Weekly Lyon

Men's Basketball (17-6, 6-4) Records 1-1 Week in Conference Play

The Wheaton College men's basketball team recorded a 1-1 mark in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) this week, as the Lyons fell 71-58 at Springfield on Tuesday and defeated WPI, 66-54 in Worcester on Saturday. With two league games remaining, Wheaton and MIT are currently deadlocked at 6-4 apiece, a mark good enough for a tie for third in the conference race. The Lyons currently stand two and a half games behind first-place Babson.

At Springfield, the Pride turned a four-point halftime lead into a 13-point victory over Wheaton. In the first half, Springfield sprinted out to a quick 10-0 advantage. Trailing 15-4, the Blue and White fought back, using a 9-0 run to pull within two points with 10:19 remaining in the half. The Pride answered, going on a 7-0 run over the next 1:41, to build a comfortable nine-point cushion. Wheaton refused to go away, responding with a 5-0 run of its own, with four points coming from junior forward Scott Mahan (Bridgewater, MA/Cardinal Spellman). However, the Lyons fell victim to another Springfield run to close the half. A Mahan bucket to close the first stanza kept Wheaton within four points heading into the break.

The Pride came out strong in the second stanza, using back-to-back three-point buckets to take a quick 38-28 advantage with 17:38 to play. Springfield eventually extended its lead to 16 points with 7:44 remaining. Wheaton then shut down the Pride offense, holding them without a field goal over the next 5:53. Unfortunately for the Lyons, they would only get as close as 10 points before Springfield used four consecutive free throws to put the visitors away for good. Despite being outrebounded by the Blue and White, 37-30, the Pride took advantage of Wheaton's inability to control the ball, as the hosts converted 27 points off of 22 Lyon turnovers. Mahan recorded a double-double performance to lead the Lyons with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Senior captain Jarett Lewis (Detroit, MI/South Kent School) chipped in nine points, while junior Richard Henninger (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury) contributed eight points and six boards. Freshman Sean Kelly (Providence, RI/Wheeler School) also added eight points with a game-best six assists in the loss.

At WPI, junior forward Frankie Whall (Roslindale, MA/Cheshire Academy) led the Lyons with a career-high 26 points and 11 rebounds. The win marked Wheaton's first in conference play on the road this season. The Lyons are now 5-0 at home and 1-4 on the road in the NEWMAC. WPI started the game strong, leading 15-4 after ten minutes of action. But at that point, Wheaton went to Whall, who tallied 14 of his 26 points in the first stanza. The Lyons would tie the game at 25 points apiece, before an Engineer jumper at the buzzer gave WPI a 27-25 halftime lead.

Wheaton began the second half in strong fashion, outscoring WPI, 13-2 in taking a 38-29 lead. The Engineers cut the margin to three points (46-43) following a three-pointer, but just seconds later Lewis negated that with a three of his own. Wheaton was never challenged the remainder of the half with leads ranging from eight to 12 points. The game featured some excellent free throw shooting, with only one miss by either side all day. WPI went 8-of-8 (1.000) from the charity stripe, while Wheaton was 17-of-18 (.944). The Lyons shot very well from the field in the second half, converting on 15-of-28 (.536) of their shots. Aside from Whall, Mahan and Kelly posted 11 and 10 points, respectively, with Kelly adding five steals and four assists.

Whall Selected as NEWMAC Player of the Week

Whall was tabbed NEWMAC Player of the Week for the week ending on Sunday, February 9. He was a key component in Wheaton's 2-0 week, averaging 17.0 points (.650, 13-20 FG), 7.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in a pair of conference victories over MIT and Clark. Against MIT, Whall poured in 17 points (7-10 FG, 3-4 FT) while pulling down eight rebounds, as the Lyons defeated the Engineers, 71-51. Versus Clark, he added another 17-point performance (6-10 FG, 5-6 FT) with seven rebounds and two blocks in Wheaton's 79-72 victory over the then first-place Cougars. At the time, Whall ranked among the conference's elite in four categories, including fourth in blocked shots (1.2 BPG), fifth in field goal percentage (.548), seventh in rebounding (5.9 RPG) and 14th in scoring (11.0 PPG).

