This past week has been incredible for Blue Jay sports across all modalities! Join us as we discuss some of this weekend’s sporting events and look at what’s next for our teams.
Women’s lacrosse (WLAX): W (17-13)
Women’s lacrosse continued their outstanding run in the championship with a 17-13 away win over Duke University this weekend. The team shone at Koskinen Stadium with several players achieving a multi-point game: Junior Ashley Mackin topped the board with five points (4 goals, 1 assist), while graduate student Bailey Cheetham (2 goals, 2 assists) and Ava Angello (3 goals, 1 assist) earned four each. Congratulations to Hopkins WLAX on their great start to the season!
Men’s lacrosse (MLAX): W (13-7)
The men’s lacrosse team hosted Loyola University Maryland at Homewood Field this weekend for the 60th installment of this fan-favorite game. Hopkins inaugurated the scoring in the first quarter with 6:19 left in regulation, with an unassisted goal from sophomore Matt Collison. Overall, the Blue Jays had 45 shots on target, with 30 of those being shots on goal. A fourth quarter drive gave the Jays a comfortable lead, as Hopkins scored three times with less than three minutes left in regulation. Graduate student Jacob Angelus topped the score sheet with three goals and four assists as the Jays took a 13-7 home win.
Women’s tennis (WTEN): W (9-0), W (4-3), W (9-0)
Our women’s tennis team met Muhlenberg College this Saturday in Pennsylvania, walking away with a perfect win record. The Blue Jays dominated the score board, winning all three of their doubles matches (8-1, 8-0, 8-0), as well as all of the single games. Our athletes then traveled to Lehigh University, where they won four of the six singles matches to secure a 4-3 win. The team then went on to win 9-0 against Franklin & Marshall College, bringing their tally up to 150 consecutive wins in the Centennial Conference!
This strong start to the season comes after a preseason vote, where Hopkins WTEN was elected the favorite to win the Centennial Conference.
Men’s tennis (MTEN): W (8-1)
Men’s tennis also had a great weekend, kicking off the season with a 8-1 over Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania. Additionally, senior Daniel Ardila is now ranked a joint 25th in Centennial Conference history with 44 doubles wins, as well as 73 total career wins. Hopkins MTEN also received recognition in this season’s preseason vote, gaining three first-place votes and finishing with a predicted second place in the conference.
Women’s basketball (WBB): W (71-57)
Hopkins women’s basketball bested Swarthmore College at the Goldfarb Gym after an outstanding performance by sophomore guard Elisabeth Peebles as they celebrated their Senior Day. She racked up 32 points, a career-best performance, and was joined in the scoresheet by sophomore Kendall Dunham (11 points) and junior Jadyn Murray (10 points). The Blue Jays, who won a shared title with Gettysburg College, were awarded the No. 1 seed position, meaning Hopkins will host the forthcoming Centennial Conference championship for the second time in a row.
Men’s basketball (MBB): L (70-71)
Hopkins men’s basketball narrowly missed out on a win on Senior Day, after a late game winner sent the Swarthmore College Garnet ahead. After a layup by junior John Windley with 10 seconds left on the clock gave the Blue Jays a one point lead, Swarthmore organized a quick response, sending a rapid inbound attack that took the win with less than two seconds to spare. The result awarded Hopkins with the No. 2 seed in the Centennial Conference — stay tuned for the semifinal game next week!
Women’s swimming (WSWIM) at the Blue Jay Invitational:
Led by an outstanding performance from its juniors, the Hopkins women’s swimming team had an inspiring weekend at the Blue Jay Invitational here at Homewood Campus. To start, Kristin Cornish posted an automatic qualifying time in the 1650 Free, which also set a new pool record. Then, fellow junior Cameron Roche won the 200 Back event, setting an NCAA B time of 2:01.91, followed by a strong performance by Taylor Rohovit that earned her a win in the 200 Breast and an NCAA qualifying time. Freshman Julia Tuinman, junior Hannah Fu and freshman Kate Petitt also posted career-best times.
Men’s Swimming (MSWIM) at the Blue Jay Invitational:
Hopkins men’s swimming established three new NCAA times and four new pool records in their last home meet of the season. In the first event of the day — the 200 Medley Relay — freshman Andrew Gilbert, sophomore Avery Clapp, senior Jay Heymann and sophomore Christian Mayr swept to victory and broke the first record. The next record was broken by graduate student Ike Shirakata, whose performance in the 200 Individual Medley also posted a NCAA B time. Later in the afternoon, senior Kellen Roddy made the second NCAA time as he broke the pool record in the 1650 Freestyle, followed by the last record of the day as graduate student Brandon Stride won the 200 Breast with a NCAA qualifying time of 2:01.55.
Keep an eye out for the Hopkins swimming teams at the 2024 NCAA Championship, which is set to take place from March 20–23!
Women’s Fencing (WFENCE): 6W
Hopkins women’s fencing crushed it at their event this weekend, winning an incredible six out of six matches. The weekend started with a stunning 20-7 win against the host team (Drew University), before going on to beat Hunter College and Vassar College by 24-3 and 19-8. Our athletes finished the day off with a shutout win over Yeshiva University, as well as wins against the Stevens Institute of Technology and Wellesley College to bring home another Eastern Women’s Fencing Conference Championship! Our congratulations to the team for their amazing performance and hard work!
Men’s Fencing (MFENCE): 4W, 1L
Men’s fencing traveled to the Stevens Institute of Technology this weekend and won an impressive four out of five of their matches. The team closed out their day with two shutout wins against both Yeshiva University and the Army, followed by a 26-1 win against the Navy. After this Sunday’s events, sophomore Spencer Grossman Smisek now ranks 24th in Hopkins history with 160 foil wins. Be on the lookout for the MFENCE team as they travel to the Temple Invitational in Pennsylvania a week from now!
Editor’s Note, 2024: A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to Swarthmore College’s athletics. The News-Letter regrets this error.
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