Men's Athlete of the Week

Jeff Baker - Men's Track and Field - Freshman - Wallingford, CT

Chris McCann - Men's Track and Field - Senior - Haverhill, MA

Jeff Baker and Chris McCann of the men's track and field team have been named the male athletes of the week for the week of April 21st through April 27th.  Baker and McCann each brought home league titles for WPI and were tabbed to the All-Conference team at last weekend's NEWMAC Championships at Smith College.  Baker set a NEWMAC Championship record with his first place finish in the javelin (198-6) and improved upon his NCAA provisional distance to help the Engineers to a fourth place finish.  McCann raced to victory in the 800 meter (1:56.17) before crossing the finish line second in the 1500 meter run (3:59.20).  Baker and McCann will join several of their teammates at the New England Division III Championships on Saturday, hosted by Coast Guard Academy. 

Women's Athletes of the Week

Krista Baker - Women's Track and Field - Sophomore - Medway, MA

Krista Baker of the women's track and field team has been named the female athlete of the week for the week of April 21st through April 27th.  Baker, a sophomore, was outstanding for the Engineers at last weekend's NEWMAC Championships at Smith College.  The Crimson and Gray finished seventh overall while Wheaton was the meet champion.  Krista earned WPI's top finish at the meet, throwing a distance of 119-9 to finish third in the discus.  She followed that performance with the eighth spot in the shot put (32-3.50).  Baker tallied seven points at the meet, the highest point total for the Engineers.  Baker and other select members of the women's track team will compete on Saturday at the New England Division III Championships hosted by Coast Guard.

Baseball (16-17-1 Overall, 5-7 NEWMAC)

WPI Baseball saw its NEWMAC Tournament come to an end on Thursday when Babson rallied for seven runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to claim an incredible 10-8 victory over the Engineers in an elimination game of the 2008 NEWMAC Baseball Tournament.  WPI jumped in front in the top of the first, as Bryan Watkins (Belmont, MA) led off with a single, moved to second on a base hit by Mike Swanton (Foxboro, MA), and scored on a single to left by Scott McNee (Falmouth, MA).  Babson answered with a pair in the bottom of the inning to take the early lead.  The score remained 2-1 until the top of the third, when Watkins again led off with a single, advanced to second on an infield hit by sophomore Paul Galligan (Weymouth, MA) and scored on an RBI single to right by Swanton. The Engineers then executed a double-steal that would lead to two more runs as McNee and senior Ryan Rainone (Oakville, CT) followed with consecutive RBI groundouts.  The Beavers cut the WPI lead to 4-2 on a single in the bottom of the third, but Engineers' senior starter Brian Duncan (West Suffield, CT) settled down nicely after that, allowing just one hit over the next four innings.  Meanwhile, WPI added a run in the fourth on an RBI-groundout by Watkins, another in the sixth when Mark Dignum (Albany, NY) plated Matt Moreau (Manchester, NH) with a sacrifice fly to right, and two more in the top of the eighth when Cody McGregor (Westfield, MA) singled in one run and later scored on a perfectly-executed squeeze play by senior Brandon Steacy (Framingham, MA). That gave WPI an 8-3 advantage with six outs to go.  Babson scored seven times in the eighth inning on a series of hits, including a three-run home run to take the 10-8 lead and the eventual win.  McGregor went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI for WPI, while Swanton joined him with three hits, one run and one knocked in.  Watkins, McNee, Dignum and Moreau each chipped in with two hits apiece for the Engineers, with NcNee also driving in two.  The Engineers dropped the opening game of the tournament, 10-3, to nationally ranked Wheaton on Wednesday.  Watkins was 3-for-5 with two runs, Steacy batted 2-for-4 with a run, McNee plated a pair and Ryan Rainone (Oakville, CT) was 2-for-5.  The Crimson and Gray are now 16-17-1 overall and finish with a 5-7 mark in NEWMAC play.  WPI Baseball will wrap up their season on Tuesday when they host Elms at 4pm.

Men's Outdoor Track and Field

Jeff Baker (Wallingford, CT) set a NEWMAC Championship record with his first place finish (198-6) and improved upon his NCAA provisional distance in the javelin to help WPI to a fourth place finish at Saturday's NEWMAC Championships held at Smith College.  The Engineers finished with 119.50 points while MIT was the overall meet winner with 240 total points.  Baker, Chris McCann (Haverhill, MA), Kevin Jillson (East Sandwich, MA) and Jarret Arredondo (Somerville, MA) were all tabbed to the All-Conference team for their outstanding performances.  McCann raced to victory in the 800 meter (1:56.17) before taking second in the 1500 meter run (3:59.20).  Jillson's time of 15:27.92 in the 5000 meter was good enough to take home second place and also earn him a spot at the ECAC and New England Division III Championships.  Isaiah Janzen (Sabetha, KS) crossed the finish line third in the 10,000 meter (32:58.50) to punch his ticket to the ECACs while teammate Dan Duffty (Haverhill, MA) will be accompanying Janzen in addition to heading to the New Englands in the 10,000 meter (6th; 33:23.66).  Other New England DIII qualifiers included Keith Flanders (Westford, MA) in the steeple chase (3rd; 9:39.70) and Fran Collins (Springfield, MA) in the discus (3rd; 135-9).  Collins went on to place fourth in the shot put (45-7.25) and the hammer throw (155-2).  Ben Roy (Buxton, ME) ran to a third place finish in the 110 hurdles (15.64) while Arredondo grabbed second in the shot put (45-10) before finishing third in the hammer throw (167-10).  Several members of the men's track and field team will compete at the New England Division III Championships on Saturday, hosted by Coast Guard.

