Athletics News

Sunday was a banner day for the Swarthmore women's tennis team, as the Garnet swept the 2005 Centennial Conference Championships, winning the singles' and doubles' titles at the Michael Mullan Tennis Center.

Sonya Reynolds '07, seeded No. 2 in the singles' draw, upset the top-seeded player, Muhlenberg's Amy Schmidt, to win the Centennial Individual Championship 6-0, 6-1. Reynolds, the 7th-ranked player in the Atlantic South Region, had a strong forehand working, chasing Schmidt all over the court. The sophomore south-paw continually painted the lines, forcing Schmidt into several uncharacteristic errors. Reynolds controlled the match from the onset, compounding Schmidt's errors with accurately placed shots and a very strong first-serve.

Reynolds downed 4th-seeded F&M's Katie Daskins 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday morning while Schmidt scrambled by No. 3 seed Allison Daciek of Washington (Md.) 7-5, 6-4. Schmidt, ranked sixth in the region, traversed the entire season unbeaten (19-0), yielding nary a set, until Reynolds broke through on Sunday. Reynolds extends her own streak of victories to 13 consecutive matches, assuring Swarthmore of the Centennial Women's Tennis Triple Crown (singles' title, doubles' title, and regular season team title).

The Garnet were assured possession of the doubles' title by virtue of two Swarthmore tandems reaching the final match. Sara Sargent '07 and Elli Suzuki '06 rallied down 5-2 in the second set to defeat teammates Reynolds and Marissa Matthews '07 7-5, 7-5 to win the 2005 Centennial Conference Doubles' Championship.

Reynolds is the third Swarthmore woman to capture the singles' crown and the fifth overall title for the school. Jennifer Pao '01 was the first in 1999 and Anjani Reddy '04 won titles in 2001, 2002, and 2004.

Sonya Reynolds '07 (above) continued on her quest for the Centennial Conference Individual Championship on Saturday morning at rainy Swarthmore College.

Reynolds, the No. 2 seed, defeated Courtney Root from Ursinus 6-2, 6-0 on Friday afternoon and then cruised by Emily Ruben from Dickinson 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday morning in the Michael Mullan Tennis Center.

It was a tough Saturday for the other Garnet entries as Sara Sargent '07 fell in the round of 16 to the No. 4 seed Katie Gaskins from F&M by a score of 6-2, 6-2. Sargent had advanced after defeating Priya Amar from Haverford 6-4, 6-2 on Friday afternoon.

Elli Suzuki '06 advanced to the round of 16 by downing Katie Ferraro from Gettysburg 6-1, 6-0, but was eliminated by the No. 3 seed, Allison Daciek of Washington (Md.), by a score of 6-0, 6-7, 2-6.

Swarthmore's two double entries in the 2005 Centennial Conference Championship will square off tomorrow at Faulkner Courts in the Championship match.

The tandem of Sonya Reynolds '07 and Marissa Matthews '07 (above), the No. 4 seed, created the most noise at the Centennial Tournament so far, taking down the No.1 seed of Amy Schmidt and Ashley Reed of Muhlenberg 8-6 in semifinal action on Saturday afternoon.

Matthews and Reynolds had things clicking from the get-go, taking down a Muhlenberg tandem that had traversed the regular season unblemished (9-0), including an 8-3 victory in their last trip to the Mullan Tennis Center on March 23rd.

Garnet teammates Elli Suzuki '06 and Sara Sargent '07 fell in singles' competition earlier in the day, but rallied in doubles' play to knock off the No.3 seed from F&M, Katie Gaskins and Barbara Bee, by a score of 8-3 and then cruised by the entry from Johns Hopkins, Becky Busch and Michelle Liang, 8-1 to set up at the all-Swarthmore final on Sunday afternoon. It will be the second doubles' final for Suzuki, having taken second place in 2003 when paired with Kristina Pao '04.

Reynolds, the No.2 seed in singles' play, continued through the bracket, downing the fifth seed, Laura Chaddock, from Haverford by a score of 6-2, 6-0. The sophomore southpaw will face No. 4 Gaskins on Sunday morning for an opportunity to advance to the finals versus the winner of No.1 seed Schmidt and No. 3 seed Allison Daciek from Washington (Md.).

Lucas Sanders '08 qualified for the Centennial Conference Championships and Joseph Altuzarra '05 ran a personal-best time as the Garnet competed in Ewing, NJ at the 2005 College of New Jersey Lions Invite on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

Sanders and Altuzarra both ran in the 1500 meter event, with Sanders putting up a time of 4:29.78 to place him in the Conference championships at Muhlenberg next weekend.

Altuzarra clipped around the track clocking in with a personal-best of 4:50.39 while competing against several Division I, II, and III runners.

Jon Shoop '08 continued his development at 800 meters, running a strong time of 2:05.19 to finish in the top 30.

The Garnet will spend the week preparing for the annual Centennial Conference championships on May 6-8 in Allentown, Pa.

Results

Emily Conlon '06 crack the top ten all-time in the javelin and Sam Graffeo '07 continued her success in the shot put as the Garnet competed in the 2005 College of New Jersey Lions Invite on a wet Saturday afternoon.

Conlon, in her first season throwing the javelin, put up the third-best distance in school history, recording a distance of 97' 2".

Graffeo just missed a personal-best, finishing seventh out of twenty-five competitors with a toss of 36' 1 1/2".

