Athletics > Weekly Lyon > 2002-03 > March 3, 2003
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Men's Basketball (18-9, 6-6) Reaches League Semifinals, Advances to ECAC Tournament
The Wheaton College men's basketball team advanced to the semifinal round of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament for the fifth time in the five-year history of the league. The Lyons knocked off Coast Guard, 83-67 in Tuesday's first round contest at Emerson Gymnasium and then fell to Clark, 88-66 in the semifinal round Friday night in Worcester. Reaching 18 wins for only the second time in program history, Wheaton accepted a tournament bid from the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and will travel to Plymouth State this Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the Lyons opened a 30-point lead in the first half and never looked back, as they downed the Coast Guard Academy. Wheaton opened the first half on a 25-3 run to put the Bears in a large deficit to begin the stanza. Junior Scott Mahan (Bridgewater, MA/Cardinal Spellman) had a big half, as the Lyon forward scored 10 points in the opening run and notched 17 first-half points all together. Wheaton continued to expand its lead as the intermission drew near. With 2:32 remaining, a Mahan bucket extended the Wheaton advantage to 30 points at 42-12. The Bears slowly chipped away at their deficit, as they closed the gap to 25 points (45-20) entering the break. Freshman Sean Kelly (Providence, RI/Wheeler School) had five points, five assists and two steals in the first stanza.
In the second half, the Bears mounted a small run to get within striking distance, but Wheaton held off any serious comeback attempt. Through most of the stanza, the Lyons held close to a 20-point lead but with seven minutes to play the Bears began to once again cut into the deficit. A 13-4 run brought the Wheaton lead to 13 points at 72-59. However, Kelly scored five points in the final three minutes to preserve the 16-point victory. Mahan led all scorers with 24 points (10-13 FG) and a game-high nine rebounds. Kelly finished with a season-best 17 points (6-10 FG) and six rebounds, while senior Jarett Lewis (Detroit, MI/South Kent School) added 12 points in the win. Wheaton also got 10 points and two steals from sophomore Josean Vega (Pawtucket, RI/St. Raphael's).
On Friday, top-seeded Clark used a 42-18 run over the first 12:50 of the second half to turn a 30-17 halftime lead into a 22-point victory over fourth-seeded Wheaton. Both teams struggled to find a groove in the early going, as the two squads managed only eight points through the first 8:30 of the first half. With the exception of three ties, Wheaton held the lead for the first 11:11 of play, but the Cougars eventually took the lead for good on a three-point basket with 8:49 to go. Just over a minute later, Vega hit a field goal to pull Wheaton within one. That would be as close as the Lyons would get, as the Blue and White failed to convert a field goal over the next 5:43. Taking advantage of Wheaton's offensive troubles, Clark was able to close the half on a 15-3 run, highlighted by a trio of three-point field goals. The Lyons ended their scoring drought with just under two minutes to play, when junior Frankie Whall (Roslindale, MA/Cheshire Academy) threw down an ally-oop pass from Kelly.
Things did not get better for the Lyons in the second half, as Clark exploded for 42 points in nearly 13 minutes to open a 37-point lead at 72-35. During that span, the Cougars hit five three-point field goals, three by McNamara, to put the game away early. Wheaton made the game respectable by closing out the final 7:10 on a 31-16 run. Despite a lower shooting percentage than Wheaton, the Cougars hit five more field goals, eight more free throws while outrebounding the Lyons, 46-34. Mahan recorded team-high totals of 17 points (7-12 FG) and eight rebounds in the loss, while Vega and Whall rounded out the double figure scoring with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Women's Basketball (8-15, 4-5) Ends Season with NEWMAC First Round Loss at MIT
The Wheaton College women's basketball team battled through three ties and four lead changes in the second half but were unable to pull out the victory, as MIT used a distinct free throw advantage to pull away for a 69-59 victory in the first round of the NEWMAC Tournament Tuesday evening. Despite never trailing in addition to shooting 16-of-32 (.500) from the floor in the first half, MIT was unable to take full advantage of its opportunities, as the Engineers held down a five-point lead heading into the intermission. Wheaton forced 11 MIT turnovers in the stanza while outscoring the Engineers, 19-9 off the bench, with nine of those points coming from sophomore Deverie Stover (Kingston, NY/Hawthorne Valley School).