Women's Outdoor Track and Field

Graduate student Meghan Murphy (Perkasie, PA) qualified for the ECAC Championships in the 800 meter run with her fifth place finish (2:19.12) to help WPI to seventh place at the NEWMAC Championships held at Smith College.  The Engineers finished with 25 points while Wheaton was the overall meet winner with 205 points.  Amanda Tichy (Norwich, CT) took home a fourth place finish in the pole vault (9-3.) while Krista Baker (Medway, MA) placed third in the discus (119-9) before claiming eighth in the shot put (32-3.50).  Beth Hegarty (Springfield, MA) raced to ninth place in the 5000 meter run (20:28.53) and Liz Schreiber (Ashfield, MA) crossed the finish line eighth in the 400 meter hurdles (1:10.40).  Schreiber, Sam Cote (North Andover, MA), Danielle Volpe (Chelmsford, MA) and Murphy combined to finish sixth in the 4 x 400 relay (4:21.51) while Schreiber and Cote paired up with Amanda Gurnon (Tolland, CT) and Phoebe Riley (Pomfret, CT) to grab fifth place in the 4 x 100 (54.37).  Select members of the women's track team will compete Saturday at the New England Division III Championships at Coast Guard.

Men's Crew

Men's Crew saw four boats take home victories to help the Engineers sweep a meet with Boston College and UMass on Sunday morning on Lake Quinsigamond.  The WPI eight of Connor McGrath (Troy, NY), Scott Gary (Lubbock, TX), Neil Lettenberger (Oakland, ME), Henry Moore (Jaffrey, NH), Arthur Gager (Kennebunk, ME), Sebastien Cohn (Orinda, CA), Tobin McGee (Rye, NY), Andrew Sandefer (New Orleans, LA) and coxswain Bethany Bouchard (Nashua, NH) rowed the 2000 meter course in a swift 6:08.9 while the second eight of Drew Oprea (Hicksville, NY), Berk Birand (Istanbul, Turkey), Jeffrey Onderdonk (Colechester, CT), Nick Vitello (Tolland, CT), Ben Johnson (Northford, CT), Max French (Harwinton, CT), Don Havener (Turner, ME), Evan May (Marshfield, MA) and Brenna Colleary (Southboro, MA) posted a time of 6:17.10 to pick up the win.  Garret Cavanaugh (Townsend, MA), Evan May (Marshfield, MA), Tom Parenteau (Scarborough, ME), Matt Kielbasa (Ludlow, MA), Elan Pelletier (Georgetown, MA), Andrew Emerson (York, ME), Drew Domnarski (Pawcatuck, CT), Josh Wimble (Albans, VT) and Nina Bass (Trumbull, CT) teamed up to finish in 6:42 and claim the top prize for the third varsity eight.  The fourth eight of Wimble, Jack Sternal (Westfield, NJ), Greg Hesler (Glastonbury, CT), Tim Navien (Haverhill, MA), Marshal Berklow (Devens, MA), Matt Silva Sa (North Grafton, MA), Walter Woodington (Natick, MA), Patrick Genter (Brentwood, NH) and Eileen Gribouski (Sutton, MA) capped off the day for the Crimson and Gray, recording a 7:01.2 finish to take the win.  Men's Crew returns on Saturday when they compete at the New England Championships on Lake Quinsigamond beginning at 8am.

Women's Crew

Women's Crew competed versus Trinity, Wesleyan, Connecticut College, Clark and Bowdoin in an impromptu race on Saturday morning.  The varsity four came away with a second place finish while the second four finished in fourth.  The varsity four of Amanda Ruksznis (Sidney, ME), Kyla Bye-Nagel (Hanau, Germany), Bridget Stevens (Cropseyville, NY), Katie Siering (Sheridan, OR) and coxswain Allison DiNitto (Wakefield, MA) crossed the finish line with a time of 8:06.60.  The second four combination of Laura Rockett (Pembroke, MA), Stephanie Kavrakis (Long Beach, NY), Simone Staley (Albany, NY), Chelsea Brown (Utica, NY) and coxswain Penny Gikas (North Andover, MA) registered a 8:32.30 mark.  Women's Crew will return to the water on Sunday May 4th when they compete at the New England Four Championships beginning at 8am.