Weekly Lyon

Men's Basketball (10-5, 1-2) Wins Two Straight with Victories over Tufts and MIT

The Wheaton College men's basketball team collected consecutive wins this week, including defeating Tufts University, 75-67 in Tuesday's non-conference game in Medford and knocking off MIT, 78-65 in Saturday's home New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest.

At Tufts, senior Scott Mahan (Bridgewater, MA/Cardinal Spellman) scored 24 points with 12 rebounds and five blocks to lead the visiting Lyons to its first victory against the Jumbos in the last five meetings. With the scored tied at 54-54 and 7:19 on the clock, Mahan scored 11 of Wheaton's final 21 points to help the Lyons pull away from the Jumbos. His jumper at 4:09 gave Wheaton a 62-56 lead and capped an 8-2 run that put the visitors in the driver's seat. The Jumbos stayed close and were within seven, 68-61at 2:17, but a lay-up by Mahan and two of his free throws later helped push the Lyon lead to 10, 73-63, with 1:12 to go. A four-point play by Tufts with 53 seconds on the clock gave the Jumbos a chance at 73-66, but it wasn't meant to be. Tufts got off to a good start and led by nine, 17-8, its biggest lead of the night. The Jumbos led by seven, 26-19 at 9:05, but that's when Wheaton started to rally. Four minutes later, they led 32-31 after Mahan's three-point play at 5:03. Tufts scored a basket on its next possession to go back up by one, but Wheaton would lead 42-38 at the break. Junior Josean Vega (Pawtucket, RI/St. Raphael's) finished with 16 points (11-14 FT), while senior Frankie Whall (Roslindale, MA/Cheshire Academy) also scored in double-digits with 11 points.

Against MIT, Vega exploded for 33 points (12-22 FG, 7-10 FT) to go alongside five rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks, leading Wheaton to victory. MIT took an early 2-0 lead and an 11-9 edge with 13:55 remaining, but Mahan hit a lay-up followed by an ensuing free throw to give the Lyons a 12-11 edge and a lead that would not be relinquished. The Engineers only trailed 22-20 at the 9:50 minute mark, but Wheaton used a 20-6 run over the next six plus minutes to pull away from MIT. Holding a 48-31 lead at the intermission, Vega had 18 points and four assists, while Whall and Mahan added 12 and 10 points, respectively. In the second half, MIT began to surge with five straight points to open the stanza, as the Engineers cut the deficit to 48-36 with 19:01 to play. MIT pulled to within 52-41 with 17:25 on the clock, but the hosts then reeled off nine unanswered points to take a 20-point lead. The visitors again got as close as 11 at 74-63 off of a three, but it proved to be too little too late. Vega surpassed the 30-point plateau for the third time this season. Mahan finished with 17 points, including a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line, six rebounds, three blocks and two assists, while Whall added 15 points, a team-high tying seven rebounds, five assists and four blocks.

Women's Basketball (4-11, 1-5) Splits Conference Games with Babson and Coast Guard

The Wheaton College women's basketball team split its two NEWMAC games this week, including capturing its first conference victory of the season with a 64-51 decision over Babson College on Tuesday in Emerson Gymnasium. On Saturday, the Lyons fell to the Bears of Coast Guard, 59-48 in New London, Connecticut.

Versus Babson, the Blue and White defeated the Beavers for the first time since the 1995-96 season. Wheaton started the game by sprinting out to an 8-0 lead and in the process held the visiting Beavers scoreless for nearly six minutes of play. Holding an 11-2 advantage with 14:03 to go, Wheaton was in turn held scoreless for nearly a seven-minute stretch. In a half that featured several runs, this time it was Wheaton that used a 9-0 run to take a 20-11 lead at the 4:32 minute mark. Holding a 20-15 advantage with less than four minutes remaining, the hosts then saw four different players drain three-point buckets to extend their lead to 32-21 at the half. The Beavers would get no closer than nine points in the second half, as Wheaton maintained its double-digit lead for most of the stanza. The Lyons led by 16 points on two occasions to clinch the victory. Junior Kate Williams (Portland, OR/Catlin Gabel) had a monster second half with 14 points, including a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Williams finished the game with a game-best and career-high tying 19 points (5-10 FG, 8-8 FT) and five rebounds. Senior Taryn Brassil (Holyoke, MA/Holyoke) accounted for 14 points (6-11 FG), while freshman Kim McCormack (Milton, MA/Milton) added a game-high tying seven boards and six points.

