Michael Craig.
TRINITY COLLEGE SPORTS COMMUNICATIONS
By John Manley
Michael Craig had lost the first two games of his match on the squash court with Harvard's Tim Brownell, 11-7, 11-8, at no. 4, thus imperiling second-ranked Trinity's attempt to take down top-ranked and undefeated Harvard in Cambridge, Mass.on Wednesday. But then the tide turned. Craig, a sophomore from Belfast, extended the match to a fifth game after taking the third, 11-4, and then the fourth, 11-7.He prevailed 11-9, in the fifth and deciding game to win the match both for himself and to put the Bantams over the top, 5-4. Harvard's David Ryan, a junior from Dublin,got one of those four Crimson wins, taking down Tom De Mulder, 11-3, 11-6,11-7, at no. 5.
Trinity then defeated visiting St. Lawrence, 8-1, on Saturday. Craig handled Belal Nawar, 11-6, 11-4, 11-5, at the fourth spot.
As for Harvard, they recovered with an 8-1 win over Brown on Friday. Ryan took out Nicholas Pitaro, 11-7, 11-7, 11-5, at no. 3.
Drexel’s Cillian Dunne defeated George Washington’s Josh Marks, 11-3, 11-4, 11-7, in a match at no. 9 on Friday. The Dragons cruised to a 9-0 win.
Among the women, George Washington’s Breanne Flynn, a senior from Dublin, defeated Drexel’s Ryan Morgan, 11-3,11-7, 11-8. Drexel won the match, though, 6-3, thanks to the likes of Fiona Power, who defeated Abby Shonrock, 11-7, 7-11, 12-10, 11-5.
Drexel then swept Dickinson, 9-0, on Sunday, as Power, a sophomore from Galway, defeated Abby Wingerd,11-5, 11-3, 11-2.
SWIMMING
Widener’s Ian Gaynor won the men’s 50-yard freestyle at the Mid America Conference Championships in York, Pa. The senior from Buncrana, Co. Donegal swam the pool in 20.55, which is a ‘B’ qualifying time for NCAA Championship purposes. He qualified for the MAC finals with a 20.41 in the preliminaries. He also scored points for the Pride with a runner-up finish in the 100-yard freestyle (his 45.57 against the winner’s 45.33) and an eighth-place finish in the freestyle at 200 yards, which he completed in 1:45.78 against a winning1:41.47. He also contributed to relay victories in the freestyle at 200 and 400yards. Widener finished second to Albright in the team standings.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Live by the whistle and die by the whistle. So it went for Matty Rudak of Birmingham Southern on Sunday when the Panthers suffered a 72-71 road loss to Berry. Rudak, a 6-8sophomore forward out of Kinsale, Co. Cork,prospered on all six of his free throws. However, he spent just 18 minutes on the court, as he got called for four personal fouls. He also split the twine on four of seven field goal attempts to finish with 14 points. BSC is now 11-13overall and 7-6 in the Southern Athletic Association.
There weren’t many bright spots for Mayville State in Saturday’s 57-38 drubbing by visiting Waldorf University. Conor Quinn, however, gave the Comets 18 quality minutes off the bench, hitting three of five field goal attempts and draining his lone free throw for seven points. The Belfast freshman also pulled down three rebounds. Mayville is now 8-17.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Another double-double for Whitney Moia. The Dublin sophomore scored 10 points on 5-of-12 shooting and brought down 12 rebounds as Mid America Nazarene defeated William Penn, 66-61, in Oskaloosa, Iowa on Wednesday. The caroms were a game high and the points paced her team. She also got credit for two blocks and two steals. Moia then reeled in 20 boards in Saturday’s 82-72 loss to Graceland in Lamoni, Iowa. She dropped in four of nine shots from the floor and one of three free throws for nine total points. The Pioneers are now 15-9 overall and 14-7 in Heart of America Conference action.
Edel Thornton had what might be referred to as a balanced stat sheet in Quinnipiac's79-57 rout of Marist in Hamden, Conn. on Thursday. The sophomore from Gurranabraher, Cork posted a team-high three steals to go with five assists (co-high for the Bobcats), five rebounds and six points (she made two of three 3-point tries). The Bobcats then improved to 20-6 (13-3 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action) on Sunday with a 76-60 win over Siena in Loudonville, N.Y.Thornton had a triple of sorts. She finished with 3s in the points, rebounds and assists columns.
GYMNASTICS
Bowling Green’s India McPeak had solid outings in the floor exercise and on the beam in the Falcons’ narrow loss, 194.700-193.850, to New Hampshire at home on Saturday. McPeak, a junior from Bangor, Co. Down, earned 9.825 from the judges on the floor, co-high for her squad. The 9.825 she earned on the beam was third best among the Falcons and fourth best overall. She also scored 9.675 in thevault.
TRACK & FIELD
Villanova’s Siofra Cleirigh-Buttner won the women’s mile at the Fastrack National Invite in Staten Island, N.Y. on Friday. The Dublin junior crossed the finish line in4:33.16, more than four seconds in front of the runner-up.
lucy-octave-by-rick-parker-usu-athletics
Lucy Octave.
RICK PARKER/USU ATHLETICS
TENNIS
Peter Mimnagh-Fleming posted victories in singles and doubles play as Montana defeated North Dakota,6-1, in Grand Forks, N.D. on Sunday. The senior out of Navan, Co.Meath took care of Alex Mailes, 6-4, 6-1, at the second spot and joined Max Korkh for a 7-5 win at second doubles over Ty Misialek and Simon Danyluk.
Utah State made short work of Colorado College, pinning a 7-0 defeat on their rivals in Colorado Springs, Colo.on Friday. Lucy Octave handled third singles for the Aggies, defeating Annie Zlevor, 6-0, 6-1. She also teamed with Sophia Haleas for a 6-1 win at second doubles over Caroline James and Madison Doerre. The Aggies then suffered a 4-2 loss to the University of Colorado in Boulder on Saturday, although Octave, a freshman from Donaghadee, Co. Down, won her match at third singles, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, over Chloe Hule.
Montevallo steamrolled three opponents last weekend, with Emily Beatty similarly victorious in her matches at second singles. The Falcons defeated Tuskegee, 9-0, on Friday as Beatty, a sophomore from Moria, Co. Down knocked off Monica Thomas, 8-0, ina match that was played as a pro set as the team match had already been decided. On Saturday, Montevallo got past Mississippi College,6-3, with Beatty needing three sets to dispose of Anne Marie Kimball, 3-6, 6-1,7-5. On Sunday, Montevallo whipped West Georgia,9-0, with Beatty handling Gabrielle Chanthaphaeng, 6-0, 6-0.
