Athletics News

DAY TWO RESULTS

PEACH BOTTOM, Pa. -- Senior Zach Moody had a career day on Saturday, firing a 75 to lead the Garnet to a team score of 312 at day 2 of the Centennial Conference championships at Pilgrim's Oak Golf Club.  The Garnet shot the third-best team score on Saturday and remain in fourth place through two rounds with a team score of 627, 19 shots behind first-place Franklin & Marshall.

Moody finished three shots ahead of teammates Eric Zwick '07 and David Lau '09, both of whom carded 78's.  Freshman Jeff Lazarus rounded out the team score with an 81; sophomore Michael Bernasek shot 91 on the day.

Swarthmore is just one shot behind third-place Muhlenberg (626) and six back of second-place McDaniel (621).

With a two-round score of 152, Zwick is tied with F&M's Joe Fucigna and Muhlenberg's Geoffrey Kellerman, two shots back of Diplomat Dennis Gunderson.  Last year's three-day champion, Steve Perrone of McDaniel, fired a three-day score of 227; Zwick tied then-teammate Mike Cullinan '06 with a 242.

Moody is tied for tenth among individuals with a two-day score of 156; Lau is right behind at 157.  The top five golfers after Sunday's round will earn All-Centennial honors.

BOX SCORE

HAVERFORD, Pa. -- Haverford broke open a scoreless game with five second-period goals and held Swarthmore scoreless for the first 32:02 of play on their way to an 11-6 win on a cloudy Saturday afternoon.  Swarthmore's Kyle Wilson led all scorers with a career-high four goals, while Alex Guy led the Ford attack with three tallies.

Haverford goalkeeper K.C. Peterson was the star of the first period, making five saves.  Garnet netminder Frank Mazzucco also made a pair of stops as neither team was able to find the net.

Swarthmore grabbed the second-period opening faceoff, but Haverford faceoff ace Peter Hannapel quickly retook control and fed teammate Max Tcheyan, who beat a defender and found the back of the net with just 13 seconds off the clock.  Hannapel won the ensuing faceoff, and 35 seconds later Guy took an Andrew Kim feed and increased the lead to 2-0.

Dean Granoff scored a minute and a half later and Shane Hafer added a pair of goals late in the period to extend the lead to 5-0 at halftime.

Goals came fast and furious for both sides in the third period.  The Garnet started off hot; Wilson tickled the twine twice in a 85-second span off of feeds from sophomore Will Predun and freshman Gavin Musynske.  After Guy scored his second of the day off of an Grant Firestone feed, Wilson returned the favor to Musynske, who scored from just in front of the net with 10:25 on the clock.

Haverford's offense kept clicking, though, and Guy and Granoff scored in quick succession to get the lead back to 8-3.

Wilson's third goal was a particularly pretty.  The speedy Predun saw his run towards the goal get blocked by a defender but got free around behind the net.  Turning back towards the goal, Predun fed the ball over the net to Wilson, who wasted no time in putting it home.

Wilson would go on to add his fourth goal of the period off of a David DeSimone '09 feed with 2:54 on the clock.  Tcheyan and Kim also notched goals, completing the 10-goal period (five for each team).

The fourth period was far quieter, with each team scoring just one goal.  Haverford's Brian Fleishhacker put a Guy feed home with 9:16 left, while Swarthmore senior Jay Charles closed his career on a high note with an unassisted goal with 2:47 left.

Haverford's man-down unit had a banner day, going 6-6 on penalty kills.  Hannapel won 11 of 19 faceoffs,  The Fords held a 12-9 edge in faceoffs and a 41-27 advantage in ground balls.  Shots were almost even--the Fords took 29 and the Garnet 28.

Peterson made 13 saves in net for the Fords; Mazzucco closed out a banner season with 12 stops.

The Fords complete the regular season at 8-5, 5-3 in Centennial Conference play and will face top-seeded Gettysburg in the conference playoffs.  Swarthmore finishes the year at 5-7, 2-6 in the Centennial.

Though the 2007 Garnet laxers won just one more game than the 2006 squad, the Garnet showed a great deal of improvement and was just a goal here and a goal there away from a .500 season.  Leading the way all season long was a hard-hitting and tenacious defense that held opponents to 7.92 goals per game.  Junior Dan Sartori led the game with 44 ground balls and got plenty of help from captain Anthony Orazio '07 and Drew Bonessa '08 as well as a host of reserves.

