Athletics > Weekly Lyon > 2002-03 > February 24, 2003
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Men's Basketball (17-8, 6-6) Drops Two Games in League Play, Set to Host Coast Guard
The Wheaton College men's basketball team dropped a pair of New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) games this week, falling to Babson, 77-58 on Tuesday and Coast Guard, 75-68 on Saturday. Despite the two setbacks, Wheaton finished fourth in conference play and in the process will host Coast Guard this Tuesday, February 25 in the opening round of the NEWMAC Tournament. With a victory, the Lyons will advance to their fifth straight semifinal round contest. Clark will host the semifinal and final rounds on Friday and Saturday.
A 22-3 run late in the first half propelled Babson to a 19-point victory on Tuesday in Emerson Gymnasium. The Beavers used a late surge in the first half to open up a comfortable lead heading into the intermission. Babson opened a 21-14 advantage, but Wheaton rallied back, as sophomore Mike Stanton (Lynnfield, MA/Brewster Academy) hit two three-pointers during a 15-5 run that put the Lyons in front 29-25 with 6:30 left. The Beavers took over from that point, holding the Lyons without a field goal for the final six and a half minutes of the stanza. A 22-3 run, in which Wheaton was only able to convert three free throws, put Wheaton in a 15-point deficit heading into the locker room. The Beavers shot 55.6 percent (20-36 FG) from the floor and forced 11 Wheaton turnovers. Junior Scott Mahan (Bridgewater, MA/Cardinal Spellman) led the Lyons with 10 first-half points.
In the second half, the Lyons mounted a small comeback, bringing the deficit down to 10 points at the 8:40 minute mark. Mahan and senior Jarett Lewis (Detroit, MI/South Kent School) each scored four points during a 10-2 spurt that brought the score to 63-53. The Beavers then pulled away for good, scoring 14 points while holding Wheaton to five points the rest of the way. The Beavers shot 53.2 percent (33-62 FG) from the field and held Wheaton to a 40.4 shooting percentage (21-52 FG). Babson also held a 38-27 rebounding advantage. Mahan recorded his 11th double-double of the year, as he led all scorers with 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. He also recorded four blocks, the first of which broke the single-season record of 47, held by teammate Frankie Whall (Roslindale, MA/Cheshire Academy). Freshman Sean Kelly (Providence, RI/Wheeler School) chipped in nine points, while Lewis, who played in his last regular season home game, scored seven points.
Despite outscoring Coast Guard, 42-39 in the second stanza at Connecticut College's Luce Field House, Wheaton fell behind early and trailed 36-26 at the half. The Bears used a 12-4 run midway through the first frame to turn a 17-16 deficit into a 28-21 lead with 4:10 left. Both teams had similar shooting performances in the first half, but it was Coast Guard's free throw attempts that made the difference. The Bears hit 7-of-9 (.778) from the charity stripe, opposed to a 1-of-2 (.500) showing for the Lyons. In the second stanza, Coast Guard caught fire, scoring 11 of the half's first 13 points to increase its lead to 47-28 with 17:45 to go. With the Bears leading 68-54 with just 3:28 left, Wheaton used a 14-3 spurt capped by a Keith Macri (Paramus, NJ/Paramus) three-pointer with 39 seconds left to cut the lead to 71-68. Coast Guard then hit four straight free throws to put the game away for good.
The Bears also hit 10-of-20 (.500) field goals in the half while converting 17-of-27 (.630) free throws. Wheaton shot poorly in the frame, hitting only 39.4 percent (13-33 FG) from the floor. Coast Guard also held a 38-30 rebounding advantage and forced 17 Wheaton turnovers. Sophomore guard Josean Vega (Pawtucket, RI/St. Raphael's) led the Lyons with a season-high tying 24 points (8-13 FG, 4-6 3-pt FG, 4-4 FT) and a career-best four three-point field goals made in 36 minutes. Kelly rounded out a strong back court performance with season-high totals of 16 points (5-8 FG, 3-5 3-pt FG, 3-4 FT), five field goals made and a trio of three-point field goals made. Junior Richard Henninger (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury) led Wheaton on the boards with nine rebounds.
Women's Basketball (8-14, 4-5) Finishes Seventh in NEWMAC with Two League Losses
The Wheaton College women's basketball team suffered a pair of road conference losses this week, as the Lyons dropped a 91-60 decision at Babson on Tuesday and a 68-58 outcome at Mount Holyoke on Saturday. Entering the week in fifth place in the conference standings, Wheaton finished the regular season in the seventh slot. In the opening round of the NEWMAC Tournament, the Blue and White will travel to Cambridge, Mass. to face MIT at 8:00 p.m.
