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Michael O'BrienFebruary 19, 20183min
Laila Samy '18 highlighted the day for the Wesleyan women's squash team as she was named the 2018 Betty Richey Award winner Feb. 18 at Harvard. The award is the most prestigious annual honor bestowed by the College Squash Association (CSA). With another win on Feb. 18, Samy concluded her dual-match season with a perfect 24-0 record; however, the 21st-ranked Cardinals lost to 18th-ranked Tufts, 7-2, to finish fourth in the Walker Cup "C" Division of the CSA National Team Championships. The Betty Richey Award is given to the women's college squash player who best exemplifies the ideals of squash…

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Michael O'BrienFebruary 16, 20182min
Wesleyan Athletics Giving Days (WAGD) is a competitive fundraising initiative bringing together donors and volunteers in support of Wesleyan Athletics. For a week, athletic teams compete for the greatest percentage of donor participation for their sport. At the end of the week, the highest scoring teams—one men’s and one women’s—each win $5,000 for their most critical needs. The program runs Feb. 21–28, 2018. Donors making a gift online or over the phone at 860-685-2110 increase their team’s overall participation percentage, moving them up the leaderboard. The WAGD website will be updated each day. In addition to the winning men’s and…

Olivia DrakeFebruary 5, 20182min
On the basketball court, there really is nothing that Maddie Bledsoe cannot do. The senior captain on the Wesleyan University women's basketball team averaged 7.5 points and 5.4 rebounds during her junior campaign, but during the 2017-18 season, she has taken the next step and become a truly elite, game-changing type of player for the Cardinals. The evolution began with the versatile athlete becoming a dominant rebounder on both ends of the floor, increasing her boards per game to 10.8, which is the most in the NESCAC. Bledsoe corralled a career-high 21 rebounds, to go along with 18 points, during…

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Olivia DrakeJanuary 29, 20181min
On Jan. 27, the Athletic Department hosted its third annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day celebration at the Freeman Athletic Center. As part of the celebration, more than 50 female Wesleyan student-athletes and coaches led a sports clinic for local grade-school children. Seventy-three girls participated in seven sports sessions on softball, field hockey, tennis, lacrosse, crew, volleyball and soccer.  (more…)

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Lauren RubensteinNovember 7, 20172min
This month, Wesleyan students, many affiliated with athletic teams, are raising awareness and raising funds for men’s health through the Movember Foundation. According to its website, the Foundation is the only charity tackling men’s health on a global level, with a focus on addressing prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention. It has funded over 1,200 men’s health projects in 21 countries. Wesleyan has had an official Campus Representative with the Foundation for the past four years. This year Luke Forsthoefel ’20, a member of Men’s Crew team, is the Campus Representative for all of Wesleyan. “The issue…

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Michael O'BrienOctober 2, 20172min
The Wesleyan University volleyball team won its first Little Three title since 1992 on Sept. 30, as it swept arch rival Amherst College by scores of 25-15, 25-16, 25-14. Later in the day, the Cardinals defeated Stevens Institute of Technology in four sets (25-18, 30-32, 25-10, 25-23) to conclude the doubleheader sweep. The Little Three title is just Wesleyan's second in program history. Additionally, the win over the Mammoths is the program's first since 2008, and it's the Cardinals first sweep against Amherst in exactly 12 years to this day. "It was great to win the Little Three Championship and…

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Michael O'BrienSeptember 27, 20171min
Trailing by 14 with just over 10 minutes remaining in regulation, quarterback Mark Piccirillo '19 helped orchestrate an incredible comeback as the Wesleyan University football team defeated Tufts University Sept. 23 in overtime, 24-17. The Saturday game was the second night game in school history, as the Cardinals picked up its first win of 2017.This is DiCenzo's eighth season coaching, and third season as head coach in 2017. Piccirillo found captain Eric Meyreles '18 in the corner of the end zone for a 24-yard score with :06 on the clock, and minutes later connected with senior Mike Breuler for a 14-yard…

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Michael O'BrienSeptember 22, 20172min
The gridiron is the foundation where lifelong friendships are built. At Wesleyan, this bond between teammates started way back in 1881 and has only flourished since then. It would be difficult to find a better example of the friendships Wesleyan Football produces than in the three captains from the 1988 team: Mike Charlton '89, Matt Coan '89 and Jim Lukowski '89. Charlton, a Connecticut native who grew up in Detroit, played four years on the defensive line as a nose guard. As if football and academics weren't enough, he also competed on the wrestling team throughout his college tenure. "You…

Olivia DrakeSeptember 12, 20171min
This fall, get a front seat to Wesleyan sporting events by downloading the Athletic Department’s mobile app. Wesleyan Front Row gives Cardinal fans the ability to enable notifications to access game schedules, score updates, statistics, game recaps and photo galleries. For some events, a live stream of the game is available through the app, giving unprecedented access to off-campus fans, including parents and alumni, who still want to cheer on their favorite athletes from afar. “The mobile app allows fans, parents, alumni, prospective students and current students to get information about their favorite teams instantly,” said Mike O’Brien, assistant athletic…

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Cynthia RockwellSeptember 11, 20173min
This year, Wesleyan's four home football games each offer a highlight to draw fans from near and far to Corwin Stadium on Andrus Field. The first home game, Saturday, Sept. 23, against Tufts, is a night game — "The second home night game in Wesleyan's history," notes Athletic Director Mike Whalen ’83. "I'm thinking of it as our time to focus on Middletown, and we're reaching out to local high schools. Dario Highsmith ’20, a sophomore running back—an outstanding player—graduated from Middletown High. He's a former Gatorade High School Player of the Year, and someone to watch." On Saturday, Oct. 7,…

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Olivia DrakeMay 8, 20171min
The mission of the Athletics Advantage (A+) Program is to grow, connect and develop a diverse network of alumni leaders online and through campus programs and events that will inspire, connect and prepare student-athletes for post-Wes life. On May 7, 20 alumnae returned to campus to participate in a speed networking event for women student-athletes in various stages of their post-Wes journey. They included: Blair Ingraham '14; Alicia White '15; Glenn Hartman-Mattson '14; Andrea Balkan '86; Vanessa Block '15; Michele Drossner '14; Erin Reding Glaser '06; Fran Rivkin '78; Lottie Barton '16; Corinne Rivard '16; Lisa Brummel '77; Nicole Butterfield;…

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Michael O'BrienApril 12, 20173min
On April 8, Wesleyan's men’s and women’s lacrosse teams defeated arch rival Williams College to win the Little Three Championships outright. It marked the first time in the history of Wesleyan athletics that both lacrosse programs won the title in the same season, and it was the fifth Little Three crown by a Cardinals team this season, joining football, men’s basketball and men’s ice hockey. The “Little Three” schools — Wesleyan, Amherst and Williams — first formally banded together in 1899 as the Triangular League. The League broke up briefly but reestablished competition in 1910, and has competed annually since then as…