Mazzucco improved his save percentage by .067 up to .624, placing him firmly in the upper echelon of Centennial netminders.  The junior captain was at his best against St. Mary's (MD) on April 3rd, making 18 saves as the Garnet rallied late for a 5-4 win.

A pair of underclassmen emerged to lead the squad's offensive attack.  Wilson, a sophomore emerged as the team's top finisher, scoring 19 goals.  Freshman attackman Tyler Bradshaw also started every game and finished with 10 tallies and four assists.  Musynske, another first-year, forced his way into the starting lineup midway through the year and converted a team-high 31.5% of his shot attempts on his way to a six-goal year.  Predun was adept at using his speed to set teammates up; the sophomore finished with a team-high six assists.

Injuries struck the Garnet hard during conference play, as hard-hitting sophomore midfielder Todd Friedman went out for the year with four games to go and captain Charles was slowed as well.

All five of Swarthmore's seniors--Charles, Orazio, Gavin Nurick, Ryan McKenna, and Richard Jaronczyk--played heavy minutes and will be missed in 2008.  Still, the Garnet will return most of their defensive core and their starting attack line and will be in line to take the next step and challenge for a Centennial playoff berth.

MATCH RESULTS

BALTIMORE  -- The 17th-ranked Swarthmore women's tennis team, the two-time defending Centennial Conference champions, moved one step close to a third straight title with a 5-0 victory over third-seed Franklin & Marshall Saturday afternoon in semifinal action of the 2007 Centennial Conference Tennis Championships hosted by Johns Hopkins.

The Garnet (12-5 overall), seeded No. 2, will face the top-seeded Blue Jays in the championship match Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.

Swarthmore, 6-3 winners over the Diplomats on April 21, cruised to a 3-0 lead after doubles competition.  Seniors Sonya Reynolds and Sara Sargent took down F&M's Barbara Bee and Katie Gaskins 8-1 at No. 1 doubles while Marissa Matthews '07 and Erica Lukoski '08 sailed past Jenna Ishakinan and Christina Henkel 8-1 at No. 2 for their seventh straight win of the season.  Rachel Wallwork '10 and Waverly Lutz '07 improved to 12-5 overall, completing the sweep with a 8-2 win at No. 3 over Danielle Barish and Dana Russo.

Wallwork and Matthews ensured the win for Swarthmore with quick victories at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively.  Wallwork improved to 14-5 overall with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Bee and Matthews took down Erica Wood 6-1, 6-0 to put the Garnet in the championship match.

Swarthmore has won three of the last four Centennial Championships and five overall (most in Conference history)—the titles came in 1995, 2001, '03, '05 and '06.

2007 ALL-CENTENNIAL TEAM (pdf)

LANCASTER, Pa. -- Swarthmore College senior Sonya Reynolds and sophomore Jennie Park earned All-Centennial Conference Women's Tennis honors in singles' play, as voted on by the league's head coaches.  Reynolds and senior Sara Sargent also earned All-Centennial honors in doubles.

Reynolds, twice selected All-America, established a record of 15-5 at No. 1 singles in 2006-07, including a record of 2-0 in Centennial regular season dual matches.  Reynolds, an economics major, is currently ranked fourth in the Atlantic South region and was named ITA Atlantic South Player to Watch in 2006.

Reynolds paired with Sargent to record an overall record of 13-7 at No. 1 doubles in 2006-07, including a 4-1 mark in Centennial regular season dual matches.  The duo, currently ranked sixth in the Atlantic South region, won the Wilson ITA Southeast Regional on September 26 to become the first Swarthmore doubles team to be named All-America.

It is the third All-Centennial singles' honor for Reynolds and her seventh overall; she earned doubles' honors in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

It is the second All-Centennial honor for Sargent, her first coming in 2005 when she teamed with Elli Suzuki '06 to win the Centennial doubles' championship.  She was also selected to the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll for the third time.

Senior Sara Sargent earned her second All-Centennial selection.