At Babson, Wheaton never led as the Beavers exploded out of the gate in the first half, beginning the contest with a 13-4 run. Babson would then maintain a comfortable lead throughout most of the half. Trailing by seven points with six minutes remaining in the opening stanza, Wheaton sophomore Kate Williams (Portland, OR/Catlin Gabel) scored five straight points as part of a 6-0 run to pull the Lyons within one point at 28-27. However, the Beavers finished the half with a 14-2 run to take a 42-29 advantage into the break.
Wheaton never threatened in the second half, as Babson began the period with an 11-2 run that increased its lead to 53-31. The Lyons would get no closer than 19 the rest of the way, as the Beavers cruised to the 91-60 win. The Lyons were hurt by 21 turnovers, and were outrebounded, 46-26 on the evening. Junior Amanda Dow-Allen (Deerfield, MA/Stoneleigh-Burnham) led Wheaton with a game-high 17 points, while Williams and sophomore Deverie Stover (Kingston, NY/Hawthorne Valley School) each added 11 points apiece.
On Saturday, Wheaton held a one-point halftime lead by holding Mount Holyoke to a mere 11-of-39 (.282) from the floor, including 1-of-6 (.167) from three-point range. Wheaton was unable to take full advantage, converting on only nine field goals in the stanza. The second half was nip-and-tuck, as neither team held onto a lead through the first 14 minutes. With a little over six minutes remaining in the half, Mount Holyoke captured the lead for good. Despite hitting only one more field goal than the visitors in the half, Mount Holyoke took advantage of its opportunities at the charity stripe, hitting 12-of-14 (.857) attempts to Wheaton's 3-of-4 (.750) performance. Dow-Allen paced Wheaton with a team-high 16 points, including 4-of-6 (.667) from beyond the three-point arc. Senior guard Kerry Deshefy (Clinton, CT/The Morgan School) added 10 points and three steals on the afternoon.
Women's Swimming Sets Six School Records at NEWMAC Championship, Finish Seventh
The Wheaton College women's swimming and diving team broke six school records, with first-year swimmer Cassie Bannell (Farmington, CT/Farmington) figuring in all six of them, as the Lyons finished seventh overall with 226 points at the NEWMAC Championship at Wellesley College's Chandler Pool. Bannell won the 100-yard backstroke to earn NEWMAC All-Conference honors and in the process set four individual school records, playing a part in two Wheaton relay marks and scoring in two other events, to pace the Lyons. On Friday, she teamed with junior Katie Levine (Needham, MA/Needham), sophomore Blake Worrall (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury) and freshman Alexandra Cheney (Santa Monica, CA/Marymount) to finish third in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a school record time of 1:43.58. In that relay, Bannell swam a school-best 25.09 in the 50-yard freestyle segment of the event. Later in the evening, she finished fifth in the 50-yard free in a time of 25.22.
On Saturday, Bannell sided with Levine, senior co-captain Meghan Sidoti (Middletown, CT/Middletown) and sophomore Fiona McQuade (Pawcatuck, CT/Prout) to finish fourth in the 200-yard medley relay in a time of 1:57.74. During that race, Bannell swam the 50-yard backstroke in a time of 28.69, five hundredths of a second faster than the school mark she set the previous week. In the 100-yard backstroke later that afternoon, Bannell broke another school record, winning the event in 1:00.96. Bannell was at it again on Sunday, setting her fourth individual Wheaton record in the 100-yard freestyle. Her ninth place finish in a time of 55.99 shattered Caitlin Bottomley's '02 four-year record in that event. In the last event of the evening, Bannell teamed with Levine, Worrall and Cheney to finish sixth in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The quartet finished in a time of 3:49.90, besting the four-year school mark by a second and a half.
In addition to Bannell's record breaking weekend, the Lyons were paced by several point scoring performances. The team of sophomores Nicole Bassaleh (Mansfield, MA/Mansfield) and Amanda Berthelette (Milford, NH/Milford) and freshmen Courtney Catalano (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) and Lauren Pcholinski (Old Saybrook, CT/Old Saybrook) finished 15th in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:49.28. Also scoring on Friday was the 400-yard medley relay, which consisted of Sidoti, McQuade, Worrall and Bannell, who placed seventh with a time of 4:20.49. Bassaleh, Berthelette, Cheney and first-year Ashley Jankowski (Lincoln, RI/Lincoln) finished 15th in the event in 4:28.90.