At Coast Guard, the Bears used a 14-3 run in the first half, turning a 6-5 lead into a 20-8 advantage with 7:03 remaining. Coast Guard led 25-15 at the half. Both teams went scoreless for three and a half minutes to open the second half, until a basket by the hosts gave the Bears a 27-15 lead with 16:30 left. Wheaton used an 8-2 run to cut Coast Guard's lead to 29-23 and the Lyons got as close as four points at 36-32 following a basket by Brassil with 8:08 left in the game. The Bears led 42-37 with 6:23 left and later put the game away with six straight points, taking a 48-37 lead with 4:38 remaining. Brassil led Wheaton with 13 points and a game-best 12 rebounds, while freshman Casey Sorbara (Port Chester, NY/Trinity Catholic) rounded out the double-figure scoring with 10 points.

Men's Swimming (4-5) Splits with UMD & Bentley, Women's Swimming (5-5) Drops Three

The Wheaton College men's and women's swimming and diving teams saw plenty of action this week, including three meets on the women's side and two for the men. On Tuesday, the women traveled to Northampton to face Smith College, where the Lyons dropped a 158-136 decision. Both teams returned to the pool on Friday in North Dartmouth, with the Wheaton squads splitting with UMass-Dartmouth. The men won decisively by a count of 124-84, while the women fell just short with a 117-106 final. On Saturday in Balfour Natatorium against Division II Bentley College, the teams were swept by the Falcons, including a 133-108 outcome on the men's side and a 133-104 decision with the women.

At Smith, freshman Colleen Smith (Milford, CT/Lauralton Hall) turned in an impressive performance in the 200-yard butterfly and 200-yard backstroke events. Smith shattered her own school mark in the 200 fly with a time of 2:18.63, a mark good enough for second place. She later captured the 200 back in 2:24.36 and finished second in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:04.15. Senior co-captain Katie Levine (Needham, MA/Needham) won the 100-yard backstroke in 1:06.80 and 500-yard freestyle in 5:38.34. Other top finishers were junior Blake Worrall (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury) in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:06.43, freshman Katie McNicholas (Acton, MA/Acton-Boxboro) in the 400-yard individual medley in 4:58.51 and the 400-yard freestyle relay, consisting of Worrall, sophomores Courtney Catalano (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) and Lauren Pcholinski (Old Saybrook, CT/Old Saybrook) and freshman Cassie Bohn (Manhattan Beach, CA/Mira Costa), in 3:56.64. Bohn was also just over a half a second shy of the school record in the 100-yard breaststroke, placing second overall in 1:12.99.

At UMass-Dartmouth, sophomore John Kuckens (West Hartford, CT/Hall) set the tone for the men in just the second event of the evening, as he shattered his own school record in the 1000-yard freestyle in 10:48.35. Senior co-captain Chris Hurley (Belfast, ME/Belfast Area) and freshmen Barrett Roberts (Portland, ME/Deering) and Matt Hurley (Belfast, ME/Belfast Area) all registered multiple-event wins in the meet. Chris Hurley captured the 100- and 200-yard freestyle events in 50.98 and 1:50.74, respectively, while Matt Hurley was victorious in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:06.47 and the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:04.56. Roberts continued his winning ways, this time posting victories in the 50-yard freestyle in 22.43 and the 100-yard backstroke in 59.89. Rounding out the event wins was junior Chris Klinkow (Hollis, NH/Hollis-Brookline) in the 100-yard butterfly in 57.04, classmate Aaron Fix (Minneapolis, MN/St. Paul Academy) in the three-meter dive with 158.70 points and the 400-yard medley relay, consisting of Chris and Matt Hurley, Klinkow and Roberts, in 3:50.84.

Worrall paced the women by capturing the 100- and 200-yard freestyle events with times of 57.48 and 2:05.54, respectively and also swam a leg on the winning 400-yard freestyle relay with Pcholinski, Catalano and first-year Kelly Allinson (Portsmouth, NH/Portsmouth), as the foursome completed the race in 3:59.64. A trio of freshmen helped lead the Lyons to three additional top finishes, including Smith in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:03.55, McNicholas in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:39.91 and Bohn in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:14.40. UMD held an 18-0 edge in diving.