Park, currently ranked ninth in the region, receives her second All-Centennial selection after posting an overall record of 4-4 in 2006-07 despite battling foot injuries.  Park played both of her Centennial matches in the No. 1 position, including a 7-5, 1-6, 6-1 win over 2007 Centennial Conference Player of the Year Brittany Matava from Johns Hopkins on March 27.

Swarthmore, ranked 17th in Division III, is seeking its third consecutive Centennial Conference championship.  The Garnet (11-5 overall, 9-1 CC) are seeded second in the Championship, hosted by top-seed Johns Hopkins, and will take on third-seed Franklin & Marshall on Saturday, April 28 in the semi-final round.

DAY ONE RESULTS

PEACH BOTTOM, Pa.-- Garnet senior Eric Zwick fired a two-over par 74 to sit in a tie for second place while the Swarthmore golf team held fourth position after the first round of competition at the 2007 Centennial Conference Golf Championships held at the par-72, 6631-yard Pilgrim's Oak Golf Course Friday morning.

Swarthmore collected a team score of 315, trailing leader F&M (301), McDaniel (312), Muhlenberg (312).  Gettysburg (320) is in fifth, followed by Ursinus (324), and Dickinson (325).

Zwick, who finished tied for fifth in 2006, took full advantage of the soft, wet conditions in central Pennsylvania, turning in a 35 on the front followed up by a 39 on the backside to tie for second out of 40 golfers with Bill Snow from Muhlenberg and Dennis Gunderson from Franklin & Marshall.  The Diplomats' Chuck Antonnen is the current leader after posting an even-par 72.

Swarthmore sophomore David Lau just missed the top-ten, carding a 79 (40-39) to tie for 11th while senior Zach Moody (43-38 = 81) and freshman Jeff Lazarus (38-43 = 81) stand in a tie for 23rd.   Sophomore Michael Bernasek rounded out the Garnet entries, posting an 82 to sit in a tie for 26th overall. 

The second of three days of competition at Pilgrim's Oak takes place Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

2006 NCAA Division III Most Improved (pdf)

SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The Swarthmore women's soccer team made 2006 a season to remember, entrenching themselves in the NCAA record books following a nine-game improvement from the 2005 slate of games.

The Garnet posted the best one-season turnaround in Division III in 2006- four schools were tied for second with a 7 ½ improvement: Carleton (Minn.), Manhattanville (N.Y.) and Wilmington (Ohio). Centennial Conference rival Muhlenberg also made a significant upgrade this past season, turning out a 6 ½ game change, tying with six other schools for sixth-best. Swarthmore's enhancement tied for the eighth-best all-time in Division III with Maryville (Mo.), Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.), Nebraska Wesleyan, Simpson (Iowa) and Ohio Wesleyan. Olivet (Mich.) and Rhodes (Tenn.) share the Division III record with a 10 ½ game swing.

Swarthmore completed its best season in program history with a record of 15-5-1 after trudging through a 3-11-3 season in 2005. It is just the third time in the team's 26-year history the Garnet have accumulated a double-digit win total (the last coming in 2002 with a record of 10-9).

The 2006 Garnet set team records for total and Centennial Conference wins, advancing to the finals in their first-ever CC playoff appearance. Swarthmore put a team-record four players on the 2006 All-Centennial team; Kanuka and Cait Mullarkey '09 earned first-team honors while Lauren Walker '09 and Maggie DeLorme '10 were honorable mentions. Both Kanuka and Mullarkey were third-team selections to the NSCAA/adidas All-Mid-Atlantic Region Team and the D3Kicks.com All-Region team.

Mullarkey anchored a strong Garnet back line that tallied a goals-against average of 0.97, the strongest defensive effort since 2001. Mullarkey, a second-year center back, has become a consistent contributor earning first-team All-Centennial honors in her first two years - the first Swarthmore soccer player to ever to accomplish the feat.

Kanuka led the Swarthmore offensive attack, scoring a team-high 17 goals to go along with three assists for 37 points. Kanuka scored more goals than any other player in the Centennial Conference this season, including nine game-winners, another category for which she led the conference. Kanuka was the standout player in a Garnet attack that registered more goals in 2006 (36) than any season in the past six years.

Swarthmore, led by third-year head coach Todd Anckaitis, returns nine starters in 2007 with sights set on the school's first Centennial soccer championship. The Garnet will scrimmage Division-I Lafayette on August 25 and then open up the season on Sept. 1, hosting the 12th annual Swat Kick Classic-Swarthmore will face Catholic at 12:00 p.m. at Clothier Stadium.

