With the 2024 season coming to an end, I would like to provide a recap of all of our Spring Women’s sports. A large part of my mission as a sports journalist is to ensure coverage is proportional and comprehensive, and one area of my field that is unfortunately neglected by society at large is Women’s Athletics. Therefore, in my final article for the Grizzly I would like to provide a recap of the 2024 Women’s Spring Athletic Season at Ursinus as of April 22nd, 2024.
Starting off in alphabetical order, the Golf team has dealt with a lot of adversity over the past year. After the departure of the team’s head coach following the 2023 season, there were many questions in the air about the status of the team going into 2024, particularly what the team would look like in the fall semester considering all of the setbacks that have taken place. The Ursinus Women’s Golf Team has managed to keep the program alive throughout the entire school year despite all of these question marks. This spring, the Bears traveled out to Carlisle, Pennsylvania to compete in the 2024 Dickinson Spring Invite and put up a fight in the two-day long competition. Notable performances from junior Kaylin Chen, sophomores Lucy Bamford and Payton Fritz, and first-year McKenzi Thompson, showed that the Bears have a bright future and that the program is not going anywhere any time soon. Also, we would like to include a shoutout to senior Rebecca Chernoff who placed 20th overall in the tournament and displayed valuable leadership for the Bears this season.
Next up on the list we have Lacrosse. 2024 has certainly been a roller coaster for this team in the hotly contested Centennial Conference, but similar to the Golf team, the future is bright and full of contributors who will be returning next season. Most notably, junior captains Julia McCann (Midfielder) and Maeve Leonzi (Attack) have achieved some career milestones in the form of 200 career draw controls and 100 career goals respectively. Despite an in-conference schedule that featured 3 ranked opponents (2 of them in the top 10 in all of Division III), the Bears have managed to secure three victories against Swarthmore, McDaniel, and Bryn Mawr, and have two more opportunities to finish with a record above .500 against Muhlenberg and Dickinson this week. If they are able to emerge victorious in these upcoming two games, they can punch their ticket to the Centennial Conference playoffs for the second year in a row and establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with in Division III at large. Lastly, I would like to give a shout out to the small group of seniors on the team who have made a significant impact on this team on and off the field. Namely: Bev Lewis, Julie Cherneskie, Mary Michaud, Gabrielle Liott, Mia Gifford, and Charlotte Grahame. On behalf of the Grizzly, I would like to acknowledge their roles in rebuilding this program despite the hardships of COVID over the course of their tenures at Ursinus.
The third team on our list is Ursinus Softball! A team that we are keeping a close eye on for the playoffs this year as they are currently tied with Gettysburg and Dickinson for the third-ranked team in the Centennial Conference. The Bears have had an impressive season to say the least despite some formidable opponents. Their overall record in the conference is 7-5 but their record does not tell the full story. This is a team that has gotten progressively better as the season has gone on and their past 4 victories have certainly reflected this. Over the past week, the Bears have swept Dickinson and Franklin and Marshall in double headers and have sky-rocketed from a 3-5 to 7-5 in just three days. Thanks to impressive performances at the plate by seniors Maddie Solow, Maddie Wilson, and Sarah DiLello, the Bears have rallied behind their leadership and have essentially turned this season around. Be sure to stay tuned for their upcoming games against Gettysburg and Haverford College; you do not want to miss them.
After our brief trip to Snell Field, you don’t need to travel too far to notice the Ace Bailey Tennis Courts which are mere feet away from our Softball field. Ursinus Women’s Tennis got off to a hot start this year, winning eight of their first ten contests out of conference. However, similar to all of the teams you will see in the paper this week, Centennial Conference play is a different beast. The Bears hit a massive roadblock once conference-play arrived, but it should be noted that these losses were not handed to them easily. After hard-fought matches that resulted in narrow losses to Washington College and Bryn Mawr College, UC Women’s Tennis currently finds themselves 9-8 overall on the season. Additionally, it should be noted that the ranked competition in the Centennial was a massive challenge as well. Most notably, Swarthmore and Haverford College, who are powerhouses in Division III as a whole, were definitely not an easy task. With that being said, the Bears did have plenty of success in their 9-0 sweep against Muhlenberg and still have the opportunity to make a splash against Franklin and Marshall and Johns Hopkins later this week. Some notable players from this season include: seniors, Claire Burke and Avery Samer, junior, Allie Armour, and first-year, Caroline Daly.
Last but not least, the 2024 season for the Ursinus Women’s Track and Field Team has been one full of individual excellence. For instance, the biggest storyline for the team that started all the way back in March, when the indoor season came to a close was senior Rainah Dunham’s All-American performance in the triple-jump at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field National Championship. Additionally, Dunham set a school record this spring at the Bucknell Bison Outdoor Classic with a jump of 12.51 meters. Alongside Dunham there have also been some other outstanding performers such as seniors Samantha Grubb (1st place in 5k) and Jacqueline Allen (1st place in shot put) who showed opponents why Bear territory is the best home field advantage in Division III with respective first place finishes in the Ursinus College Track & Field Festival on April 5th. While there are so many more names to shout out in this article, not only for Track and Field but for every sport, we want to acknowledge that the team as a whole has been extremely successful this year and seemingly every member of the team has been achieving a new personal best over the past couple of weeks. With that being said, the season is far from over. UC Women’s Track and Field have their work cut out for them over the next couple of weeks with Penn Relays, Lions Outdoor Invitational, and Centennial Conference Championships right around the corner. So stay tuned for what comes next and Go Bears!