Mule Weekly Recap March 20, 2023

Mules Collect Five All-American Awards at NCAA Championships

Seven Mules traveled to Greensboro, North Carolina to compete in the NCAA DIII Swimming & Diving championships. After four days of competition, the men's totaled 37 points, placing them 21st of 43 teams, while the women's team collected 6.5 points, good for 32nd place. Colby came away with five All-American awards. Seniors Shaun Kronenwetter and Ann Tolan competed in their final career races as Colby Mules.

Men's All-Americans:

• Neil Mortimer - First Team (7th), 50 Freestyle & First Team (6th), 100 Butterfly
• 200 Medley Relay - Second Team (13th), Brandon Xiong, Alexander MacLennan, Mortimer, Shaun Kronenwetter
• 200 Freestyle Relay - Second Team (15th), Mortimer, Kronenwetter, Xiong, Allen Zhu

Women's All-Americans:

Gabriella Landau - Second Team (10th, Colby Record), 100 Backstroke

Colby Stuns #7 Wesleyan, Delivers Cardinals First Loss

After opening the season with road games against ranked opponents, the Women's Lacrosse team returned to campus in search of their first win. The Mules topped the Panthers of Plymouth State Monday 19-8, turning their momentum to the win column.

Hosting #7 Wesleyan University on Sunday in frigid temperatures, the Mules jumped out to a 6-2 lead earlier, and held an 8-7 lead at the break. Down the stretch, the Cardinals tied the game at 12 with five minutes to go, only to have Colby push across the game winner with four minutes remaining and stiffen their defense to issue Wesleyan their first defeat of the season.

Gianna Bruno tallied five goals and eight assists on the week, including six points against Wesleyan, and earning NESCAC Player of the Week. First-year Paige Saudek tallied eight goals in the two games, including netting the game-winner Sunday.

Colby is now 2-3 on the season, heading to play at Chicago for their lone road game of spring break.

Softball Sweeps First Four Games in Florida

The Colby Softball team ran their win streak to five games, taking the first four on their spring break trip in Florida. In the opener, the Mules defeated Minnesota-Morris 1-0. Colby completed the sweep taking the second game 7-2. Abby Orso collected her second win of the season in the Game 1 shutout, and Sam Ahlholm earned her first win of the year in the nightcap.

On Sunday Colby shortened the games, applying the mercy rule to defeat Union 12-2 and Keuka 13-1, both in five innings. Ahlholm picked up her second victory of the trip against Union, and first-year KC DeSarno earned her first collegiate victory against the Wolves.

Carissa Cassidy and Jackie Hill collected seven hits apiece over the weekend. Cassidy led the Mules with seven runs, and Hill led Colby with seven RBI.

Colby is now 5-1 to start the season.

Baseball Walks-Off Against SLU, Collects Shutout Against JWC

Falling behind St. Lawrence University Saturday 7-3, the Mules scored five runs in the last three frames, walking off with a 8-7 victory in the bottom of the ninth. Brady O'Brien powered the offense with two home runs and five RBI. Pitchers Derek Woods and Greg Levin kept Colby in the game, combining for the final four innings on the mound, allowing only one run collectively.

Against Washington and Jefferson on Sunday, three pitchers combined for the 5-0 shutout over the Presidents. Thomas Rioux earned the start, and earned his first collegiate victory with six innings and eight strikeouts. O'Brien hit his fourth home run of the season in the fifth inning as seven Mules recorded a hit. Marcus Forrester went 2-3 with a double and a triple.

Colby is 5-2 to start the season.

Track & Field Opens Outdoor Season at Emory Spring Break Classic

After an impactful indoor season, the Mules traveled to Atlanta to begin their outdoor track & field schedule. Hosted by Emory University, the Women's team triumphed for a third place podium spot, including multiple top three finishes. The Men's team grabbed 8th out of 17 teams also scoring several podium finishes.

Women's Top-10 Finishers:

• 400 Hurdles - Fiona Mejico 1st, Erin Daugherty 2nd, Haley Wims 5th
• 400m - Mejico 2nd, Olivia Tomlin 6th, Olivia Doherty 7th, Kristina Pizzi 8th
• 800m - Anna Mackey 2nd, Wims 9th
• 4 x 400m Relay - 2nd (Tomlin, Pizzi, Mackey, Doherty)
• High Jump - Isabel Llach, 3rd
• Triple Jump - Kassie Brink 4th, Llach 7th
• 100 Hurdles - Daugherty, 7th
• 200m - Lottie Franck, 10th

Men's Top-10 Finishers:

• Pole Vault - Peter Martel 1st, Myles Thorton-Sherman 6th
• 4 x 100m Relay - 2nd (Markus Christie, Ren Zanze, Martel, Oliver Kennon)
• 4 x 400m Relay - 4th (Arcel Melo, Raghav Kadambi, John Silberman, Elian Joseph)
• 110 Hurdles - Levi Berry, 5th
• Triple Jump - Kevin Yan 5th, A.J. Feldman 6th, Rohit Sinha 10th
• 400 Hurdles - Berry 5th, Kyle Dube 8th
• Long Jump - Yan, 6th
• 400m - Kadambi, 7th

Track & Field will be back in action at Emory this coming weekend for the Emory "Thrills in the Hills" event.

Men's Lacrosse Plays Even with #12 Wesleyan in Second Half

With Wednesday's in-state game against MMA canceled due to weather, the Men's Lacrosse team eyed a repeat of last year's victory over #12 Wesleyan.

Despite playing even in the second half, a first-half deficit proved too much for Colby to overcome, falling to the Cardinals in Middletown 21-12. Jack Goller scored three goals and added an assist. The midfielder has now tallied a hat trick in all four games this season. Matt Suffredini recorded 14 saves in net, marking the second time this season he has reached double digits.

Colby is now 1-3, heading to Pennsylvania to face Widener on Wednesday.