Versus Bentley, the Hurley brothers and Roberts posted multiple-win performances for the second straight meet in as many days. Chris Hurley won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:51.31 and the 200-yard backstroke in 2:04.42, while younger brother Matt earned wins in the 200-yard individual medley and 200-yard breaststroke with times of 2:04.97 and 2:22.28, respectively. Roberts was 19 hundredths of a second off his own school record in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.25 and 42 hundredths of a second off the Wheaton mark in the 100-yard freestyle in 48.98. Also narrowly missing a school record was the 200-yard medley relay team, which was comprised of Chris and Matt Hurley, Roberts and Klinkow. The foursome's time of 1:41.82 was 32 hundredths of a second shy of the mark.

Levine and Bohn broke school records in the 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard breaststroke events, respectively, upping Wheaton's record-setting performances to four this season. Levine topped the competition in the 200 back with a time of 2:18.23, while Bohn finished second overall in 2:36.86. Levine was also victorious in the 50-yard freestyle in 26.47, while both Levine and Bohn each swam a leg on the winning 200-yard medley relay team. Levine and Bohn joined Worrall and Smith with a finish of 1:57.79. Smith and Worrall rounded out Wheaton's event winners, capturing the 200-yard butterfly and 100-yard freestyle events, respectively with times of 2:19.11 and 57.49.

Men's and Women's Track Teams Post Several Provisional Qualifiers at Tufts Invitational

Junior Dan Olson (Voorheesville, NY/Albany Academy) continued his winning ways at the Tufts University Invitational II Saturday afternoon, leading the Wheaton College men's track and field team in the non-scoring meet with his third straight individual title in the high jump. The women in turn boasted several NCAA Division III national meet provisional qualifying marks at the Gantcher Family Sports & Convocation Center in Medford.

For the third straight week, Olson not only topped the competition but also recorded an NCAA Division III national meet automatic qualifying jump. Saturday's performance marked the third consecutive time that Olson has cleared 7' 1". Sticking with the field events, first-year Ryan Fitzgerald (Newport, RI/Rogers) finished fifth in his flight in the weight throw and sixth in the shot put. Sophomore Ajay Sisodia (Andover, MA/Andover) highlighted the track events in the finals of the 55-meter dash, as he sprinted to the top finish with a time of 6.59. Freshmen Thomas Simmons (New Bedford, MA) and John Dunn (Little Compton, RI) placed fourth and eighth, respectively in the event. Junior Adam Walker (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) was impressive in the 200-meter dash, finishing first in his section and in the process posting the fastest time of the afternoon in 22.89. He also stood fifth overall in his 400-meter dash section with a time of 52.79. Rounding out Wheaton's strong performances was junior Jamaal Rawls-Payton (Stoughton, MA/Stoughton), who advanced to the finals of the 55-meter dash event, finishing seventh overall in 8.18. The Lyons' 4x200-meter relay team, comprised of Sisodia, Dunn, Walker and freshman Jonathan Geffrard (Brooklyn, NY) placed second to the University of Massachusetts with a time of 1:32.19.

On the women's side, senior Amber James (Woodbury, MN/Woodbury) and sophomore Aspen James (Woodbury, MN/Woodbury) went one, two in the finals of the 55-meter dash, as each posted national meet provisional qualifying times of 7.26 and 7.32, respectively. Amber James was also clocked with the fastest time in the 200-meter dash at 25.45, topping Aspen and teammate Alison Amendola (Franklin, MA/Franklin). Senior Kim Spence (Barrington, NH/Dover) was just over a second short of shattering Wheaton's record in the 1000-meter run with a time of 3:06.72, while the Lyons' 4x200-meter relay team, consisting of the James' sisters, Amendola and junior Jessica Allegra (E. Hampton, CT/E. Hampton) rounded out the meet's fastest times with a first-place finish of 1:44.38. Wheaton was just as solid in the field events, especially in the high jump and pole vault competition. Junior Kathrine Wallace (Glenmoore, PA/The Hill School) and freshmen Crystal Blamy (Walpole, NH/Fall Mountain View) and Jennifer Harlow (East Bridgewater, MA/East Bridgewater) placed one, two and three in the high jump, with Wallace and Blamy surpassing the provisional qualifying standard with 5' 6" performances. Sophomore Noelle Battista (Warwick, RI/Toll Gate) also reached a provisional mark in the pole vault, placing first overall with a 12' vault.

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