Women's Basketball (8-12, 4-3) Pushes Past WPI in NEWMAC Contest

The Wheaton College women's basketball team remained right in the thick of the conference race on Saturday afternoon, as the Lyons downed WPI, 49-45 in Emerson Gymnasium and in the process improved its league record to 4-3. On Tuesday, despite coming back from a 20-point deficit, Wheaton fell just short of Tufts, 66-64 in a non-conference contest. Sitting alone in fifth place with two league games to go, the Lyons are a game-back from a four-team logjam that includes Babson, MIT, Coast Guard and Springfield.

In Wheaton's thriller with Tufts, the Jumbos hit a pair of foul shots with 1.4 seconds left to give the visitors an escaping two-point victory in Emerson Gymnasium. The Jumbos sprinted out to a 19-4 lead with 11:02 to play, putting Wheaton in a large deficit early in the contest. The Jumbos held a 26-6 lead with over 10 minutes to go, but Wheaton was able to claw back into the game. Junior Amanda Dow-Allen (Deerfield, MA/Stoneleigh-Burnham) hit a three-pointer at the 9:02 minute mark, which gave the Lyons some much-needed momentum. Sophomore Vanessa Savas (Belmont, MA/Belmont) converted 10 of Wheaton's next 12 points, including eight straight at one point, to get Wheaton back within striking distance. With 19 seconds remaining, Dow-Allen hit another shot from beyond the arc to bring the Lyons within 10 points at 40-30. Wheaton sophomore Deverie Stover (Kingston, NY/Hawthorne Valley) was then able to capitalize on a Lyon steal and hit a running bank shot as time expired, making the score 40-32 at the intermission.

The Jumbos, who shot 56.0 percent (14-25 FG) from the field in the first half, could only muster a 33.3 percentage (10-30 FG) in the second half, which allowed the Lyons to climb back into the game. The Blue and White tied the game at 14:37 on a Kate Williams (Portland, OR/Catlin Gabel) three-pointer. The Jumbos expanded their lead back to 10 points with five minutes to play, but Wheaton fought back one more time, leading to a tight finish. With 1:37 to go, Wheaton senior guard Kerry Deshefy (Clinton, CT/The Morgan School) converted a three-point play to tie the game at 61 points apiece. Seconds later, the Jumbos hit a shot from long range to give the visitors a 64-61 lead. With 53 ticks left, Dow Allen answered with a three of her own to tie the game at 64-64.

With three seconds to play, Stover was unable to convert the game-winning basket with three seconds to play and Tufts was fouled attempting to get the ball up the floor for one final shot, paving the way for the late-game heroics. Dow-Allen led the Lyons with a career-high tying five three-point field goals made, which was good for 19 points (5-8 3-pt FG, 4-4 FT). Wheaton also got 15 points (7-9 FG) and four rebounds from Savas, while Stover added a career-high 14 points (6-10 FG) in the loss.

On Saturday, Wheaton and WPI played nip-and-tuck through the opening half, as the Lyons matched the Engineers basket for basket for nearly eight minutes. Knotted at eight points apiece, WPI used a mini-run of five points to take a 13-8 advantage with 6:19 to play. The visitors held Wheaton without a field goal over a span of 7:04, until Savas hit a left-handed lay-up to narrow the gap to 13-12. The Lyons posted their fifth tie of the game with 4:10 to play, only to see WPI reel off four straight points to take an 18-14 edge into the closing seconds of the stanza. Wheaton's highlight of the half came at the buzzer, when junior Taryn Brassil (Holyoke, MA/Holyoke) knocked down a three-pointer to bring the Lyons within a singe point heading into the locker room. Neither team posted strong shooting performances, as the Engineers shot 28.6 percent (8-18 FG), including a 0-10 clip from long range, while Wheaton shot 24.0 percent (6-25 FG).

