Athletics

Wesleyan won its first ever NESCAC championship in baseball this afternoon, beating Tufts 6-4. Mark Woodworth’s team had a tremendous regular season, finishing first in the division and winning The Little Three. Behind great pitching, terrific defense, and wonderful fundamentals (oh, those squeeze bunts!) the Cardinals found ways to win.

The same held true in the tournament. Beating Bates and then Tufts in consecutive days, Wes needed to win one of two against the Jumbos on Mother’s Day. The guys dropped the first game, and Tufts kept fighting to keep things interesting until the final out. With the tying run at the plate, the Cardinals completed their victory with a force out at second base. Wesleyan has its first NESCAC championship!

Congratulations to Coach Mark and all the players (and especially their mothers!). A great day for Wesleyan athletics!!

The Wesleyan baseball team once again won the Little Three title this weekend, taking 2 of 3 from Amherst. This left the Cardinals atop the NESCAC West division moving into the playoffs. THISISWHY!

Speaking of playoffs, the mighty men’s lacrosse team beat Connecticut College to advance to the semifinals of the NESCAC tournament. We face Amherst Saturday at Tufts University, with the winner going on to play for the championship the next day.

LaDarius Drew ’15 kept his winning ways at NESCAC men’s track championship this past weekend, winning the 200 meters and the long jump. LD also finished second in the 100 meters. Agbon Edomwonyi ’16 was a standout in the hammer throw and the shot put. I think it was the history/philosophy/literature classes that gave them the jump on the field….

Speaking of the hammer and shot, Sierra Livious ’16 placed in these events and another at the NESCAC women’s championship. Ellie Martin ’16 finished an incredible close second in the 400m race.

Congrats to all our athletes finishing up their spring seasons! Go WES!

Great news from swimming and diving coach Peter Solomon: Angela Slevin ’15 has qualified and is being invited to compete in this year’s Div. III NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships being held March 19th – 22nd in Indianapolis, IN.  Angela will be competing in the 1,650-yard (mile) Freestyle, 500-yard Freestyle, and the 200-yard Freestyle events during this 4-day competition.  We think that Angela is the first Wesleyan swimmer since 2006 to have qualified for the national championships.

On a frozen surface, the women’s hockey team has had a heck of a season so far. To close out regular play, the Cardinals tied Trinity in two straight games. This capped off one of their best regular seasons in many years.  The Cardinals qualified for the NESCAC tournament for the first time since the 2003-04 season.  The fifth seeding equals the team’s highest ever in the playoffs.

In women’s squash, Mary Foster ’14 was named to the all NESCAC squad for the fourth straight year. And Lauren Nelson ’15 was also honored with an all NESCAC nod. In men’s squash, John Steele ’14 had another superb season, and was also recognized by the conference for his exemplary play. Guy Davidson ’16 also was recognized for a fine season.

Shona Kerr was awarded Coach-of-the-Year honors for the second time in four years! What wonderful recognition from her peers!

Both men and women’s hockey teams are heading for the playoffs, and we wish them all the best. The “spring” athletes have been working hard for some time already, and I can imagine they are looking forward to the March break. As I left the gym last night (dragging myself out of the fitness center), I bumped into the chipper, upbeat women’s lacrosse team. They seemed raring to go, even if they had just finished what must have been an icy-cold practice. I straightened up and tried to look a little less bedraggled.

Good luck to those finishing their seasons, and all the best to those who are just getting underway!  Go WES!

Wesleyan’s hockey teams have been having very strong seasons. Let’s start with the women. Long a hard working and dedicated group, this year the team has had a nose for the goal and an almost uncanny ability to protect our own net. Most recently against Hamilton, Cara Jankowski ’15, Jordan Schildhaus ’15 and Jess Brennan ’17, each posted a goal and an assist to lead the Cardinals to our largest margin of victory ever over visiting Hamilton, 5-0. We swept that series, and remember that Hamilton students are all used to going to class across an icy campus!

A great reason for our success is goalie Laura Corcoran ’16. Against Hamilton in the first game of the series, she came up with 27 saves to post her third shutout of the year. Laura is one of the NESCAC leaders for both save percentage and goals-against average this season, now with .944 and 1.56 figures, respectively. She anchors a fine defense, while the offense has been putting the puck in the opponents’ nets. Coach Jodi McKenna leads a great squad.

The men’s hockey team has also excelled this year, and they had an AMAZING weekend. First, they soundly beat a solid Williams’ team, 7-3, after having jumped out to a 4-0 lead. A sophomore line was firing on all cylinders, as Alex Carlacci ’16, Jaren Taenaka ’16 and Terence Durkin ’16  accounted for the final four goals of the contest for the Cardinals. Another sophomore, Jay Matthews, ’16, has had an impressive season, already earning NESCAC Player-of-the-Week honors. Our frosh phenom Elliot Vorel ’17 also received that honor and he has been an intense offensive threat all year.

Speaking of intense frosh phenoms, the Wesleyan goalie Dawson Sprigings ’17 had a superb weekend, limiting the powerful Middlebury team yesterday to just a single goal, while our guys netted a pair. Coach Chris Potter has forged a fiery, young team, and we should wish them all luck as they head up to Maine at the end of the week.

Go winter Wes!

I just learned that last weekend Kiley Kennedy ’16 set a new Wesleyan record in the pole vault, clearing nine feet, ten inches. The old record stood for more than a decade, but at a meet at Yale Kiley flew right over it! Sierra Livious ’14 was our top finisher of the weekend, as she got the attention of those Division I schools with her prowess at the shot put and weight throw. Kimora Brock ’15 was outstanding in the 800 meters. Congratulations all!!

This coming weekend the track team will be in competition at the first of three consecutive Wesleyan Invitationals. As I stumble around the fitness center, I’ve run into some of our hard working tracksters. They seem more than ready.

Other groups that are more than ready are the basketball and hockey teams. Are you on campus or near Middletown? Tomorrow, Tuesday, January 14 at 7 pm, the men’s basketball team will take on a tough Amherst squad. On Friday, both the men and women hoopsters are at home, as is the men’s ice hockey team. You can see the schedule here.

I’ve got to go back on the road myself, but if you can come out to cheer the Cardinals, the Freeman Athletic Center will be jumping!