Courtesy of Charlie Bresnahan ’24
As the weather starts to turn and the birds begin to chirp, the campus is bustling with spring sports athletes gearing up for their times to shine. While many students went home for two weeks in March, spring athletes remained at Conn putting in the work necessary for successful 2024 seasons. Let’s take a look at each spring team’s status and possibilities for the upcoming season!
Women’s Lacrosse
Coming off a one-win NESCAC 2023 season, the women’s lacrosse team is looking to better themselves this year. Brooke McKenna ‘24, one of the team’s captains, shared that “one of our main goals is to continue to build on the work that we have done in the fall off-season, and have that work pay off…” The team did lose senior talent from the graduating class; however, McKenna adds that “our entire freshman class…has stepped up. I am excited to see them develop throughout the rest of the season.” Having recently defeated Bowdoin College for the first time since 2001, the team is looking to build off this high and continue to improve throughout the season. “Our expectation for the team this season is to grow our team culture of competition, family, and accountability”, McKenna adds. “We are excited to play at home and on the road, represent the camels, and hopefully show off our talents in the regular and postseason!”
Men’s Lacrosse
Connecticut College’s men’s lacrosse team ended the 2023 season with a 6-8 record, winning 4 of their 9 NESCAC matchups. So far this season, the team has beaten Salve Regina and looks to build off this win. Men’s lacrosse has a large team, with 58 members listed on the official roster. This allows Head Coach Jim Nagle to utilize depth when facing opponents. Captains Will Rice ‘24, Bobby Chang ‘24, and Gus Williams ‘25 lead the team and have recently been joined by sixteen first-years. The Camels look to gain more momentum heading into the latter half of the season, and they will host Trinity College on April 3 as the next home NESCAC game.
Women’s Rowing
Connecticut College’s women’s rowing team has grown exponentially with the addition of fourteen first-year student-athletes. These new members join captains Emma Lanahan ‘24, Annabelle Tanger ‘24, and Mattie Wernerfelt ‘24. Sending multiple boats to the Head of the Charles event in October, the women’s team is returning with many opportunities to show off all the hard work they have been putting in throughout the off-season and over spring break. The Camels will kick off their spring season on April 6 at Clark on Lake Quinsigamond.
Men’s Rowing
Cian Noone was recently named the new head coach of the men’s rowing team in August of 2023. The team had the fall season to work together and establish chemistry. Gaining experience from the prestigious Head of the Charles event in October, the men’s rowing team enters the 2024 spring season eager to compete. With direct waterfront access, the team has been in and out of the boats for the two-week long spring break. Captain coxswain Callista Crisonino ‘24 shares that “the biggest results based goal is to make the Petite Finals at NERC and NIRC, but we are more focused on improvement.” This is another team with a large first-year class, and Crisonino states that “the entire group has proved to be fantastic additions to the team.” She adds that “rowing is the ultimate team sport,” and this team will open their spring season on April 13 at the Donahue Cup on Lake Quinsigamond.
Co-ed and Women’s Sailing
After a tough fall season in which both sailing teams did not achieve as much as they would’ve hoped, captain Charlie Bresnahan ‘24 states that “we have our work cut out for us.” Bresnahan shares that the team’s main goal is to qualify for nationals that take place in Boston at the end of May. Twelve seniors left the team last year, making this year a big transition for those remaining. There are currently eight seniors leading the group who have been joined by a large class of ten freshman student-athletes. Over spring break, the team traveled down to St. Mary’s College of Maryland for some quality practice and competition while the campus was empty. Heading into the busiest part of the spring season, Coed and Women’s sailing look to make progress towards their ultimate goal of qualifying for nationals.
Women’s Tennis
“Head, Heart, Legs.” This is the phrase that will be at the head of Connecticut College’s women’s tennis team for their 2024 spring season. Teagan O’Hara ’24 shares that Coach Jakob Klaeson introduced this phrase to the team as a reminder to give 100%. With no graduating seniors since 2022, the team remains close-knit, and O’Hara adds that “it has felt like a growing family where everyone continues to choose to be in this program.” The team spent half of their spring break training and competing in Florida and are back and ready to build off that trip. Approaching the challenging part of the season filled with back-to-back NESCAC games, the women’s tennis team is looking to “play with joy and passion, control what we can control, …and grow the ability to be adaptable and dynamic in matches with whatever is thrown” their way. This team holds each other to high standards, and this seems promising as they move throughout their 2024 spring season.
Courtesy of Teagan O’Hara ’24
Men’s Tennis
The men’s tennis team is coming off a challenging fall season that left them with a 4-12 record at the end of the spring in 2023. However, the team is looking to leave the past behind them and focus on the tasks ahead of them. Having just spent a week or so in Florida for training and matches, the team has returned to Connecticut College eager to compete. Lone senior Aaron Fleishman ‘24 leads the Camels through this season as they prepare for NESCAC competition. The team faces Williams College on April 6 in their next conference match.
Women’s Outdoor Track and Field
Coming off a successful indoor season filled with numerous broken school records and a trip to nationals for some, the “Women of the Desert” are looking to carry this momentum into the outdoor season. Julia Sarro ’24 shares her excitement for the outdoor season with The College Voice. “Our team has never had this much depth, so it’s exciting to see that we have a lot of talent in different distance events…We may even have a record number of steeplechasers,” which is a unique event. This is the largest the team has been in quite some time, and Sarro hopes the team can “focus on working together and use the big team to our advantage, because everyone is amazing and helpful to our team!” The speed and power side of the women’s team is predominantly led by pentathlon specialist Emma Wheeler ’24 who just returned from indoor nationals. Both sides work together and hope to achieve Connecticut College’s best placement at NESCACs and New Englands this outdoor season.
Men’s Outdoor Track and Field
Transitioning from the impressive indoor to the promising outdoor season, the men’s track and field team seeks to build off a season full of hard work and commitment. Chris Koskinen ’24, a pole vaulter with multiple school records, shares one of the team’s main focus is being able to “pull all our incredible talent together and hone in on developing good habits and a sharp work ethic.” He adds that the goal for this spring season is to “go big for the NESCAC Championship and finish at a higher standing.” Jayson Firmin ‘24 adds the goal of sending as many athletes to the outdoor national championships as possible. The men’s side lost a few key members, including All-American Jeff Love and school record holder Matt Carter. However, Firmin states that the “first-year class is proving to be very talented with a few showing some early promise.” Errol Apostolopoulos ‘27, Ty Dorrow ‘27, and Cathal Keating ‘27 are those mentioned by Firmin. “Our team has very high expectations for the spring season. The combination of our returners and new first-years allows our team to compete at a high level,” adds Firmin.
