Liam Devanny

Players-of-the-Week!

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It’s early days, but already some Wesleyan athletes have been recognized for extraordinary achievement. Let’s start with a great volleyball player on a tremendous team. Mariko Tanaka ’24 was named NESCAC Player-of-the-Week last week as she had games where she led the team in digs and then in kill percentage. She’s a force for good things and all of her teammates benefit from her strong play.

Speaking of strong play, Liam Devanny ’23 has been all but unbeatable in the goal for the men’s soccer team. He already has multiple shutouts under his belt, including great games against the nationally ranked teams from Tufts and Brandeis. Like volleyball, the men’s soccer team is off to an excellent start, and I’m so pleased to see Liam recognized as a Player-of-the-Week by NESCAC.

And speaking of excellent starts, the football team looked very impressive on Saturday. And most impressive was defensive tackle Nick Helbig ’23, and his strong play was acknowledged with the New England Football Writers’ Gold Helmet Award. This is a signal award for anyone, and especially rare for a defensive tackle. Nick was also named player-of-the-week by NESCAC.

Come out and cheer on Wesleyan’s wonderful student-athletes. Go Wes!

One Month Into the Semester…

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There’s a chill in the air, and the leaves are changing colors. Midterms are around the corner, and we’ve already had dance recitals and a home football game (what a dominating performance). After great preparation and more than a little anxiety, with masks and regular testing, we are having a much more normal semester than I’d feared in mid-August. One month into the semester, I know that students and faculty are making progress on important projects, and staff is supporting that work while planning for Wesleyan’s long term future.

I’ve already mentioned how much fun I’ve had seeing our students perform at a high level in athletics. And this week something terrific happened when NESCAC chose three Wesleyan students as players-of-the-week!

Liam Devanny ’23 – the men’s soccer goalie who has been super in the net for the Cardinals.

Brina Kuslak ’23 – the women’s volleyball middle blocker was a “kill machine” for Wes during the last week. (Check out the games this weekend!)

Audrey Lavey ’23 – the women’s soccer forward had three goals during the week, including two within a few minutes against Bowdoin.

As we move into October, let’s cheer on the Wes folks doing great things all around campus. And let’s stay vigilant about reducing Covid risk…. By doing so, we make everything else possible.