This weekend marks the first competition of the year for a number of Wesleyan’s spring sports teams. In this issue, we will be concluding our preview of the upcoming season as 12 different Cardinals teams kick off their 2023 campaigns. Here are the final previews. 

Women’s Tennis

Following the opening ITA Regionals tournament, women’s tennis gave a dominant performance in NESCAC play in the fall season with a 9–0 win against Hamilton in October. The New England Women’s Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament then saw the Cards finish as runners-up in the unique match format, showing off the team’s strength. Following a strong fall, the women’s tennis team will be getting back into action on Saturday, March 4 to face off against Williams and then go up against Conn. College the next day. Both the men’s and women’s teams will host Trinity on Saturday, March 11 at the John Wood Memorial Tennis Courts. Then, the team will head down to Florida for their spring break trip to take on Southwestern University, Quinnipiac University, Kenyon College, and Denison University before returning to NESCAC play after the break. It looks to be a great season ahead for the Cardinals, if they can return to the court for a dual-match spring season as powerful as the fall. 

Men’s Tennis

The men’s tennis team kicked off the year with a swinging start at the ITA Regionals before heading to the MIT Invitational in October. Then, in the final competition of their fall season, the Cards hosted the Wesleyan Invitational from Oct. 15 to Oct. 16, where an all-freshman doubles team took the title. Like the women’s tennis team, the men’s team will also be facing off against three NESCAC schools—Williams, Conn. College, and Trinity—to kick off the spring season. Then, during spring break, the Red and Black take on Franklin & Marshall College, Southwestern, Kenyon, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Washington University in St. Louis before returning to Middletown to play Massachusetts Institute of Technology and continue with the season. Given the performances from the fall, the Cardinals are sure to offer even more excitement as the spring season begins this weekend.

Track and Field

While the indoor track and field season has not yet officially come to a close, with the Tufts National Qualifying Meet on Saturday, March 4 and the NCAA Indoor Championships the following weekend, the spring outdoor track and field season is fast approaching. The winter featured a number of outstanding performances, particularly from Grace Devanny ’23, who has performed sensationally all year long. Most recently, she set the meet record at the New England Division III Championships in both the 200-meter and 400-meter races. She also set the meet record in the women’s 4×200-meter relay group, coming in first for the second year in a row, with teammates Augusta Burhans ’23, Kenzie Kelly ’25, and Gabby Harris ’23. On the men’s side, Nate Fogarty ’25 finished fourth out of 25 runners in the 1000-meter at the New England Championships. Liam Calhoun ’26 also earned a top-10 finish, finishing eighth overall in the one-mile and first among freshmen. Another notable performance was a 10th-place finish by the distance medley relay team of Kyle Roshankish ’24, Luke Consolati ’25, Bruce Lenes ’26, and Alex Kermath ’26. The spring season kicks off on March 25 with the J. Elmer Swanson Spring Classic, where the Cards look to continue their excellent progress. 

Women’s Crew

Following a strong showing during the fall, the women’s crew team is ready to get right back to it. This past season, the team’s top boat placed sixth out of 31 at the Riverfront Regatta on Oct. 2, 11th out of 36 at the Head of the Charles Regatta on Oct. 23, and ninth out of 24 at the Head of the Fish on Oct. 29. The Cardinals now enter their main season and have a packed schedule full of exciting competitions, starting with their season opener on Apr. 1 against Coast Guard Academy. Following that, the team will then begin one of the most anticipated stretches of the season as they compete against a number of conference rivals, including the Little Three Regatta on Apr. 22. 

Men’s Crew

After a five-month break from competition, the men’s crew team enters their spring season ready to pick off where they left off. This fall saw the team in peak form, with their top boat placing second out of 18 at the Riverfront Regatta on Oct. 2, 13th out of 41 at the Head of the Charles Regatta on Oct. 23, and third out of 17 at the Head of the Fish Regatta on Oct. 29. Now the Cardinals enter their main season looking to continue their excellent progress. In the spring season, the team will take on a much heavier load, beginning with their season opener on April 1, in which they compete in a dual meet against Coast Guard Academy. The rest of the month will feature matchups against many NESCAC rivals, including the always highly anticipated Little Three Regatta on April 16. The team will be led this season by captains Joe Kagan ’23 and Oliver Diamond ’23.

Women’s Golf

The Wesleyan women’s golf team had some impressive showings during the fall season. The team placed second overall at the Wesleyan Fall Invitational and earned a 3rd-place finish the following weekend at the Williams Invitational. The Cardinals were unable to qualify for the NESCAC Championship as a team, but Chanel Hong ’26 earned an individual qualifying spot. Hong became the second player in program history to qualify for the NESCAC Championship, joining Milan Yorke ’25, who qualified last season. The schedule for the spring season is not currently available, but the Cardinals are expected to compete in multiple tournaments.

Men’s Golf

Men’s golf capped off the fall season with a win at the Mitchell College Invitational. This achievement was significant for the program because the team had not captured a win since 2008. Freshman Fisher Hirsch ’26 finished second overall with a +4 (75) and was joined in the top five by Puthip Puvacharoen ’24 and Jacob Fain ’23. The Cardinals will have four tournaments this spring season, all taking place in a two-week span. The team will kick off their season on April 15, when they will travel to Trinity for a two-day tournament. Only one day of rest will ensue before the Little Three Tournament against Amherst and Williams on April 18. The Cardinals will finish off their season with two consecutive weekend tournaments—the Williams Invite, which begins April 22, and the NESCAC Championship the following weekend. The team will look to build on their successful fall, dedicating the season to their late coach Jeffery Gilarde.

Erin Byerly can be reached at ebyerly@wesleyan.edu.

Jem Shin can be reached at jshin@wesleyan.edu.

Sam Weitzman-Kurker can be reached at sweitzmankur@wesleyan.edu.