BOX SCORE

SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- Four Swarthmore players picked up two hits as the hometown Garnet fell to Delaware Valley 13-8 in non-conference baseball action Thursday afternoon at cloudy Clothier Field.

Garnet senior Sammy Faeder went 2-for-3 with two walks, three stolen bases and two runs while sophomore Conor Casey continued his recent hot streak with a 2-for-4 effort.

The Aggies took a 1-0 lead in the second as Brent Terlecky led off with a double to leftfield and then scored when Jason Kahr's two-out rocket down the leftfield line glanced off the glove of a diving Justin Chen '08 at third base.

Swarthmore busted out the bats in the bottom of the frame when freshman Wiley Archibald walked and stole second.  Casey followed a single up the middle, moving Archiblad to third base.  Chen put Swarthmore ahead 2-1 with a long double to left, scoring both Archibald and Casey while reaching third when the Aggies bobbled the relay throw.  Chen scored as the next batter, junior Andy Bender, laced a single to left.

Delaware Valley came back with three runs in the top of the third, highlighted by John Persicketti's triple to right-center, to go in front 4-3.  The Garnet (4-23) knotted the game at 4-all in their next at-bat.  Archibald reached on a fielder's choice, swiped second and slipped home on Casey's second hit of the day.

The Aggies (9-18) blew the game open in the top of the fourth, scoring six runs on five hits with the benefit of two Swarthmore miscues.

Swarthmore, as has been the case much of the season, continued to fight.  Faeder bombed a one-out double in the sixth while Dalane and freshman Jimmy Gill walked.  Sophomore Grant Yoshitsu picked up two RBIs with a bases-loaded single to left, bringing the home team within 13-7.

Faeder generated a final run in the bottom of the eighth, drawing a one-out walk and then swiping both second and third.  Gill plated Faeder with a line-drive single to right for his team-leading 22nd RBI of the season.

Swarthmore reliever Zach Sinemus (2-4) took the loss for Swarthmore while Aggies starter Chris White (2-3) earned the win despite allowing seven runs in six innings pitched.

The Garnet have a plethora of home games to close out the 2007 season—the Lincoln Lions are in town on Friday for a 4:00 p.m. game, the Dickinson Red Devils will take part in the final Centennial doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 12:30 p.m. as Swarthmore celebrates Senior Day, and Gwynedd Mercy will be on campus Sunday for the final game of the season (first pitch set for 1:00 p.m.).

While many spent their spring break relaxing away from campus, Swarthmore women's soccer coach Todd Anckaitis spent his time working overseas gaining exposure to the highest levels of training and play for his sport.  From March 7 to March 16, he attended a coaching symposium in the Algarve region of Portugal with 25 other coaches from around the United States.  Led by former US National Team coach and current Team Leader with the US Olympic Committee, April Heinrichs, the coaches were privy to National Team training and competitions in preparation for the 2007 World Cup.

Current USA head coach Greg Ryan talking to a collection of coaches.

"It was an amazing experience," Anckaitis said, "The access we had to the highest level of the game from all over the world was phenomenal.  We listened to over 10 current or former National Team coaches present just to our group of 25 coaches everything from tactics to psychology to philosophy of their teams, programs, and countries.  On top of that we got to watch it in training and then observe the effects on game day.  The eight international matches we got to see would have been incredible by themselves but to pair the training and active learning environment along with it would be really hard to duplicate.  For example we stood in a fifteen-yard space between fields that had the German National Team training on one side and the French and Chinese National teams sharing a field on the other side.  Balls (not many mind you) were flying over our heads.  There is no doubt I'm a better coach for having done it."

Members of the US national team warm up before practice.

The symposium started with a convening of the small group in Portugal followed immediately by matches in the Algarve Cup.  Typically days involved either watching several national teams training or games with on field lectures from coaches.  Evenings included classroom presentations by some of the country's best including Heinrichs, Colleen Hacker (US Women's National Team sports psychologist), and Mary Harvey (Director of Soccer Development for FIFA).

Ancakitis with US National Team sports psychologist Colleen Hacker.

