wesleyan a loss in the season opener in Middletown, but the Cardinals have been on a tear to close out the regular season, elevating to #2 in all of Division III.
The story of the day was defense as the two squads combined for only two goals in the opening quarter. Colby was able to tally three in the second frame to open up a 4-2 lead at halftime.
The Mules and Cardinals battled through a scoreless third quarter, and it was Colby who struck first in the fourth to open up a three-goal lead. Wesleyan got all three back in a span of four minutes to knot the game at five with seven minutes remaining. Colby jumped back in front with goals by Cami McDonald and Kins Helmer, and Sarah Hearns and the defense took over from there to cruise to a 7-5 victory. Hearns had 13 saves on the afternoon, her second most on the season.
The Mules remained at the regional site for an Elite 8 matchup with William Smith on Sunday. The pace of the Herons, and their command for the draw, kept Colby on its heels for most of the contest. William Smith jumped out to a 5-3 lead after one, and a 9-4 lead at halftime. Despite incredible second-half adjustments by the Colby coaches and athletes, the deficit was too much to overcome as William Smith closed out the match for a spot in the Final 4 next weekend. Julia Jardina led the Mules with three goals on the afternoon, bringing her to a career-high 48 on the year.
Colby's season comes to a close with a 13-7 record. They have advanced in the NCAA Division III tournament in each of the last three seasons.
Baseball Makes First Trip to NCAA DIII Tournament
With an inspired viewing of NCAA's Selection Show Monday (video below), Colby learned they secured an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III tournament for the first time in program history.
The only previous time a Mules Baseball team entered NCAA postseason was in 1966 when Colby was one of 29 schools selected to play in the University Division. That year, Colby fell to Northeastern in the first round and Ohio State defeated Oklahoma State in the championship.
Set with a regional pod out of Cortland, N.Y., the Mules were up against some of the nation's finest. In the first matchup with Salve Regina, the Seahawks tallied runs in five of their eight innings at the plate en route to a 10-5 victory. The Mules never relented, plating runs in the eighth and ninth innings to close the gap, but Salve held on for the victory. Ryan Grace scored three of Colby's five runs, including a solo shot to right in the fifth.
In Saturday's matchup against Washington & Jefferson, the Mules struggled to awake the bats, collecting only three hits against the Presidents. Brady O'Brien accounted for two of them, but W&J held Colby off the scoreboard and eliminated Colby 7-0.
The exciting storybook season comes to a close for the Mules with a 29-12 record and plenty of memories.
Field Set for the 2024 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships
After months of chasing times, distances, and heights, the final cuts have been made and nine Mules will be attending the Division III national meet in Myrtle Beach, S.C. later this week. The squad will be competing in six events, a huge jump up from sending a solo competitor a year ago.
- Levi Biery - Men's 400m Hurdles
- Erin Daugherty - Women's 100m Hurdles, 4x100 Relay
- Gordon Doore - Men's 1500m
- Kaitlyn Ewald - Women's 4x400 Relay
- Sade Greenidge - Women's 4x100 Relay
- Fiona Mejico - Women's 400m Hurdles, 4x100 Relay, 4x400 Relay
- Kristina Pizzi - Women's 4x400 Relay
- Simone Waheed - Women's 4x100 Relay
- Haley Wims - Women's 4x400 Relay
- Tally Zeller - Women's Relay (alternate)
- Olivia Doherty - Women's Relay (alternate)
Softball, Baseball, and Crew Tally Multiple All-NESCAC Selections
The NESCAC announced conference awards this week with Softball, Baseball, and Crew earning several distinctions.
For softball, Carissa Cassidy and Abby Orso returned for their second showing on the All-NESCAC team, while Chloe Wilcox made her third appearance. Orso and Wilcox were named to the first team while sophomore Cassidy repeated on the second team for the Mules.
Senior Cole Palmeri was named NESCAC Player of the Year, the first ever in program history to garner the award, headlining seven total All-NESCAC selections for Colby Baseball. Joining Palmeri on the First Team is senior Brady O'Brien, earning his fourth All-Conference selection, as well as first-year Patrick Shrake. Making the All-NESCAC Second team is junior Ryan Grace, his second All-Conference selection, senior Marcus Forrester, senior Matthew Scibilio, and sophomore Derek Woods.
Crew had two named to the All-NESCAC Second team. Sophomore Eliza Nilson as well as senior Charlie Stevenson who adds on to his 2023 Second Team honors.
Check out colbyatheltics.com for the full stories on these awards.
36th Annual Senior Sports Awards
This Friday, Colby Athletics will host the 36th Annual Senior Sports Awards at 2:00pm in the Gordon Center. With over 60 nominations, 30 finalist vie for one of the ten awards given out to celebrate the class of 2024 and their lasting impact on Colby Athletics. Finalists will be revealed throughout the week leading up to the event.
People can follow along at home with the live stream via the button below.
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