Weekly Lyon

Men's Basketball (10-14, 3-9) Goes 0-2, Enters NEWMAC Tournament as Sixth Seed

The Wheaton College men's basketball team dropped a pair of games last week, first finishing up its New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) slate with a 73-57 loss at 13th-ranked Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) on Thursday. The Lyons then lost to visiting Roger Williams University, 83-73 on Saturday. Wheaton finished sixth in the conference standings and will hold down the number six seed in the NEWMAC Tournament. The Blue and White travels to third-seeded Springfield College for a first round game on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

Against WPI, sophomore Nick Michel (Hyde Park, MA/Boston Latin School) scored six straight points before depositing a lay-up for an 18-16 Lyon edge with 7:40 left in the first half, but the Engineers scored 21 of the next 25 points, and Wheaton never again threatened. Michel tallied 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting and turned in six rebounds. Junior Jake Otto (Glastonbury, CT/Glastonbury) went 5-of-8 for 10 points, while senior Brian Zukowski (Dracut, MA/Dracut) had nine points and five assists. Sophomore Kristopher Pedra (Avon, CT/Avon) tacked on nine points in 14 minutes.

Zukowski's three-point play against Roger Williams on Senior Day put Wheaton on top by one with 5:07 remaining before the Hawks used a 12-2 run to put the game out of reach. Zukowski paced the Lyons with 24 points, six rebounds and five assists, while sophomore Patrick Youreneff (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery) had a career-high 10 points in 16 minutes while providing three assists in the first 4:13 alone. Pedra added eight points, and junior Brent DiGiovanna (Hanover, MA/Hanover) had eight points and five rebounds, all offensive, in 17 minutes.

Zukowski is third at Wheaton in each career assists (287), steals (168) and free throws (322), fourth in three-pointers (183), fifth in points (1,379) and field goals (437), and ninth in games (102). He is the first Wheaton player ever to surpass each 1,350 points, 400 rebounds, 250 assists and 150 steals.

Women's Basketball (16-9, 9-4) Drops Two, Gains NEWMAC Tournament's Fourth Seed

The Wheaton College women's basketball team completed its regular season slate with a pair of NEWMAC road losses last week, falling at the United States Coast Guard Academy, 76-64 on Thursday and at Springfield College, 73-66 on Saturday. Despite the defeats, the Lyons finished tied for third in the league, their best showing since a second-place finish during 1995-96 in the old New England Women's Eight (NEW 8). Wheaton's 16 regular season wins are its most since 17 in 1995-96. Locking up the fourth seed in the NEWMAC Tournament, the Lyons host number-five Clark University on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. in their first home conference tournament game since 1996, which was the last year in which they won a league tourney contest. In conference tournaments, Wheaton is 9-0 in home games and has gone 11-1 in the postseason at home since moving into Emerson Gymnasium in 1991.

Wheaton scored 43 first-half points and trailed by just four with 1:18 remaining in the contest before running out of gas at Coast Guard. Sophomore Krystin Hickey (Manchester, NH/New Hampton School) notched 23 points and six rebounds, while senior Kim McCormack (Milton, MA/Milton) had 15 points, five boards and four assists. Classmate Samara Audet (Derry, NH/Trinity) added 13 points and a season-high-tying seven boards, while senior Casey Sorbara (Port Chester, NY/Trinity Catholic) tallied five rebounds, five assists and four steals.

The Lyons trimmed a 14-point deficit to four with 1:25 remaining but came up short at Springfield. McCormack turned in a season-high 19 points while collecting a career-high-tying seven steals. Junior Becky Aitchison (Norwalk, CT/Trinity Catholic) notched her first double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds while adding three assists and three steals, and sophomore Bri Smith (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) posted 15 points by shooting 5-of-9, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Hickey scored seven points thanks to 5-of-6 free throw shooting.

Sorbara is fourth in program history in career assists (333) and seventh in steals (195). McCormack is sixth in each steals (198) and free throws (209), eighth in assists (200) and ninth in rebounds (581). Smith is eighth in three-pointers (72).

Women's Swimming and Diving Takes Fourth at NEWMACs, 15 School Records Fall

The Wheaton College women's swimming and diving team placed fourth at the NEWMAC Championship for the third straight season over the weekend at Wellesley College, matching the best showing in program history and setting a school record for a conference meet with 602.5 points, finishing just 18.5 points behind the third-place hosts. Fifteen school records fell, while three NCAA Championship provisional qualification times were met. Wheaton's provisional qualifiers await word on whether they will compete at the national meet on March 8-10 at the University of Houston.

Junior Abby Pratt (Melrose, MA/Melrose) and freshman Iris Meehan (Bar Harbor, ME/Mount Desert Island) had a hand in seven program marks apiece, and Pratt earned all-conference honors by finishing among the top two four times, surpassing an eight-year-old Wheaton record. Meehan swam to all-conference laurels three times.

