Kate CarlisleThe smack of the football in a receiver’s hands, the percussive thud of runners’ feet on the straightaway, the roar of spectators as the tape is broken or the ball goes through the uprights: these things don’t change. Other things do. Wesleyan athletes returning to campus this month were greeted by a sparkling new artificial turf field and track, glistening almost in Technicolor behind Freeman Athletic Center. The $1.6-million facility, funded by more than 100 generous supporters, will be home not just to track meets and everyday runners, but will serve as a practice surface for the football and other…
Brian KattenOn Sept. 7, Wesleyan men's and women's swimming and diving teams participated in the fourth annual Swim Across America (SAA), held in Narragansett, R.I. at Roger Wheeler State Beach to help make waves in the fight against cancer and raise money for cancer research and the Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island. Wesleyan swimmers and divers raised $12,782, which almost doubled the $7,500 amount the teams raised last year. Despite not being able to swim in the event because of the jellyfish, Liyan Yao '16 from Laurel Hollow, N.Y., was Wesleyan's top fundraiser, accounting for $935. In all, a…
It’s not small-town Texas, it’s not high school, and the organizers aren’t expecting any drama except for the kind that usually plays out on the gridiron; still, let’s call it Saturday Night Lights. The first night football game in the history of NESCAC will be played on Andrus Field on Sept. 21. Wesleyan will host Tufts in the season’s opening contest at 6 p.m., with an experienced Cardinal squad facing a Jumbos contingent of returning starters and some strong recruits. “It’s only fitting that the first night game be played on the oldest college football field in the country,” said…
Olivia DrakeFour Wesleyan faculty and staff members completed the Litchfield Hills Olympic Triathlon held July 14 in New Hartford, Conn. The triathlon featured a 1.5K swim, a 40K bike course, and a scenic, rural back road 10K run. Wesleyan participants included Mike McAlear, associate professor of molecular biology and biochemistry; Tom DiMauro, analyst programmer in ITS; James Taft, assistant director of technology support services in ITS; and Brian Northrop, assistant professor of chemistry. Northrop came in third place overall.
Echoes of the fight song were still bouncing off Foss Hill after Commencement when word got around about a big offseason win for Wesleyan athletics: a generous commitment by Frank Sica ’73 to endow the position of athletic director. Sica is a former trustee who wrestled and played football at Wesleyan. The gift to fund the post currently held by Michael Whalen ’83 firmly establishes the importance of athletics in co-curricular learning at Wesleyan, according to Dennis Robinson ’79, P ’13, immediate past chairman of the Athletics Advisory Council. “Nearly 25 percent of the entire student body plays a varsity…
After serving as interim head coach of men's and women's tennis at Wesleyan during the 2012-13 season, Mike Fried has been appointed faculty head coach of both teams, Wesleyan Athletics Director Mike Whalen announced in June. Fried will hold the rank of adjunct assistant professor of physical education. "We are very excited to have Mike Fried as our head tennis coach," stated Whalen. "His accomplishments over the past year are just a starting point and there is no question that he is committed to building a program that will compete on a national level. His passion and dedication are second…
(more…)
Wesleyan fashioned one of its finest spring sports seasons in history, highlighted by Little Three titles in a first-ever combination of baseball, softball and men's lacrosse. The squads combined for an outstanding 62-32-1 overall record. Wesleyan had its fair share of NESCAC honorees as the baseball squad had the largest contingent of any NESCAC college with six individuals honored, led by Head Coach Mark Woodworth ’94, who secured his second NESCAC Coach of the Year award. He was recognized by his conference coaching peers for the first time during his rookie season in 2002. First-team picks included conference batting champ…
The Department of Athletics recognized the accomplishments of 173 scholar-athletes during a dinner at Beckham Hall May 1. Howard Tobochnik '13 and Roger Laura Kurash '13 received the Maynard Memorial Award, presented annually to the top senior male and female scholar-athlete at the university. Those invited to the gathering were members of the sophomore, junior and senior classes who had distinguished themselves both in the classroom with a minimium GPA of 3.2 and in athletic competition as a significant contributor to the success of their chosen sport(s). Tobochnik was an NCAA Division III qualifier in 2012-13 after finishing third at…
Mike Fried, the interim head men's and women's tennis coach, was named NESCAC men's tennis co-Coach of the Year in recognition of the team's unprecedented conference success. Men's tennis posted a 7-10 record which included a best-ever 5-4 NESCAC record, giving the Cardinals their first-ever bid to the NESCAC tournament, seeded fifth among the six teams. Fried, who also serves as a visiting instructor in physical education, adds tremendous playing and coaching experience to the Cardinals' staff. He came aboard as an assistant during the spring of 2011, and was elevated to head women's coach during the spring of 2012.…
The Wesleyan softball team, led by head coach Jen Lane, captured the 2013 Little Three title after taking two of three games from Amherst over the weekend. Combined with their two wins earlier this year over Williams, the Cardinals went 4-2 for the Little Three crown. Su Pardo '16 picked up both pitching wins vs. Amherst, giving up just six hits and one earned run over 12 innings of work with 13 strikeouts. Jill Gately '15 was tremendous at the plate, going 5-for-9 in the series with two doubles, a home run, five runs scored and six RBI. She broke…
Assistant football coach Jeff McDonald will be a regular columnist/blogger for the online edition of American Football Monthly, the top college football coaches' magazine in the country, during 2013. His first article titled, "The Importance of Off-Season Self Scouting to Keep Your Defensive System Evolving," is currently live. In addition, McDonald has an article in the February edition of the print magazine involving the use of the iPad as a coaching tool. The article can be seen in part here, but is only available fully to magazine subscribers. This past summer, McDonald began working with AFM with a series of instructional videos…