In the second stanza, the Engineers ran off four straight points to take a 22-17 lead with just over 19 minutes to play. Spearheaded by a Savas three-point play, Wheaton went on a 12-2 run over the next nine minutes in taking a 29-24 advantage. On the strength of five straight points from Dow-Allen, the hosts pushed their advantage out to 36-29 with 4:27 remaining. Trailing 40-33 with 53 seconds to play, WPI posted a three-pointer followed by a left-handed lay-in to cut the deficit to two points with 22 ticks on the clock. Forced to foul, the Engineers saw Wheaton hit three of four shots from the charity stripe in pushing its lead back to five points. WPI refused to quit, as the Engineers hit another three-point bucket from long range to pull within 43-41 with four seconds to play. On Wheaton's following possession, senior Jessica Arment (Lee, MA/Lee) was fouled and knocked down the ensuing free throws to seal the victory for the Lyons. Savas recorded a double-double performance with 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Lyons. Dow-Allen finished the game with nine points, all coming in the second half, while Arment added eight points.

Men's (3-7) and Women's (6-5) Swimming Closes Regular Season with Sweep over Gordon

Wheaton College men's and women's swimming and diving completed its 2002-2003 regular season this afternoon by sweeping Gordon College in a pair of dual meets in Balfour Natatorium. On the men's side, the Lyons defeated the Scots, 113-99, while the women were victorious, 154-103. A trio of school records fell on the day, including two on the men's side and one for the women. For the men, freshman John Kuckens (West Hartford, CT/Hall) smashed the 1,650-yard freestyle record with a time of 18:46.91, which was 17.48 seconds faster than the record set by Thys-Jan Tepper '00 in March of 1998. Junior co-captain Chris Hurley (Belfast, ME/Belfast Area) broke his own school record in the 500-yard free, finishing in a time of 5:05.43. On the women's side, first-year Cassie Bannell (Farmington, CT/Farmington) shattered her own school mark in the 50-yard backstroke, swimming the first leg of the 200-yard medley relay in 28.74.

Overall for the men, the Lyons picked up 10 individual victories on the day, including Kuckens' and Hurley's school record performances. Hurley scored two additional victories in the 50-yard freestyle (22.93) and the 100-yard individual medley (58.98). Also capturing three victories on the afternoon was sophomore Chris Klinkow (Hollis, NH/Hollis-Brookline), who won the 100-yard butterfly, 100-yard freestyle and 50-yard butterfly in times of 56.46, 51.02 and 25.41, respectively. Rounding out the victories for the men was senior co-captain Chris Peterson (Ashland, MA/Ashland) in the 50-yard breaststroke (30.11), sophomore Aaron Beaulieu (Freeport, ME/Freeport) in the one-meter dive (154.90) and freshman Charles Sawyer (Brooklyn, NY/Beacon School) in the three-meter dive (152.95).

Including the school record for Bannell, 15 overall victories were claimed on the women's side, with 13 individual triumphs. In the relay events, Bannell, senior co-captain Meghan Sidoti (Middletown, CT/Middletown), sophomore Fiona McQuade (Pawcatuck, CT/Prout) and first-year Courtney Catalano (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) claimed victory in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:59.85. In the 200-yard free relay, Sidoti, Bannell, junior Katie Levine (Needham, MA/Needham) and freshman Lauren Pcholinski (Old Saybrook, CT/Old Saybrook) took top honors with a time of 1:47.08.