On Saturday, the relay team of Bassaleh, Berthelette, Cheney and Catalano stood 15th in the 200-yard medley with a time of 2:02.85. Berthelette posted an eighth place finish in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:03.98. Sidoti, Levine and McQuade then posted point scoring finishes in the 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke events, respectively. In the final event of the day, Levine, Worrall, Pcholinski and junior Jenna Gustafson (New Hartford, CT/St. Paul Catholic) registered an eighth place mark in the 800-yard freestyle relay in 8:48.38. On Sunday, Wheaton was paced by a solid performance by Berthelette in the 200-yard backstroke, McQuade in the 200-yard breaststroke and Sidoti in the 200-yard butterfly. In the 400-yard freestyle relay, Gustafson, Bassaleh, Pcholinski and junior Kelly Moran (Windsor, CT/Loomis Chaffee) posted a 16th place finish in 4:04.14.
Following is a complete list of the Top 16 individual and relay finishers for Wheaton over the three-day competition of the NEWMAC Championship:
Individual
Name Event Time Place
Cassie Bannell 100 backstroke 1:00.96* 1st
Cassie Bannell 50 freestyle 25.22 5th
Amanda Berthelette 100 backstroke 1:03.98 8th
Cassie Bannell 100 freestyle 55.99* 9th
Fiona McQuade 100 breaststroke 1:15.36 12th
Amanda Berthelette 200 backstroke 2:20.91 13th
Fiona McQuade 200 breaststroke 2:43.43 14th
Megan Sidoti 100 butterfly 1:06.01 14th
Megan Sidoti 200 butterfly 2:33.22 15th
Katie Levine 200 freestyle 2:06.52 16th
Relay
Name Event Time Place
Levine, Worrall, Bannell, Cheney 200 freestyle relay 1:43.58* 3rd
Sidoti, Levine, McQuade Bannell 200 medley relay 1:57.74 4th
Levine, Worrall, Bannell, Cheney 400 freestyle relay 3:49.90* 6th
Sidoti, McQuade, Worrall, Bannell 400 medley relay 4:20.49 7th
Jenna Gustafson, Levine, Worrall, Pcholinski, 800 freestyle relay 8:48.38 8th
Nicole Bassaleh, Berthelette, 200 freestyle relay 1:49.28 15th
Courtney Catalano, Pcholinski
Bassaleh, Berthelette, Cheney, Ashley Jankowski 400 medley relay 4:28.90 15th
Bassaleh, Berthelette, Catalano, Cheney 200 medley relay 2:02.85 15th
Gustafson, Kelly Moran, Bassaleh, Pcholinski 400 freestyle relay 4:04.14 16th
* Denotes school record
Synchronized Swimming Places Second at Wheaton Invitational
Wheaton once again hosted its annual synchronized swimming invitational and for the second consecutive year the Lyons welcomed defending national champion Ohio State University and club teams Boston University and the University of Rhode Island. The Lyons placed second overall Saturday afternoon in Balfour Natatorium, compiling 86 total points. The Ohio State University posted the top score of the afternoon, capturing first place in every event, as the Buckeyes totaled 102 points. Boston University and the University of Rhode Island rounded out the meet's scoring with third and fourth place standings, respectively. The Terriers totaled 66 points, while the Rams recorded 48.5 points.
In the solo competition, junior Beth Percy (St. Louis, MO/Parkway West) paced the Lyons with a second place finish, totaling 88.750 points. Wheaton senior co-captain Elizabeth Maga (Dayton, OH/Chaminade-Julienne) tied for fourth place in the event. The Lyons posted third and fourth place performances in the duet routine behind a pair of Ohio State teams. Finishing third was senior co-captain Jamie Sallier (St. Louis, MO/Ladue Horton Watkins) and Percy, while senior Emily Padow (Richmond, VA/The Steward School) and sophomore Jamie Olken (Brighton, NY/Brighton) placed fourth overall. Maga, Sallier and sophomore Blair Feldman (Tucson, AZ/Green Fields Country Day School) placed third in the trio event, while Padow, Olken and first-year Jocelyn Phillips (Belmont, MA/Belmont) finished in fourth place.
