Women's Ice Hockey Sweeps the Red-Hot Cardinals
With the NESCAC regular season winding down, there has been no hotter team in the conference than Wesleyan. After going 4-1-1 over the last three weekends against the NESCAC's top-ranked opponents (including a sweep of #6 Middlebury), the Cardinals hit a major roadblock in Waterville as the Mules cruised to 2-0 and 3-1 victories.
In Friday night's opener Sophia Kennedy scored both of Colby's goals, one in the second period and one in the third. Grace Caligiuri collected her fourth shutout of the season in net, turning away all 22 Cardinal shots. The Mules held the offensive advantage out-shooting Wesleyan in each period, putting a total of 39 shots on net throughout the match.
In Saturday's matinee Colby kept the momentum. Audrey Shirer scored in the first, Megan Martodam in the second, and Beth Sinson capped the scoring in the third. Kennedy had a hand in the game winning scores both days, assisting Martodam's goal midway through the second period Saturday.
Colby is now 14-7-1, good for 6th in the NESCAC. With one more weekend of games left in the regular season, the Mules have secured a spot in the postseason and could move as high as 3rd seed.
Men’s Swimming & Diving Crowned CBB Champions
For the second straight year the Colby Men’s Swimming & Diving team took the CBB title defeating Bowdoin 194-94 and hosts Bates 150-146. On top of taking home multiple event winners, the Mules came away breaking three school records including Carson Rehkopf’s 200 Freestyle performance setting a time of 1:40.90.
Event Winners:
- Brandon Xiong - 100 Backstroke
- Spencer Cohen - 200 Backstroke
- Neil Mortimer - 100 Butterfly
- Skylar Yoham - 200 Butterfly (Colby record)
- Max LaRoche - 200 Breaststroke
- Alexander MacLennan - 200 IM
- Ivan Knoepflmacher - One Meter Dive (Colby record)
- Tate Weltzin - Three Meter Dive
Men’s Swimming & Diving will now look to prepare to host the NESCAC Championship February 22nd-25th. The women's team will compete in their own conference championship happening February 15th-18th at Middlebury.
Men’s Squash Advances to NESCAC Semifinals for First Time in Program History
Before falling to the top seeded Trinity Bantams Sunday 8-1 in the conference semifinals, the Mules took down the fifth seeded Amherst Mammoths Saturday in the quarterfinals.
Colby went into the tournament as the fourth seed, their best seeding in program history. After defeating Amherst by a close 5-4 scoreline on Saturday the Mules advanced to the conference semifinals. Winners against Amherst include; Inwoo Lee, Seif Ashraf, Youssif Mostafa, Carlos Zendejas and Sebastian Campos. In the 8-1 loss to Trinity the next day Kit Illick secured the lone win.
With the two program firsts the Colby Men’s Squash team will patiently wait for the CSA Team and Individual Championship seeding to be released.
Men's Ice Hockey Completes Season Sweep of Wesleyan
In their final road trip of the NESCAC regular season, Colby traveled to the Constitution State to take on Trinity and Wesleyan. After falling in a tight matchup to the Bantams Friday night (5-3), the Mules set their sights on taking the series against the Cardinals Saturday.
In hopes of matching their five goals against the Cardinals in early January, the Mules peppered the net early and often. John McElaney scored twice in the second period, and Jayden Grier scored once in the second and once more in the third, guiding Colby to the 4-1 win. Andy Beran collected 31 saves in net.
The Mules are now 8-11-3, ranked 8th in the NESCAC. Hosting Conn. and Tufts next weekend, Colby looks to solidify its spot in the conference postseason.
Women's Alpine Skiing Third at Dartmouth Giant Slalom
A week after winning the Harvard GS, the Women's Alpine Ski team cruised to another podium performance at Dartmouth. Meagan Olsen and Hannah Soria placed 6th and 7th respectively as five of the six women finished in the top-30. In Saturday's Slalom Colby placed sixth led by Carissa Cassidy in 15th.
*Thursday also marked the makeup GS from the postponed UVM Carnival, however team scores were not calculated.
Women's Top-30 Finishes:
- Olsen: 6th Dartmouth GS, 24th Dartmouth SL
- Soria: 7th Dartmouth GS, 11th UVM GS
- Molly Mueller: 14th UVM GS, 15th Dartmouth GS
- Cassidy: 15th Dartmouth SL, 27th Dartmouth GS, 29th UVM GS
- Marit Kaiser (photo right): 23rd Dartmouth SL
- Lydia Riddell: 26th Dartmouth GS, 30th UVM GS
The men's team finished fifth in Dartmouth's Slalom and seventh in the Giant Slalom. Harrison Digangi was Colby's top finisher in all three races (including the UVM makeup), placing 6th in the Slalom and 11th in each of the GS races.