In the second half, both teams cooled off significantly from the floor, as MIT shot 31.3 percent (5-16 FG) from the field, while Wheaton hit on only 27.6 percent (8-29 FG) of its shots in the stanza. Although the Lyons continued to dominate off the bench while holding MIT without a field goal over the final 5:40 of the contest, Wheaton couldn't overcome MIT's 35 second-half free throw attempts. Hitting 14-of-22 (.636) free throws for the game, the Lyons saw the Engineers convert 22-of-40 (.550) from the charity stripe, including a 20-of-35 (.571) performance in the second half. Stover paced the Lyons with a double-double performance, which consisted of a career-high 20 points (7-10 FG, 6-9 FT), seven field goals made and 10 rebounds. Seniors Jessica Arment (Lee, MA/Lee) and Kerry Deshefy (Clinton, CT/The Morgan School) finished their collegiate careers with 15 and nine points, respectively. Deshefy added four steals and two assists, while Arment had three assists, a block and an assist.
Men's Swimming Sets 14 School Records at NEWMAC Championship, Finish Sixth
The Wheaton College men's swimming and diving team broke or tied 14 of the program's 25 school records, with junior co-captain Chris Hurley (Belfast, ME/Belfast Area) figuring in nine of them, as the Lyons finished sixth overall with 299 points at the NEWMAC Championship at MIT this weekend.
Hurley started the weekend meet on Friday, helping to lead the 200-yard freestyle relay team to a sixth place finish. Teaming with senior co-captain Chris Peterson (Ashland, MA/Ashland), junior Patrick Sagui (Westwood, MA/Westwood) and sophomore Chris Klinkow (Hollis, NH/Hollis-Brookline), the quartet broke the seven-year old school record in a time of 1:30.87. Later that evening, Hurley shattered his second school mark, this time besting Josiah Crump's nine-year record in the preliminary race of the 50-yard freestyle (22.38). He finished seventh in the finals with a time of 22.39. In the last event of the night, two more records were broken, again with Hurley in the mix. Hurley, Peterson, Klinkow and freshman John Kuckens (West Hartford, CT/Hall) finished sixth in the 400-yard medley relay in a time of 3:44.54. Hurley swam the 100-yard backstroke portion of that race in 55.14, beating his own mark.
On Saturday, Peterson, Hurley, Sagui and Klinkow broke the school mark in the 200-yard medley relay with a sixth place finish in 1:41.50. In that relay, Hurley swam the 50-yard backstroke in a school-best 25.70, breaking Braden Ferrari's seven-year mark. In the 100-yard backstroke, Hurley shattered his own school mark while finishing third in 54.34. In the 800-yard freestyle relay, Hurley, Sagui, Klinkow and Kuckens finished fifth in a time of 7:24.85, also breaking that school record. Within that relay, Hurley set his fifth record of the day, swimming the 200-yard free in 1:46.33. On Sunday, one more record fell by Hurley, as he swam the 200-yard backstroke in a record 1:58.38.
Not to be outdone by Hurley were Klinkow and Kuckens. Klinkow broke one record while tying another. On Saturday, he shattered his own 100-yard butterfly mark with a time of 53.22. On Sunday, he tied Jim Thomas' nine-year record in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 24.42. Kuckens meanwhile set two school records of his own. In the 1,650-yard free on Sunday, he broke his own school mark by over 50 seconds at 17:56.38. During that race, he swam the first 1,000-yards in a school-record time of 10:49.91, breaking Hurley's old mark in the event. On Friday, despite failing to make the finals of the 500-yard freestyle, Kuckens tied the 500-yard freestyle mark with a time of 5:05.43.
