Weekly Lyon

Men's Basketball (9-2, 2-0) Opens NEWMAC with 2-0 Start, Pushes Win Streak to Seven

The Wheaton College men's basketball team opened New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play with a pair of victories this week, defeating Clark University, 77-59 on Thursday in Emerson Gymnasium and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 74-64 on Saturday in Cambridge. The Lyons pushed their winning streak to seven games, which ties the team for third-best in the school's laurels. Wheaton also had a seven-game winning streak during the 1998-99 season.

Against Clark, Wheaton trailed 13-7 in the early going, but first-year Eric Johnston (South Windsor, CT/East Catholic) hit a key three to help turn a 7-0 Lyon run into a 14-13 lead with 11:15 to go. Following a Cougar bucket that put the visitors back in front 15-14, the Lyons reeled off eight unanswered points on the strength of two three-pointers from junior Sean Kelly (Providence, RI/Wheeler School) for a 22-15 advantage. The hosts pushed their lead out to as many as nine points on two occasions, but Clark managed to claw its way back in the game and trail Wheaton, 36-35 at the break. Leading 41-40 with 17:45 remaining in the second half, the Lyons used a 16-2 run over the next seven minutes to put the game out of reach. Wheaton finished the game with four players reaching double figures, including Johnston's 21 points on an impressive 10-of-12 shooting. Kelly finished with 16 points and five assists. Stanton also tallied 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while sophomore Brian Zukowski (Dracut, MA/Dracut) added 14 points.

At MIT, the host Engineers used a 7-2 run to take a 12-7 advantage with 12:29 remaining. Trading baskets over the next four minutes, Wheaton eventually cut into its 22-15 deficit with a 7-0 run with just over six minutes to play. MIT bounced back with six straight points to retake a 28-22 lead, but the Lyons used a 6-0 mini-run of their own to tie the contest at 28 and eventually took a slim 29-28 lead heading into halftime. The Lyons extended their lead to five on two separate occasions to start the second half, but Tech knotted the game for the sixth time at 46-46 with 11:09 remaining. Wheaton eventually broke the game open, going on an 11-3 run thanks to a trio of three-pointers from senior tri-captain Mike Stanton (Lynnfield, MA/Brewster Academy) and Zukowski, bringing the Engineers' deficit to 10 points with less than six minutes on the clock. Zukowski led all scorers with a career-high 23 points, including an all-time best 5-of-5 showing from three-point land, as the Lyons went 8-of-10 (.800) from behind the arc in the second stanza. Stanton, who also had a solid afternoon behind the arc, went 5-of-10 (.500) from three-point territory while contributing 19 points and seven boards.

Women's Basketball (3-7, 1-0) Captures Consecutive Wins with 71-61 Decision over Smith

The Wheaton College women's basketball team defeated visiting Smith College Sunday afternoon, 71-61 in Emerson Gymnasium, sealing the Lyons' first NEWMAC win of the season. Not playing a game in over a month, Wheaton captured consecutive victories for the first time this year.

Tied at 12 midway through the first half, the Lyons went on a 10-3 tear capped by a pair of treys from seniors Mary Flaherty (Mattapoisett, MA/Old Rochester) and Kate Williams (Portland, OR/Caitlin Gabel) to take a 22-15 lead. Smith cut its deficit to four before halftime, knocking down a trey as time expired for a 28-24 score at the break. A jumper brought the Pioneers to within two to open the second stanza, but Wheaton followed that with a 12-0 run to break the game open at 40-26. Smith slowly climbed back into the game, reeling off a 12-1 run late to narrow the gap to 57-56 with five minutes remaining. Consecutive buckets by sophomore Kim McCormack (Milton, MA/Milton) and senior Vanessa Savas (Belmont, MA/Belmont) gave the Blue and White some separation, however, as Wheaton maintained at least a four-point advantage the rest of the way. The Lyons knocked down 19-of-23 (.826) shots from the charity stripe in the second half and also forced 26 turnovers. Flaherty led the way with a career-high 15 points, while Williams contributed 14 points, six rebounds and a game-high five steals. McCormack added 13 points while corralling seven boards and grabbing four steals.