During Friday's 400 medley relay, Meehan, Pratt, junior Meg Miller (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury) and freshman Emily Sweatt (Portland, ME/Deering) placed second in a record time of 4:02.00, while Meehan, Miller, Pratt and freshman Brenna Crothers (Mount Desert, ME/Mount Desert Island) combined to set the 200 free relay standard at 1:39.69. Sophomore Stacy Zickl (Wrentham, MA/King Philip Regional) broke a six-year-old mark in the one-meter dive, recording 353.75 points.

On day two, Meehan, Miller, Pratt and Sweatt won the 200 medley relay in 1:49.65, breaking the NEWMAC and school records, and provisionally qualifying for the NCAAs. It was Wheaton's first event victory at the meet since 2003, and the first time a Lyon relay team won. Meehan eclipsed a four-year-old mark in the 50 back twice during the leadoff legs of the 200 medley relay, with her preliminaries time of 28.58 being the fastest. Meehan also broke a four-year-old mark in the 100 back at 1:00.61 while placing second. Pratt lowered her 100 fly standard to 59.82 during a runner-up showing. Sweatt notched a record 1:07.76 in the 100 breast finals that propelled her to NCAA provisional qualification, while her 31.47 opening leg during the preliminaries was a 50 breast mark. Wheaton's 800 free relay team set a record at 8:12.88, with sophomores Caitlin Glover (Durham, NH/Berwick Academy) and Casey Shanley (Rumson, NJ/Suffield Academy) and freshmen Sarah Houlihan (West Springfield, MA/West Springfield) and Aurelie Marcotte (Hampden, MA/Minnechaug Regional) swimming.

Pratt was second during Sunday's 100 free in a record 53.56 and twice broke her two-day-old 50 free mark - first during a time trial in a national-meet showing of 24.24, and again at 24.23 in the leadoff leg of the 200 free relay during a time trial. She had previously surpassed her prior 50 free standard three times on Friday. Sweatt came within 0.01 seconds of an NCAA provisional time during a record 2:27.40 finish in the 200 breast. Glover swam a record 2:14.66 in the 200 back preliminaries, when Meehan also surpassed the former standard, before Meehan eclipsed both times at 2:13.64 in the finals. Glover, Meehan, Miller and Pratt then joined for a record 3:40.83 showing in the 400 free relay.

Synchronized Swimming Competes with Division I Stanford and Alabama-Birmingham

The Wheaton College synchronized swimming team finished third on Saturday in a meet held at perennial national power Stanford University, where the University of Alabama-Birmingham also competed. The Lyons collected 72 points to finish just nine behind second-place UAB.

Wheaton took the top two spots in each the B, C and D figures. Sophomore Sharada Strasmore (Weston, CT/Weston) and junior Megan Kinney (Los Angeles, CA/Marlborough School) finished one-two in B, pacing five Lyons among the seven competitors. Freshman Jenna Swinkin (Hamden, CT/Hamden) edged out senior sister Sarah Swinkin (Hamden, CT/Hamden) by 0.062 points to win C, while senior Renata Paglio (Portland, ME/Deering) and sophomore Kelly Maby (Woodhaven, NY/Richmond Hill) corralled the top two places in D, respectively. During the team routine, Kinney, Strasmore and the Swinkins joined senior Elizabeth Corman (Saint Paul, MN/Hill-Murray School), sophomore Sylvia Syracuse (Tonawanda, NY/Kenmore West) and freshman Laura Montes (San Juan, PR/Academia San Jose) on a third-place showing. Montes was third in the solo competition.

Men's and Women's Track and Field Post Solid Showing at USATF New England Meet

The Wheaton College men's and women's track and field teams continued their indoor seasons at the USATF New England Championship on Sunday, when senior All-American Jennifer Harlow (East Bridgewater, MA/East Bridgewater) turned in two NCAA qualifying standards at Harvard University.

Harlow's high jump of 5' 8" surpassed an NCAA automatic standard and matched the top height in the nation that she recorded on January 7. She tied for first among collegians in the event and won the 60-meter hurdles with a provisional qualifying time of 9.01. Sophomore All-American Chizoba Ezeigwe (Brockton, MA/Thayer Academy) placed third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.14, while classmate Ashley Mills (Hingham, MA/Hingham) collected a fourth-place showing in the shot put.

Sophomore All-American Michael Wright (Baldwin, NY/Uniondale) came within 0.01 seconds of provisionally qualifying for the NCAAs in the 60-meter dash, as his time of 6.97 converted to a 55M time of 6.49, which was 0.01 ticks off his own school mark. He placed second in that event and fourth in the 200M in 22.17. Freshman Merzudin Ibric (Revere, MA/Phillips Academy) took third in the 200M, also at 22.17, while classmate Mark Cimino (Danbury, CT/Danbury) placed fourth in the 60M. Sophomore All-American Jonathan Cunha (Lexington, MA/Lexington) was fourth in the 60M hurdles.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 2/8/08.
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