Other point scoring finishes in the relays came from senior Nick Luise (Bloomfield, NJ/Blair Academy), sophomore Loren Simmons (Oakland, CA/The Head Royce School) and freshmen Chris Diaz (Southwest Harbor, ME/Mount Desert Island) and Aaron Ramsey (York, ME/Berwick Academy), who finished the 200-yard free relay 13th overall. Simmons, Diaz and Ramsey also teamed with sophomore Kirill Bernshteyn (Stamford, CT/Stamford) to finish 13th in the 400-yard medley relay, while Luise, Bernshteyn, Simmons and Diaz recorded a 12th place mark in the 200-yard medley relay. In the 800-yard freestyle, Luise, Bernshteyn, Diaz and Ramsey posted a 13th place finish, while Simmons, Ramsey, Luise, and Bernshteyn rounded out the relay scoring with a 14th place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Individual point scorers came from Bernshteyn in the 100 and 200-yard butterfly, Luise in the 400-yard IM and 200-yard butterfly, Peterson in the 200-yard IM, 100 and 200-yard breaststroke, Sagui in the 1,650-yard freestyle and Simmons in the 400-yard IM. Sophomore Aaron Beaulieu (Freeport, ME/Freeport) and first-year Charles Sawyer (Brooklyn, NY/Beacon School) paced the Lyons in the diving events, as Beaulieu finished sixth and eighth in the three and one-meter dives, respectively, while Sawyer posted a sixth place finish in the one-meter dive.
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
Chris Hurley 100 yard backstroke 54.34 3rd*
Chris Hurley 200 yard backstroke 1:58.38 4th*
Charles Sawyer 1 meter dive 270.40 (points) 6th
Aaron Beaulieu 3 meter dive 258.45 (points) 6th
Chris Hurley 50 yard freestyle 22.39 7th
John Kuckens 1,650 yard freestyle 17:56.38 7th*
Aaron Beaulieu 1 meter dive 229.65 (points) 8th
Patrick Sagui 1,650 yard freestyle 18:29.41 10th
Kirill Bernshteyn 200 yard butterfly 2:17.78 11th
Chris Peterson 200 yard breaststroke 2:22.69 11th
Kirill Bernshteyn 100 yard butterfly 58.39 12th
Chris Peterson 200 yard IM 2:07.49 14th
Nick Luise 400 yard IM 5:13.55 14th
Nick Luise 200 yard butterfly 2:35.02 15th
Loren Simmons 400 yard IM 5:16.31 15th
Chris Peterson 100 yard breaststroke 1:05.50 16th
Relay
Name Event Time Place
Hurley, Sagui, Klinkow, Kuckens 800 yard freestyle relay 7:24.85 5th*
Peterson, Hurley, Sagui, Klinkow 200 yard freestyle relay 1:30.87 6th*
Peterson, Hurley, Sagui, Klinkow 200 yard medley relay 1:41.50 6th*
Peterson, Sagui, Klinkow, Kuckens 400 yard freestyle relay 3:23.30 6th
Peterson, Hurley, Klinkow, Kuckens 400 yard medley relay 3:44.54 6th*
Luise, Bernshteyn, Chris Diaz, Simmons 200 yard medley relay 1:56.15 12th
Luise, Simmons, Diaz, Aaron Ramsey 200 yard freestyle relay 1:39.72 13th
Bernshteyn, Simmons, Diaz, Ramsey 400 yard medley relay 4:14.07 13th
Luise, Bernshteyn, Diaz, Ramsey 800 yard freestyle relay 8:20.24 13th
Luise, Bernshteyn, Simmons, Ramsey 400 yard freestyle relay 3:41.51 14th
* Denotes school record
Synchronized Swimming Claims Second Place at Eastern Collegiate Regional Meet
The Wheaton College synchronized swimming team recorded 80 points and captured second place at the East Collegiate Regional Championship Saturday afternoon in Balfour Natatorium. The defending champion Canisius College Griffins posted their third consecutive title, scoring 102 total points. In the solo competition, Wheaton junior Beth Percy (St. Louis, MO/Parkway West) placed second with a total of 87.333 points. Senior co-captain Elizabeth Maga (Dayton, OH/Chaminade-Julienne) finished in fifth place with 79.500 points.