Elizabeth Gardner '05, Debbie Farrelly '06 (above), and Lauren Fety '06 all ran in the 800 meter race. Gardner, in her first race since the indoor season, came in 22nd out of 60 runners with a time of 2:24.84. Farrelly, running the 800 for the first time at the collegiate level, came in 26th in a time of 2:27.33 while Fety finished 33rd in a time of 2:32.05.

The Garnet will spend the week preparing for the annual Centennial Conference championships on May 6-8 in Allentown, Pa.

Results

Constant rain and impending thunderstorms forced the postponement of Saturday's 1:00 p.m double header between Swarthmore and McDaniel at Clothier Fields.. Both games will be made up on Monday, May 2nd at 3:00 p.m.

James Golden '05 ran in the 5,000 on Thursday night and then a pair of relay teams took to the track at historic Franklin Field on Friday in the 111th edition of the Penn Relays.

2004 national-finalist Washington College (Md.) out-shot Swarthmore 36-28 on their way to a 15-5 victory on Wednesday afternoon in Chestertown, Md.

The Shoremen (9-3, 7-1 CC) jumped out to a 6-0 lead after one period, getting off 11 shots to Swarthmore's three. The Garnet (6-7, 2-5 CC) answered with a goal by Jeff Donlea '05 at 11:37 left in the second period. Washington put two more scores up before Swarthmore midfielder Tom Coughlin '05 made the score 8-2 with an unassisted goal at the 3:06 mark.

Washington kept the pressure on in the third period as Co-Centennial Conference Player of the Week Chris Read scored two of his team-high four goals. The Garnet put one on the board when midfielder Paul Chung '05 notched his fifth goal of the season with 27 seconds remaining in the third period.

Ryan McKenna '07 added his 13th goal of the season in a man-advantage situation with 1:51 to go in the contest. Adam Winegar '08 notched a milestone goal, the first of his collegiate career, with 21 seconds remaining.

Frank Mazzucco '08 made 16 saves in goal for Swarthmore.

Swarthmore concludes their 2005 season on Saturday, April 30th when they travel to Haverford College for a 1:30 p.m. contest. The Garnet have taken four of the last five meetings, with Fords holding a 17-14 series lead since 1974.

Haverford College used timely hitting to down long-time rival Swarthmore 4-3 in the first game and exploded for a ten-run inning in game two to win 13-1, sweeping a Centennial double header at Clothier Fields on Tuesday afternoon.

In game one Sarah Nagle hit a one-out single off Garnet starter Amy DiBiase '08 and came all the way around to score on second baseman Allison Frank's double in the gap. Lindsey Sullivan followed with an RBI single to center, giving the Fords a 3-2 lead.

The Fords (10-23, 5-9 CC) added a run in the top of the sixth, but Swarthmore staged a rally in the bottom of the inning. Kelly Siano '07 led off with double and left fielder Anna Ghublikian '08 followed with a single up the middle. Melissa LaVan '07 hit a come-backer to Ford pitcher Catherine Knepp, moving the winning run into scoring position. Pinch hitter Mary Blair '05 smoked a line drive that Frank dropped, only to see Frank throw out Siano at the plate for out number two.

Haverford brought in a new pitcher, Julia Iodice, who immediately walked catcher Christina Procacci '06 and second baseman Danielle Miller '06 to bring home Ghublikian with the tying run. Iodice got shortstop Katie Gold '08 to foul out to the Fords third baseman to keep the score at 3-3.

The Fords put the winning run across in the top of the seventh, and potential Garnet runs were snuffed out in the bottom half when Ghublikian lined into a game-ending double play.

Right fielder Valerie Marone '05 continued with her RBI binge, driving in one runner with two hits on the day. Siano reached base three times with a double and two walks, while Procacci drew three walks in the game.

DiBiase took the loss for the Garnet (10-24, 4-9 CC), throwing all seven innings, allowing nine hits while striking out three.

The Garnet drew first blood in game two as Siano struck out but reached base on a throwing error by Ford catcher Adriane Theis. Siano scored two batters later as Melissa LaVan '07 delivered with a two-out RBI single.

Haverford evened the game in the top of the third and got two more in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead. The flood gates opened up in the top of the sixth when the Fords got eleven straight base hits to grab a 13-1 lead.

Swarthmore got base hits in game two from Procacci, Mintel, Siano, LaVan, and Blair while Emily Remus '06 suffered the loss.

Procacci drew two more walks in game two to push her Centennial Conference record to 33 base on balls in a season. The catcher's propensity to accumulate free passes has her ranking in the top 25 all-time in Division III softball.

The Garnet will host their final twin bill of the season on Saturday, April 30th when the Green Terror from McDaniel College visit Clothier Fields at 1:00 p.m.

Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box

Lindsay Ricks and Kristen Ramey each scored three goals to lead McDaniel to an 18-6 Centennial Conference victory over the Garnet on Senior Day at Clothier Field.

Ele Forbes '05 scored two goals and Megan Speare '05 added a goal in the final home game of their careers.

McDaniel scored the first eight goals of the game and never looked back, taking a 9-1 lead into the half. Tara Smith added two goals and an assist and Michelle Mullen scored twice for the Green Terror. McDaniel held a 38-31 advantage in shots as Susannah Blair '08 recorded 17 saves in goal for the Garnet.

Heidi Fielselmann '06, Megan Sanborn '08 and Lindsay Roth '07 each scored goals for the Garnet.

Swarthmore returns to action tomorrow with a short trip to Neumann for the season finale at 2:30.

Box Score