Topics in the formal presentations ranged from systems of play to dealing with the difficult player to psychological skills training. "It was an open forum with the presenters encouraging discussion both inside and outside of the classroom.  There was always a discussion happening on the vans, during meals, at halftime of the games and during training among all the coaches in attendance.  The first morning I sat down to breakfast at a table for four.  I came back from the buffet and I was joined by April and a U-17 National Team coach from the Czech Republic.  We discussed advantages of DIII over DI for most athletes, backs organizing in a 4-3-3, and how the Czech's develop their female players.  It was surreal," said Anckaitis.

Some of Anckaitis's other unique professional development and education includes observing the U-20 National Team training camp last spring down in Texas and receiving his master of science from Smith College in Northampton, Mass. in 2003 whose program was designed to develop coaches of women's collegiate sports.

Editor's Note: The US women's national team won the Algarve Cup with a 2-0 victory over Denmark in the finals and repositioned themselves as the #1 ranked team in the world after a three-year hiatus.  To watch video from the 2007 Algarve Cup go to http://www.ussoccer.com/common/stContent.jsp_26-2007AlgarveCup.html

2007 ALL-CENTENNIAL TEAMS

LANCASTER, Pa. -- Swarthmore College women's lacrosse players Melissa Grigsby, Megan Sanborn and Lindsay Roth were named to the 2007 All-Centennial Conference team.  Sanborn was named to the second team while Roth and Grigsby were honorable mention selections in a vote by the conference coaches as announced Tuesday. 

Lindsay Roth '07 is the sixth Swarthmore female to make All-Centennial three times.

Sanborn, a junior midfielder, posted career-highs for points (41), goals (22), and assists (19) while ranking 11th in the Centennial in assists per game (1.05).  She finished the regular season tied for second in the Conference with 1.82 caused turnovers per game (31 total on the season).  Sanborn led the team in five categories--draw controls (50), ground balls (47), caused turnovers, assists and game-winning goals (3).

Roth, a senior midfielder and team captain, overcame an early-season ankle injury to finish second on the team in goals (27) and fourth in points (32).  An English literature major who made the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll three times, Roth completes her college career eighth all-time at Swarthmore with 127 goals and ninth with 153 points. 

Sophomore Melissa Grigsby was second on the team with 46 ground balls.

This is Roth's third All-Centennial selection; she was named to the second team in 2006 and selected as honorable mention in 2005.  Roth is the sixth Swarthmore women's lacrosse player to be named All-Centennial three times.

Grigsby, a sophomore defender, earns her first All-Centennial selection after leading the Swarthmore defensive unit.  She was second on the team with 46 ground balls and 34 draw controls while adding three assists.  
 
Swarthmore completed the 2007 season with a record of 11-7 overall and 4-5 in the Centennial.

MATCH RESULTS

HAVERFORD, Pa. -- The Swarthmore men's tennis team won its fifth straight match, rolling past Haverford 7-2 Tuesday afternoon.  The Garnet (6-9), ranked 17th in the Atlantic South region, closed the regular season by downing the Fords (12-3), who came into the match ranked eighth in the region.

Haverford won at No. 1 doubles, but the Garnet picked up wins at No.2 and No. 3 to take an early 2-1 lead.  Freshman Brian Nalitt and sophomore Kevin Shaugnessy won for the fifth straight match, downing the Fords' Elmar Trust and Evan Stiegel 8-6.  Willy Nolan '10 and Mark Greenburg picked up their fourth consecutive win, claiming No. 3 doubles by a score of 8-6 over Marc Rudolph and Stephen Feder.

Garnet senior Jon Reiss, ranked fourth in the Atlantic South region, won his fourth straight match 6-0, 6-1 over Haverford's Alex Buxbaum at No. 1 singles.  Nalitt '10 ran his personal win-streak to six with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Trust at No.3 while Nolan won for the eighth straight time at No. 4, besting Steigel 6-2, 6-0. 

Shaughnessy kept the Swarthmore train rolling along, cruising past Feder 6-1, 6-3 at No. 5 and sophomore J.J. England wrapped up the match with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Rudolph at No. 6.

The Garnet await word on a possible NCAA Tournament bid—Swarthmore has participated in the Tournament each of the past 13 seasons, including a run to the quarterfinals in 2006.