W&J on Spring Break: Athletics Edition

Written by Audrey Kough, Campus Sportswriter 

The track team prepared for the Spring season over Spring break and competed in meets. (Courtesy Regan Carlson)

MAR. 31 – On Mar. 17, Washington & Jefferson College (W&J) students went on a week-long spring break. People travelled back home, others went on vacations and some even stayed on campus. Many of the athletic teams went on training trips or stayed on campus to continue with training and games. Spring break was full of highlights for the Presidents’ athletic teams.  

The W&J Softball team headed down to Florida to play in the PFX Spring Games. The softball team played a total of ten games while there. Victorious games included: 7-4 win over Manchester, 11-5 win over Knox, 5-3 win over The College at Old Westbury and a 7-6 win over Carleton. Freshman Deanna Gratton explained the experience of the Florida trip for the softball team.  

 

“Our Florida trip was a unique experience to get to know each other on and off the field,” said Gratton ‘26. “We cooked dinner together, we had a family BBQ and we just hung out with each other during our off time.”  

“Our Florida trip was a unique experience to get to know each other on and off the field. We cooked dinner together; we had a family BBQ and we just hung out with each other during our off time.” said Gratton ‘26. 

She then went on to describe the team’s gameplay: "We started off strong with a 3-0 winning streak, but we did not finish as strong as we wanted. The losses we had were able to show us what we needed to work on most.”   

The W&J baseball team also went down to Florida to participate in the RussMatt Invitational. Victorious games for the Presidents included: a sweep of a doubleheader against Keuka; the first game ended in a score of 4-0 and the second game ended in a score of 12-2. To top this, the baseball team had another sweep of a doubleheader against Wooster, with a 5-4 win followed by a stunning 8-1 victory. 

The W&J women's lacrosse team traveled to two separate places during spring break: Frederick, Md. to compete against Hood College, and Misenheimer, N.C. to compete against Pfeiffer College. Against Hood College, the Presidents won 11-10. Junior Sarah Labovitz scored four goals, junior Amanda Effland scored three goals and freshman Caleigh Bogats scored two goals. Against Pfeiffer College, the Presidents recorded a 19-7 win over the Falcons. 

Notably, the plays made in Maryland over break marked career milestones for individual players. Effland ‘24 reached the 100-goal mark for her career, while goalie, Kaitlyn Brown ’24, reached 300 saves for her career.  

“Effland ‘24 reached the 100-goal mark for her career, while goalie, Kaitlyn Brown ’24, reached 300 saves for her career.” 

During Spring Break, the track team practiced and participated in meets. Pictured is Alex Puskaric. (Courtesy Regan Carlson)

Meanwhile, the W&J men’s lacrosse team had a game in Huntingdon, Pa. over spring break against Juniata College. Though the men of the lacrosse team fought the whole game, in the end, they lost to Juniata College by 6-7. The goals were scored by sophomore Parker Lucas, senior Carter Watts, sophomore Paul Shook, junior Sean McCaffrey and junior Zach Mey. Lastly, freshman Noah Bracco recorded 18 saves during the game. 

The women’s water polo team made a trip out west to California, where they played against two different teams. The first game they won was against CalTech, ending in a score of 12-11. Ryley McClellan scored six goals, while Sydney Neuman and Laura Anthony ‘25 each had two assists. Goalie Alliey Cunningham had a total of eight saves for the game. The Presidents then played a second game against Westcliff, putting up a good fight, but the team ultimately lost 8-22. Anthony ‘25 gave the Red & Black an inside look into what the spring break trip was like for the women’s water polo team. 

 

“Although short, the trip was very memorable,” said Anthony. “Right off the bat we played rival team CalTech in Pasadena, whom we beat in the last minute by only one point. The next day we went to play against tough Westcliff University. Even though we lost 8-22 to them, we learned a lot from playing against a team as good as theirs,” Anthony acknowledged the loss against Westcliff.

Lastly, Anthony spoke on the team bonding aspect of the trip.  

“During downtime, we got to go to different places like Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach,” mentioned Anthony. “The trip allowed all of us to bond even stronger as a team and enjoyed being with each other before the seniors leave.”  

Other W&J sports team travels included the men’s and women’s track and field teams attending the two-day Carnegie Mellon Invitational.