Individually for the Lyons, McQuade, Bannell, Pcholinski and junior Jessica Martin (Bridgton, ME/Lake Region) scored multiple victories on the afternoon. McQuade was victorious in the 50-yard breaststroke (35.10) and 100-yard breaststroke (1:16.12). Bannell won the 50-yard free (25.89) and the 50-yard butterfly (28.42) events, while Pcholinski took the 1,650-yard free (20:25.57) and 500-yard freestyle (5:53.13). Martin was victorious in the one and three-meter diving events, scoring 152.20 and 75.45 points, respectively. Rounding out the individual victories was Sidoti in the 100-yard butterfly (1:06.14), Levine in the 100-yard free (58.85), sophomore Amanda Berthelette (Milford, NH/Milford) in the 100-yard backstroke (1:04.56), sophomore Nicole Bassaleh (Mansfield, MA/Mansfield) in the 100-yard IM (1:09.79) and first-year Ashley Jankowski (Lincoln, RI/Lincoln) in the 50-yard backstroke (32.72).

Wheaton Tracksters Split Appearances at Armory and Boston University

The Wheaton College men's and women's indoor track and field teams split appearances this weekend between the prestigious Armory Collegiate Invitational at the Armory Track & Field Center in New York and the FasTrack and Valentine Invitationals at Boston University in Boston. Competing against a Division-I dominated field on Saturday at the Armory, a pair of juniors and one freshman led the Wheaton women. Juniors Amber James (Woodbury, MN/Woodbury) and Kim Spence (Barrington, NH/Dover) and freshman Aquila Williams-Judge (Boston, MA/Scituate) all placed in the top five in their respective events. James finished fourth in the 400-meter dash and in the process posted an NCAA Division III national meet automatic qualifying time of 55.35. Williams-Judge placed third in the 60-meter hurdles with an automatic standard of 8.60, while Spence also stood third in her section of the 800-meter run with a provisional time of 2:17.81.

On Friday, James paced the Lyons in the sprint events, spearheaded by an impressive third-place finish in the preliminaries of the 400-meter dash. James posted an automatic qualifying time of 55.43 in the 400M, followed by a 15th-place mark in the 200-meter dash. Junior Vernick Smith (Camden, NJ/Woodrow Wilson) also captured an automatic qualification in the 400M with a time of 56.66, while freshman Oly Wirtz (Fitchburg, MA/Fitchburg) notched a provisional time of 58.50. First-year Kendra Leith (Holden, MA/Wachusett Regional) was also impressive, as she shattered the Wheaton school record in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:11.31, which was nearly 18 seconds faster than her performance one week ago. On the field, Williams-Judge landed a pair of provisional qualifying standards in both the long and triple jump events. She finished 13th overall in the long with a distance of 18' 5" and 16th in the triple with a mark of 37' 1". Meanwhile, at BU's Valentine Invitational, freshman Noelle Battista (Warwick, RI/Toll Gate) led the way with a fourth-place mark in the pole vault. Her 10' 8" performance earned her a provisional qualifying height.

At the Armory on the men's side, sophomore Dan Olson (Voorheesville, NY/Albany Academy) lifted Wheaton to a first-place triumph in the high jump with an NCAA Division III national meet automatic qualifying clearance of 6' 11". Junior Terry Panetta (Hicksville, NY/St. Anthony's) led Wheaton's distance runners with a fourth-place standing in his section of the 800-meter run at 1:57.69. At the FasTrack Invitational at BU on Saturday, first-year Elishia Zabel (Bristol, CT/Bristol) paced the Wheaton men in the 55-meter dash. Placing 20th overall, Zabel finished the race with a time of 6.70. On Friday at the Armory, junior Erik Benson (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug) posted a pair of solid sprints, registering a provisional qualifying time of 49.24 in the 400-meter dash. To go along with his 18th-place standing in the 400M, Benson placed 31st in the 200M at 22.92. Panetta had Wheaton's highest placement on the day, finishing seventh in the mile at 4:20.81. On the field, junior Tyrone McClain (New Haven, CT/Hillhouse) and first-year Justin Jin (Seoul, South Korea/Newton South [MA]) finished 15th and 16th in the long jump with distances of 20' 7 1/4" and 20' 7", respectively.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 1/30/07.
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