Wheaton posted a third place finish in the duet routine, led by senior co-captain Jamie Sallier (St. Louis, MO/Ladue Horton Watkins) and Percy, who recorded a score of 85.500 points. Senior Emily Padow (Richmond, VA/The Steward School) and sophomore Jamie Olken (Brighton, NY/Brighton) placed ninth overall in the event. Maga, Sallier and sophomore Blair Feldman (Tucson, AZ/Green Fields Country Day School) placed third in trio with 81.833 points. Padow, Olken and first-year Jocelyn Phillips (Belmont, MA/Belmont) finished in sixth place.
In the team portion of the meet, the Lyons finished second to Canisius, as Maga, Padow, Percy, Sallier, Feldman, Olken and Phillips recorded a score of 87.417. The quintet of 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) placed eighth.
In the technical elements, Percy recorded a fifth place finish in A figures, while Padow, Sallier, Maga and Feldman finished 12th, 21st, 28th and 29th, respectively in B figures. Olken took third in C figures, with Phillips finishing sixth and Moran 10th. In D figures, Sears stood third overall, Frontino 7th, Cardillo 8th and George 20th.
Bannell Lands ECAC Co-Swimmer-of-the-Week Honor
Wheaton College women's swimming freshman standout, Cassie Bannell (Farmington, CT/Farmington) landed ECAC Co-Swimmer-of-the-Week honors for the week ending on Sunday, February 23. Bannell shared the award with Lindsay Payne of Williams College. Over the weekend, Wheaton shattered six school records, with Bannell figuring in all six of them at the NEWMAC Championship at Wellesley College's Chandler Pool. Bannell won the 100-yard backstroke to earn NEWMAC All-Conference accolades. Over the three-day meet, she set four individual school records and played a part in two Wheaton relay marks while scoring in two additional events.
Bannell helped pace the Lyons to a third place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a school record time of 1:43.58. In that relay, she swam a school-best 25.09 in the 50-yard freestyle segment of the event. Bannell swam the 50-yard backstroke portion of the 200-yard medley relay in a time of 28.69, which was five hundredths of a second faster than the school mark she set the previous week. In the 100-yard backstroke, Bannell shattered yet another Wheaton record, this time finishing with a time of 1:00.96. She was at it again on the final day of the meet, setting her fourth individual (fifth overall) school mark in the 100-yard freestyle in a time of 55.99. In the final event of the evening, Bannell spearheaded the 400-yard freestyle relay team to a fourth place finish with a time of 3:49.90, which bested the Wheaton four-year record by a second and a half.
Women's Track Earns Bronze and Shatters Pair of Meet Records at All-New England Championship; Benson Ties School Mark in 400-Meter Dash to Lead Men's Track
The Wheaton College men's and women's track and field teams were impressive to say the least at their respective All-New England Championship meets over the weekend. At Smith College in Northampton, Mass., the women placed third overall among 27 competing teams. Totaling 62.5 points, the Lyons saw NCAA Division I programs, Northeastern University and the University of Connecticut capture the top two spots. The Wheaton men placed 16th overall with 11 points at Boston University.
