Spring Previews

Baseball 

Head Coach: Mike Leonard 

Athletes to Watch: Chase Zidlicky ’29, Will Ashley ’27, Aiden Han ’27 

After having won the NESCAC tournament three out of the past four years, Middlebury baseball will start from scratch again. Kyle McCausland ’25 and Nathan Samii ’25 graduated last spring, both All-Americans and prolific power hitters. The team is also younger, with ten freshmen compared to just two seniors. Despite the shake-up, there’s no doubt this team will be vying for a NESCAC championship come May. Returning to the helm is the program’s most successful coach, Mike Leonard. His freshman slinger, Chase Zidlicky ’29, looks promising on the mound, accompanied by six additional freshmen pitchers. And in the batter’s box, juniors Aiden Han ’27 and Will Ashley ’27 will lead the offense. Opening day is scheduled for this Saturday in Middlebury against Colby-Sawyer College — as long as there’s no snow. With a series under their belt, the team then flies to Atlanta for a big matchup against Emory. Later in the spring, look out for two series against NESCAC opponents Colby and Amherst. 

Key Competitions: Colby-Sawyer College (Home – Feb. 28), Emory (Away – Mar. 7), Amherst (Home – Apr. 3) 

Softball

Head Coach: Kelly Bevere ’99

Athletes to Watch: Jen Westphal ’26 , Kristyn Carroll ’26, Emily Ye ’28 

Middlebury softball looks to reach the NESCAC tournament for a fifth year running. It’s been 15 years since the program marched past Tufts to win its sole NESCAC trophy, and there’s reason to believe it could happen again. Head coach Kelly Bevere returns for her 19th season as the winningest coach in team history. Senior Kristyn Caroll ’26 will lead the offense, finishing last spring with a whopping .496 batting average and 1.239 OPS. Behind the plate, catcher Jen Westphal ’26 (who boasted a .366 average herself) will frame pitches for Emily Ye ’28, the team’s ace. Six new first years also hope to make an early impact. The group opens their season at home on Mar. 7 against Plattsburgh State. Later in the spring, they travel to Medford to face reigning NESCAC champions Tufts and return to Middlebury on May 2nd for the last series of the year: a crucial matchup against Wesleyan. 

Key Competitions: Plattsburgh State (Home – Mar. 7), Tufts (Away – Apr. 18), Wesleyan (Home – May 2) 

Women’s Lacrosse

Head Coach: Kate Livesay ’03

Athletes to Watch: Caroline Adams ’26, Skyler Lach ’26, Caroline Messer ’26

Women’s lacrosse returns to the field on the back of five straight NCAA championships. Last season, the program graduated Hope Shue ’25, two-time Division III player of the year, the program’s all-time leader in points and goals — the list goes on. Although Shue has left, much of the program’s core remains, all of whom boast extensive championship pedigrees. Kate Livesay comes back for her 11th season as the winningest head coach in team history. The offense also remains in good hands, led by third team all-american Caroline Adams ’26 and Skylar Lach ’26. And on defense end, Caroline Messer ’26 returns for her final season, a year after making the NCAA all-tournament team. The Panthers begin their championship hunt against Bowdoin this Saturday at home. Down the line, they travel to Medford to play the reigning NESCAC champions, Tufts, before coming home to face Wesleyan, who upset Middlebury in the conference tournament last spring. 

Key Competitions: Bowdoin (H – Feb. 28), Tufts (A – Mar. 28), Wesleyan (H – Apr. 4)

Men’s Lacrosse 

Head Coach: Dave Campbell ’00

Athletes to Watch: Logan White ’26, Drew Dummer ’26, Hayden Kern ’26

Head Coach Dave Campbell leads Middlebury men’s lacrosse for the 20th season. Under his leadership, the program has appeared in the NESCAC championship game eight times and reached the semifinals 13 times, including last season. In order to contend for the conference title, the team must step up their mid-table offense, which lost all-time program assist leader and second all-time scorer Billy Curtis ’25. Captain Logan White ’26 is the player to watch in the attack. Captain and long stick midfielder (LSM) Drew Drummer ’26 sits fourth all-time on the program’s forced turnover list and will look to add to his tally. Captain Hayden Kern ’26 will guard the goal; he sits fourth all-time on the program list with 654 saves. Eliminated from last spring’s NESCAC tournament by Tufts, Middlebury will face the Jumbos on Mar. 28 at home. Senior days against Amherst and Williams round out the regular season.

