March has arrived, and Wellesley’s spring sports teams have been busy making their mark. Track and Field and Swim and Dive both just completed their showings on big championship stages, while tennis and lacrosse have started their seasons strong. Basketball finished their season on Feb. 22 with a good fight against no. 9/10 in Division III, Smith College. With a few more teams looking to make impactful debuts this month, it is going to be an exciting season for the Blue.
Basketball defeated three conference opponents this year, improving their conference record from last year, with triumphs over Clark, Mount Holyoke College and Wheaton College. Trinity Barrow ’27 had an outstanding year, leading the Blue in points, assists and steals per game. Ava Shane ’28 led the team in rebounds per game. Forward Caitlin Windross ’25 will be greatly missed next year; she averaged an impressive 7.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Overall, the team improved this season, with a strong first year class and an improved position in the New England Men and Women’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC).
Swim and Dive finished 6th out of 10 teams at the NEWMAC championships, which took place from Feb. 20 through the 23. The Blue saw strong performances from Emily Richardson ’26 who finished 7th in the 1650 Free, Maya Hart ’25 who finished 8th in the 200 Breaststroke, and Cecilia Cai ’25 who finished 8th in the 200 Free. The 400 medley relay team of Hart, Lily Fender ’28, Chelsea Park ’27 and Ariana Mitsuoka ’25 also took 6th overall. It was a great effort to end a strong swim and dive season.
The Track and Field squad hit the New Balance track last weekend to compete in the New England Division III Championships, with showings from juniors Claire Peng and Emily Brydges on day one. Peng ran a personal record time of 3:08.55 to take 10th overall in the 1000m race, while Brydges took 20th in the 5k. On day two of the competition, Charlie Barron ‘25 took 29th overall in the 400m dash, while classmate Erin Dickinson took 22nd in the triple jump. Track and field will look to continue improving as the outdoor season picks up this Spring.
Lacrosse and Tennis have shined in the beginning of their spring seasons. Tennis opened the spring with an upset over #30 in Division III, Skidmore College, 4-3, after big wins from first-years Nandini Patel, Kotistha Modak, Sophie Buttorf and sophomore Suzanne Xu. After a disappointing loss to Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), the Blue returned with a triumphant shutout of Trinity College and a 6-1 win over Bates on March 2nd. Next up, the Blue will take on Denison University, Hope College and George Fox University in Orlando during Spring Break. Meanwhile, lacrosse has achieved its first win of the season against Gordon College, who beat them in overtime last year. The team has a strong first year class, a new coach, and after a disappointing overtime loss to Husson University on Saturday March 1, 11-10, they are looking forward to redemption with a home game against the US Merchant Marine Academy on March 10th.
Last but not least, fencing will be finishing its season soon with the NCAA Northeast Regional. As of a Feb. 12 coaches poll, the Blue are ranked 5th in all of Division III. After a dominant season, they are expected to do amazing things at the competition, which will take place March 9.
Though Blue Crew and softball have yet to compete, their moments are coming very soon: for softball, it will be March 17 against Macalester College, while Crew will row on March 22 at the Washington College Invitational. As all of these teams finish or begin their seasons, the Wellesley News is ecstatic to continue covering their achievements as student-athletes.
Contact the editors responsible for this story: Julee Sharma, Finley Tipton, Katie McCabe