The women had a very memorable weekend, as the Lyons shattered a pair of meet records in addition to breaking the NCAA Division III mark in the 4x400-meter relay. In all, Wheaton saw three school records fall, including both the 4x400M and 4x200-meter relay marks. Juniors Amber James (Woodbury, MN/Woodbury) and Vernick Smith (Camden, NJ/Woodrow Wilson) sided with sophomore Tessa Donoghue (Springfield, MA/Cathedral) and freshman Aquila Williams-Judge (Boston, MA/Scituate) for an NCAA Division III national meet automatic qualifying finish in the 4x400-meter event. Knocking off powers Northeastern and UConn, the team posted a history-making time and remarkable finish of 3:46.58, as the Lyons sprinted to the fastest time at the Division III level in addition to breaking the 12-year meet record.
The 4x400M amazingly was not the only meet record set this afternoon by the Wheaton women, as Williams-Judge was at it once again, this time in the 55-meter hurdles event. In addition to taking the title, she captured a meet record, school mark and Division III automatic qualifying time of 7.94 in the event. Capping an unbelievable day, Williams-Judge ran a leg on the school-record 4x200-meter relay team while posting provisional qualifying marks in the 55-meter dash, long and triple jumps. Joining Smith, Amber James and Aspen James (Woodbury, MN/Woodbury) in the 4x200M, Williams-Judge helped Wheaton place second overall in 1:40.09, which was a mere 14 hundredths of a second off the top mark ran by UConn. Williams-Judge finished sixth overall in the 55M dash in 7.18, third in the long jump at 18' 6 1/2" and ninth in the triple jump at 36' 10 1/4". Smith and Amber James weren't far behind in the 55M event, as the pair sprinted to provisional qualifying marks of 7.23 and 7.29, respectively.
Seniors Kristen Cullen (Stoneham, MA/Stoneham) and Noreen Kordzeil (Chittenango, NY/Chittenango) also posted top placements on the day, as the tandem delivered two provisional qualifying standards in the 55-meter hurdles. Just missing an automatic time in the event, Cullen placed fourth overall in 8.28, while Kordzeil was sixth in 8.37. Junior Kim Spence (Barrington, NH/Dover) also hit a provisional time of 2:18.55 in the 800-meter run, while first-year Oly Wirtz (Fitchburg, MA/Fitchburg) finished third in the 500-meter dash in 1:17.96. Rounding out the provisional qualifying standards were Donoghue in both the long and triple jumps, senior Kerry Teamey (Klamath Falls, OR/Henley) in the pole vault and Wheaton's distance medley relay team, which consisted of Spence, Wirtz and sophomores Lindsey Degon (Palmer, MA/Palmer) and Erin O'Brien (North Easton, MA/Oliver Ames).
For the men, junior Erik Benson (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug) tied a six-year school record with an NCAA Division III national meet automatic qualifying time of 48.54 in the 400-meter dash. Benson placed fourth in his finals heat, while sophomore Adam Walker (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) finished fifth in his final. His preliminary time of 49.14 earned him a spot on the provisional qualifying list. Junior Terry Panetta (Hicksville, NY/St. Anthony's) also had a strong day, placing fourth in his heat in the mile run and eighth in the 800-meter run. He then sided with Benson, Walker and freshman A.J. Sisodia (Andover, MA/Andover) for a top section finish in the 4x400-meter relay in 3:22.08. In the field, sophomore Dan Olson (Voorheesville, NY/Albany Academy) tied for third in the high jump.
James' Performance at USATF New England Championship Leads to Second ECAC Track Athlete-of-the-Week Selection
James picked up ECAC Track Athlete-of-the-Week honors for the week ending on Sunday, February 23. At the United States Track and Field (USATF) New England Championships, James set the tone for the Lyons with an NCAA Division III national meet automatic qualifying time of 55.13 in the 400-meter dash. With her finish, James broke her own school record in the event held at Harvard University in Cambridge. In addition to her top time in the 400M, James later anchored the winning 4x400-meter relay team with an automatic qualifying performance of 3:52.82. With two meets to go before the national competition at DePauw University in Greencastle, IN, James has automatically qualified in the 400M and 4x400M events with a provisional mark in the 55-meter dash.
This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 1/30/07.
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