In the team competition, the Lyons again placed second to the Buckeyes, as Maga, Padow, Percy, Sallier, Feldman, Olken and Phillips recorded a score of 82.500 points. Standing fourth for Wheaton was senior Kerri Moran (Hanson, MA/Whitman-Hanson Regional), juniors Aimee Sears (Norwell, MA/Thayer Academy) and Liana Cardillo (Bedford, NH/West) and sophomores Luisa Frontino (Ascot, England/TASIS England) and Tricia George (Cranston, RI/Cranston). In the figures competition, Wheaton used a second place mark from Percy in A figures, while Padow, Sallier, Feldman and Maga finished second, third, fourth and sixth, respectively in B figures. Phillips claimed the top spot in C figures, with Olken and Moran finishing in third and fourth place, respectively. In D figures, Frontino, Sears and Cardillo captured the top three spots.
Track Teams Post Several National Qualifying Performances at Harvard's USATF New England Championships
The Wheaton College men's and women's track and field teams posted a number of NCAA Division III national meet automatic and provisional qualifying marks at the United States Track and Field (USATF) New England Championships Sunday afternoon at Harvard University. No team scores were kept at the meet. The women were led by junior Amber James (Woodbury, MN/Woodbury), who broke her own school record in the 400-meter dash with an automatic qualifying and top time of 55.13. James, along with senior Jana Bromell (Spencer, MA/David Prouty), junior Vernick Smith (Camden, NJ/Woodrow Wilson) and freshman Oly Wirtz (Fitchburg, MA/Fitchburg), anchored the winning 4x400-meter relay team to a automatic qualifying time of 3:52.82. Smith also was a provisional qualifier in the 60-meter dash (7.85) and the top collegiate finisher in the 200-meter dash, placing second with a time of 25.29.
Wheaton posted two other top finishes on the afternoon, led by first-year athlete Aquila Williams-Judge (Boston, MA/Scituate), who recorded an automatic qualifying time of 8.59 in the 60-meter hurdles. In addition to the hurdles, Williams-Judge also achieved provisional qualifying status in the long jump (18' 8") and triple jump (37' 4"). Also victorious was sophomore Kathrine Wallace (Glenmoore, PA/The Hill School), who had a provisional qualifying jump of 5' 5" in the high jump.
Also posting provisional qualifying standards were senior captains Kristen Cullen (Stoneham, MA/Stoneham), Noreen Kordzeil (Chittenango, NY/Chittenango) and Kerry Teamey (Klamath Falls, OR/Henley). Cullen and Kordzeil finished the 60-meter hurdles in 9.10 and 9.13, respectively, while Teamey vaulted 10' 11 3/4" in the pole vault. Junior Kim Spence (Barrington, NH/Dover) bettered her time in the 800-meter run (2:17.68), while sophomore Tessa Donoghue (Springfield, MA/Cathedral) posted second and fifth place results in the triple jump (37' 5 1/2") and long jump (17' 9 1/2"), respectively. Rounding out the provisional qualifying results for the Lyons was freshman Aspen James (Woodbury, MN/Woodbury), who finished third in the 60-meter dash (7.79) and sixth in the 200-meter dash (26.00).
The men posted two provisional marks on the afternoon, led by junior Erik Benson (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug), who just missed an NCAA Division III automatic qualification in the 400-meter dash. Benson finished second with a time of 48.86, which was closely followed by sophomore Adam Walker (Westfield, NJ/Westfield), who was third with a time of 49.85. Sophomore Dan Olson (Voorheesville, NY/Albany Academy) finished as the top collegiate competitor for the seventh straight meet, as he captured the high jump title with a leap of 6' 8 3/4". Also finishing as the top collegiate competitor was junior Tyrone McClain (New Haven, CT/Hillhouse), who was fourth in the long jump at 21' 9".
Olson Earns ECAC Field Honor for Second Time in Three Weeks
Wheaton College men's indoor track and field standout, Olson earned Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Field Athlete-of-the-Week honors for the second time in three weeks. The recognition was for the week ending on Sunday, February 16. A sophomore high jumper with the Lyons, Olson has finished as the top collegiate competitor in six consecutive meets this season. At the Armory Collegiate Invitational in New York City on Saturday afternoon, he registered an NCAA Division III national meet automatic qualifying clearance of 6' 11" in the high jump. Earning a first-place triumph in the high jump at the prestigious and Division-I dominated meet, Olson will return to the national championship on March 14-15 at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana in search of his first indoor national title.
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