Taylor ’12 Places Third in Williams Opener
Pete Taylor ’12 shot a 151 to place third of 40 golfers at the Williams Spring Opener over the weekend, which was held at the fabled Taconic Golf Course in Williamstown, Mass. Taylor also earned all-tournament honors for his top-five carding. As a team, Wesleyan placed sixth of the six squads in attendance, all of which were NESCAC clubs.
After Taylor, who shot a 77 in the first round and improved to a 74 in the second, was A.J. Ferraro ’12, who tied for 29th with an 83-86-169 showing. Next came Eli Kendall ’10, who placed 35th with a 94-82-176 showing, and Dan De Rienzo ’11 followed with an 89-92-181 carding for 37th. Tom Salah ’12 took 40th with a 96-97-193 score. Williams took the team tournament with a score of 604, 18 strokes ahead of second-place Trinity. Hamilton took third with a 625, followed by Middlebury (644), Amherst (649), and Wesleyan (677). Next up for the Cardinals is the Worcester State Invitational on Tuesday.
Football Names New Defensive Coordinator
Dan DiCenzo, a 2001 Williams graduate and the previous defensive backs coach in Williamstown, has been named defensive coordinator and associate head football coach at Wesleyan. DiCenzo will serve under former Williams head coach Mike Whalen ’83, who became head coach in March.
DiCenzo captained the Williams football and wrestling squads as an undergraduate and received the 2000-01 Purple Key Award as the school’s top male athlete. He also coached at Trinity and Brown University before returning to Williams in 2004. Nine Williams gridmen earned all-NESCAC recognition under the tutelage of DiCenzo, who helped lead the Ephs to a 38-10 cumulative record during his tenure in Williamstown, including four outright Little Three titles. DiCenzo also led the Williams wrestling team to consecutive New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) titles in 2008-09 and 2009-10 and held a cumulative dual-match record of 50-16-1 over his last three seasons in charge of the Eph grapplers.
In addition to his football responsibilities, DiCenzo will assist Wesleyan wrestling coach Drew Black with his responsibilities as the Athletic Department’s strength and conditioning coach.
Crew Teams Ephed Up in Worcester
The men’s and women’s crew teams traveled to Worcester, Mass. on Saturday for their yearly race against Williams. The Ephs took both races, stroking past the men by 9.9 seconds and the women by a 51-second margin. Because Amherst did not participate in the meet, however, no Little Three title was awarded.
The fourth-ranked men’s varsity eight boat of Sam Hoefle ’13, Parker Cook ’10, Elliott Skopin ’11, Terrence Word ’11, Bryce Hollingsworth ’13, Spencer Hattendorf ’12, Gilder Keeler ’11, Trevor Michelson ’13, and coxswain Rosemary Ostfeld ’10 covered the 2,000-meter Lake Quinsigamond course in 6:15.7. Williams, ranked third in New England, took first in the race with a 6:05.8 showing. The men’s second varsity eight boat took fourth with a time of 6:37.5, behind Williams (6:21.3), Ithaca College (6:34.3), and Colby (6:37.1), and the third varsity eight (6:54.2) took third behind Williams (6:27.9) and Ithaca (6:50.5).
The women’s varsity eight boat of Becca Schofield ’11, Emilie Kimball ’11, Catie Steidl ’11, Greer Dent ’12, Julia Mulhern ’12, Haley Sacks ’13, Christina Ermilio ’13, Claire Tradewell ’11, and coxswain Sami Pop ’11 placed fourth of five crews with a 7:34.4 time. Williams, the top crew in New England, placed first with a time of 6:43.1, followed by Ithaca (6:56.8), Holy Cross (7:07.3), and Tufts (7:19.2); Colby (7:38.8) was the final crew to finish. The second varsity eight race yielded a similar result, as Wesleyan (7:38.7) again took fifth behind Williams (6:47.9), Ithaca (7:07.7), Holy Cross (7:16.0), and Tufts (7:30.0) and ahead of Colby (7:53.0). In novice eight action, Wesleyan took fourth with a 7:50.3 timing, well ahead of Ithaca (7:57.0) and behind Tufts (7:29.4), Holy Cross (7:35.7), and Conn. College (7:46.7).
The teams conclude the dual-race season on Saturday, racing Trinity, Conn. College, and Clark University.