Men's Top-30 Finishes:
- Digangi: 6th Dartmouth SL, 11th Dartmouth GS, 11th UVM GS
- Nolan Sweeney: 15th Dartmouth GS, 17th Dartmouth SL
- Noah Reimenschneider: 19th UVM GS
- Tucker Strauch: 21st UVM GS
- Patrick Coughlin: 22nd Dartmouth SL
Colby will have another packed weekend ahead, heading to Williamstown next weekend for the Williams Carnival as well as the Slalom makeup from the UVM Carnival.
Men's Nordic Skiing Places Six in Top-22 at Dartmouth Sprint
With the Dartmouth Carnival marking the fourth out of six stops on the EISA circuit, the Mules remain competitive for the top spots and show considerable depth across the board. Six men sprinted into the top-22 of Friday's Sprint and first-year Andrew Defor placed 5th in Saturday's Classic, leading the men's team to fifth place team results both days in the 11-team field.
Men's Top-30 Finishes:
- Defor: 5th Classic, 21st Sprint
- Taiga Moore: 13th Sprint
- Clint Macy: 15th Sprint
- Matous Matousek: 16th Sprint, 19th Classic
- Benjamin Lewis (photo right): 17th Sprint, 28th Classic
- Isak Nightingale: 22nd Sprint
- Zach Nemeth: 24th Classic
Gretta Scholz led the women's team with a 12th place finish in the Sprint and 13th place finish in the Classic, guiding Colby to sixth place finishes both days. Four other Mules placed inside the top-30.
Women's Top-30 Finishes:
- Scholz: 12th Sprint, 13th Classic
- Rose Clayton: 22nd Classic
- Lola Villafranco: 23rd Classic, 27th Sprint
- Isabel Seay: 24th Classic
- Lili Baer: 29th Sprint
Colby heads to Prospect Mountain next weekend for the Williams Carnival.
Women’s Basketball Secures the Seventh Seed for the NESCAC Playoffs
Before heading into the postseason the Mules looked to improve their seeding for the conference playoffs hosting Amherst and Hamilton to conclude the regular season. Colby played close with both teams but came up just short, falling to the Mammoths by five 64-59 and the Continentals by just three 52-49 after a last-second shot fell short.
In the two games combined, Chelsea Ibenegbu netted 20 points followed by Kate Olenik and Ana Von Rumohr (pictured below) each adding on 19. Lydia Mordarski totaled 18 points and four steals while Amelia Hanscom contributed 19 rebounds and seven assists.
On Saturday February 17th the Mules will travel to the number two seeded Trinity Bantams for a quarterfinals matchup. The Bantams defeated Colby 61-50 during the regular season. With a win, the Mules will advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2017.
Before their final home game Colby's four seniors were honored for their hard work and dedication to the program.
Men’s Basketball Concludes Season with Three Game Week
After taking a 89-72 non-conference loss to Southern Maine Tuesday night on Mayflower Hill, the Mules looked to battle for a playoff spot on the road against Amherst Friday and Hamilton Saturday in the final games of the regular season.
Against the Mammouths Colby led most of the first half before their opponent went on a late run to end the half 40-33. Max Poulton had an impressive opening frame posting 17 first half points including five three pointers. In the second half, the Mules steadily crawled back into the game placing themselves up one with just over a minute remaining. Despite Colby outscoring Amherst 31-26 in the half, the Mammoths laid in a basket with 18 seconds remaining ultimately leading to the 66-64 final score. Poulton finished the game with 25 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Lucas Green also scored in the double digits, netting 11 to go along with three assists and four rebounds.
The following day would serve as a rematch of the 2022-23 NESCAC Championship game, with the victor between Colby and Hamilton securing the eighth and final playoff spot. The Mules stayed close with the Continentals throughout the first half and into the second, but Hamilton took control and gradually extended its lead throughout the final 35 minutes of play to catapult into the playoffs. Lucas Green led the way with 18 points followed by Liam O’Connell with 14 as the duo closed out their Colby Basketball careers.
The Mules conclude the season with 11-13 record.
Track & Field Competes at BU and Bowdoin
Ahead of next weekend's Maine D3 Meet hosted at Colby, the Mules split squads in search of regional qualifying numbers.
At Bowdoin's Lynn Ruddy Invitational, the men's and women's teams made a good showing in the Heptathlon (men) and Pentathlon (women). AJ Feldman claimed first in his event with Anthony D'Itria close behind in third. Isabel Llach placed third in the Pentathlon with Michelle Barnes in fifth.
At Boston University's Valentine Invite, Myles Thornton-Sherman topped all competitors in the Pole Vault, with Peter Martel joining him on the podium in third.
Colby continues the indoor season next weekend hosting Maine colleges for the Maine D3 Meet.
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