By Nick Pantages
@nick_pantages22
Men’s Basketball: The Pride resumed their season at the Hampton Inn West Springfield/Naismith Classic at Blake Arena on Dec. 30 and 31, falling to Mt. St. Vincent by five points and Bowdoin by three. They played eight NEWMAC games following the conclusion of the tournament, winning three, started by defeating Wheaton, led by Joe Hoch’s 23-point performance. After a loss to Salve Regina, Springfield thrashed Babson 90-54, with John Paulino and Zeke Blauner chipping in 15 points apiece. An 80-69 win over MIT snapped a four-game skid after the Babson game, with Blauner again leading the team in scoring.
Women’s Basketball: Coach Naomi Graves guided Springfield to the Hampton Inn West Springfield/Naismith Classic championship, with Rachel Vinton and Angela Czeremcha picking up NEWMAC Defensive Athlete of the Week and NEWBA Team of the Week honors. In the Naismith Classic, Czeremcha led the way in the semis against William Patterson, finishing with 17-points and 15-rebounds. Jaelen Daubon scored 21 points in the 77-65 victory in the final over Roger Williams, with Vinton winning tournament MVP after averaging 10.5 points and 8.5 assists per game. The Pride went 3-2 in their following five games, playing conference foes. They defeated Babson and MIT by 10 points each and Wellesley by 17, and fell to Smith 72-71 in 2OT, also losing to Coast Guard 51-48.
Men’s Gymnastics: Consecutive fourth place finishes at the Army and Navy open is how the Pride began their season. First-year Peyton Cramer has shown out on the pommel horse in his first two collegiate meets, becoming the second ever Springfield gymnast to win an individual event at the Army Open, and following that up with second place at Navy. He has won back-to-back ECAC Men’s Gymnastics Rookie of the Week awards. Sam Kaplan delivered a stellar performance at Navy, taking second in the all-around with a total score of 75.050.
Women’s Gymnastics: Sophia LeBlanc won the all-around at the Pride’s opening meet, the Ursinus Quad. In her first event in the maroon and white, the grad transfer delivered top-two performances in the floor, balance beam and uneven bars, collecting NCGA East All-Around Gymnast of the Week for her efforts. Annie Kiley won the vault as well. LeBlanc once again took top spot in the all-around at the Rhode Island College Quad, where the team took fourth. Julia Reer delivered a first-place finish on the beam, with a mark of 9.675.
Men’s Swimming and Diving: Springfield won both of their double dual meets, defeating Union and Hartwick on Jan. 13, and Wesleyan and Roger Williams on Jan. 20. The 200-medley relay squad has been on fire, winning at both meets, resulting in Jordon McMillan, Viet-Anh Nguyen, Jonathan Chan and Luke Zonghetti taking the NEWMAC Relay Team of the Week award. Individually, McMillan, Ryan Goolsbey and Gerold Gutierrez won their respective events in both meets. Jonathan Chan won the 200 and 500 free in the first meet, Christian Butler was named NEWMAC Diver of the Week for winning the one meter dive. In the second meet, Dan Backlund registered two wins in the 50 and 100 free, winning NEWMAC Swimmer of the Week.
Women’s Swimming and Diving: The women’s team had the same result as the men, beating Union, Hartwick, Wesleyan and Roger Williams in a pair of double duals. Kay Shen and Nina Lamb continued their spectacular seasons, each winning five individual events in the two meets. The meet against Union and Hartwick was Pride domination. Emma Savoie picked up two wins, and six others collected one. Megan Crawford and Elizabeth Santos each won a dive, with Crawford winning the one-meter and Santos the three-meter. Crawford swept both events in the second meet as well. The 200 free and 200 medley teams won at both meets, and both picked up NEWMAC weekly honors.
Men’s Track and Field: The Pride collected a pair of runner-up finishes at the Jumbo and Massasoit Invitationals. Dante Lingley and Joe Wong were the only top finishers at Tufts, winning the 60 meter dash and mile, respectively. Evan Weber dominated back on his home track at the Massasoit Invitational in the Field House, winning the 60 and 200 meter sprints, while Wong won the 600 meter. In the field, Daniel McGlashan won the triple jump, totaling a 42 feet, 11 inch leap.
Women’s Track and Field: For the second time this year, Springfield defended their home track, winning the Massasoit Invitational after finishing second at the Jumbo Invitational. Stephanie Brown and Maddie Shea accounted for the only two individual wins at Tufts, in the 60 and 3000 meter runs. At the Massasoit Invitational, first-year Katherine DeFosse broke the program record in the 60 meter hurdles, posting times of 9.04 and 9.17, breaking The previous record of 9.22, held by Kelly Curtis and Emily LaPlante. Shea won the mile, while Kristina Kyle won the 1000 meter run and Taylor Gibson 600 meter dash. Samantha Paul won the triple jump, just breaking the 11 meter mark.
Men’s Volleyball: On their trip to Calif., the Pride fell in their season opener in straight sets to Division II foe Concordia University. After a trio of exhibition games against other Calif. teams, head coach Charlie Sullivan won their next two games, against Emmanuel and St. Joseph’s, with Emmanuel being Sullivan’s 500th career victory. First-year Sam Levison led the team in kills in both games, while Dylan Mulvaney put together three excellent performances to begin his sophomore season. The Pride currently hold the No. 6 ranking in the AVCA Coaches Poll.
Wrestling: Springfield has competed in three meets in the new year. In the non-scoring Williams Open, Jack Callahan, Myles Leonard and Ben Katz all grabbed runner-up spots at 125, 165 and 285, respectively. At the Budd Whitehill Duals, Casey Allen won all four of his bouts at 197. Gianni Manginelli had a trio of wins on the first day, helping him to the all-tournament team. Nick Rogers and Ben Katz also had great weekends at 197 and 285, as they helped the Pride finish sixth. In Providence, R.I. for the NEWA Duals Championship, the Pride came in fourth. After a pair of wins over Williams and Western New England to begin the day, the Pride fell In the semifinals versus Johnson & Wales, where Jack Callahan was the only one to win a duel, which he did at 125. In the third-place matchup against Castleton, only Manginelli and Myles Leonard registered wins.
Photo courtesy of Springfield Athletics