Men's (4-3) and Women's (7-2) Swimming Hosts Tri-Meet with Coast Guard and Wellesley

The Wheaton College men's and women's swimming and diving teams opened their second semester of action against NEWMAC schools United States Coast Guard Academy and Wellesley College Saturday afternoon in a tri-meet in Balfour Natatorium. The men dropped a 148-110 decision to Coast Guard, while the women split their meet, defeating Coast Guard, 161-123 and falling to Wellesley, 164-130.

Freshman Meg Miller (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury) highlighted the meet on the women's side, breaking the school record in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 55.05. Miller also captured the fastest time in the 200-yard free at 2:01.67 while siding with senior Amanda Berthelette (Milford, NH/Milford), sophomore Cassie Bohn (Manhattan Beach, CA/Mira Costa) and first-year Abby Pratt (Melrose, MA/Melrose) for the winning time in the 200-yard medley in 1:56.31. Berthelette notched a victory in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:03.98, while Pratt rounded out Wheaton's wins with the top time in the 100-yard butterfly event at 1:01.55.

On the men's side, sophomore co-captain Barrett Roberts (Portland, ME/Deering) continued his prowess in the 50- and 100- yard freestyle events with top marks of 21.74 and 48.66, respectively. Freshman Matt Jordan (Ellsworth, ME/Ellsworth) was also victorious in the 100-yard backstroke in 55.53. Roberts was second in the 200-yard freestyle event in 1:48.53, while first-year Joe Fowler (Farmington, ME/Mount Blue) took the runner-up position in the 1000-yard free in 10:51.66. Senior co-captain Chris Klinkow (Hollis, NH/Hollis-Brookline) was second in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:09.26. Jordan captured second in the 100-yard butterfly in 56.23, while senior Aaron Fix (Minneapolis, MN/St. Paul Academy) rounded out Wheaton's individual second-place marks in the one- and three-meter diving events. In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Klinkow, Roberts, Jordan and freshman Ryan Patch (Lexington, MA/Lexington) sided for a runner-up finish with a time of 1:30.80.

Men's and Women's Track and Field Opens Season at 36th Annual Dartmouth Relays

The Wheaton College men's and women's indoor track and field teams opened the 2005 season at the 36th annual Dartmouth Relays Sunday afternoon, as the women's squad finished seventh out of 29 scoring teams with 24 points. The Lyon men did not register a team score.

Leading the women was junior Noelle Battista's (Warwick, RI/Toll Gate) 11' 5 3/4" performance in the pole vault. The showing was good enough for a NCAA Division III national meet provisional qualifying mark and second place in the meet overall. The Blue and White recorded 10 points in the high jump, as sophomore Jennifer Harlow (East Bridgewater, MA/East Bridgewater) and senior Kathrine Wallace (Glenmoore, PA/The Hill School) finished third and fourth, respectively, with their provisional qualifying heights of 5' 6". The Lyons also posted fifth and sixth-place finishes in the 4x400-meter relay with times of 4:16.23 and 4:18.83, respectively, while freshman Joell Whitley (Magnolia, NJ/Triton Regional) rounded out the scoring with a 17' 3/4" showing in the long jump.

Junior Ajay Sisodia (Andover, MA/Andover) recorded the men's best finish on the day with a 12th-place standing in the 400-meter dash, crossing the line in 51.86. Classmate Ross Kahill (South Portland, ME/South Portland) registered a 17th-place showing in the 800-meter run in 2:07.21, while senior Jamaal Rawls-Payton (Stoughton, MA/Stoughton) just missed qualifying for the 60-meter hurdle finals, finishing the semifinal heat in ninth position with a time of 9.00.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 1/30/07.
Questions about this page? Use our query form.

News

Women's Soccer: Hough's tally sends Wheaton past Emmanuel, Leddy notches third shutout (more)

Women's Tennis: Geocaris and Teague draw weekly tennis honors from NEWMAC (more)