Key Competitions: Tufts (Home – Mar. 28), Amherst (Home – Apr. 18), Williams (Home – Apr. 22)

Women’s Tennis 

Head Coach: Olivia Leavitt

Athletes to Watch: Lulu Wu ’26, Elsie Van Wieren ’28, Ren Barton ’29

Beginning the fall with the Panther Challenge tournament at home, the women’s tennis team recorded numerous strong performances throughout the short campaign. Lulu Wu ’26 and Elsie Van Wieren ’28 went 3–0 in their respective singles matches at the tournament. In the ITA Regional Championships the next weekend, Gusty Beveridge ’28 advanced to the singles “A” draw quarterfinals, while Ren Barton ’29 won the singles “B” bracket. By the end of their three fall tournaments, Wu also surpassed 60 career singles wins and 50 career doubles wins. Resuming play this weekend, the team heads to Tennessee for the ITA Indoor Nationals tournament after qualifying for the first time. As the defending NESCAC champions, the women’s tennis team will look to recreate their dominance from last spring in both the tournament and the regular season. 

Key Competitions: ITA Indoor Nationals (Away – Feb. 27-Mar. 1), Wesleyan University (Away – Mar. 8), Hamilton College (Home – Apr. 19)

Men’s Tennis

Head Coach: Andrew Thomson ’10

Athletes to Watch: Julian Wu ’26, Noah Lewis ’27, Thehan Wijemanne ’27

Middlebury men’s tennis begins the season ranked ninth in the country and opens its conference title defense on Feb. 28 at #20 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. They are coached by Andrew Thomson ’10, who has won three NESCAC titles in seven seasons leading the program. Julian Wu ’26 finished the fall season strong, winning the singles “A” bracket at the Skidmore Open and the doubles “A” bracket with partner Noah Lewis ’27. Thehan Wijemanne ’27 returns from abroad after being named to the All-American doubles team last fall. With captains Noah Laber ’25 and Neel Epstein ’25 graduating last spring, the reloaded roster features four first years, whose contributions will be key to a deep postseason run. Middlebury will look to redeem regular-season losses against #4 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and #3 Tufts, and especially versus #7 Bowdoin (Senior Day) in their final matchup of the regular season. 

Key Competitions: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Away – Mar. 28), Tufts (Home – Apr. 12), Bowdoin (Home – Apr. 26)

Women’s Track & Field

Head Coach: Martin Beatty ’84

Athletes to Watch: Claire Palmer ’29, Jazmyn Hurley ’29, Olive Lawrence ’26

The women’s track & field team has been having an electric indoor campaign, headlined by numerous records broken over the weekend in mid-February. At the BU Valentine Invitational, Claire Palmer ’29 ran a 5:01 for a career best in the mile while Jazmyn Hurley ’29 rewrote the school record in the 200m. In the Tufts Cupid Challenge that same weekend, Olive Lawrence ’26 broke the 60m dash school record for the second time this winter. Program records in the shot put and 60m hurdles were set at the same meet. The team has great momentum heading into the DIII New England Championships this weekend, and with the San Diego trip fast approaching, the Panthers will be plotting how to raise the bar even higher.

Key Competitions: Mangrum Invitational (Away – Mar. 27), NESCAC Championships (Away – Apr. 25-26), Farley Inter Regional Extravaganza (Away – May 8-9)

Men’s Track & Field

Head Coach: Martin Beatty ’84

Athletes to Watch: Benjamin Hughes ’27, Donnell Harvey Jr. ’28, Jed Nelson ’26.5

After the serenity of a few home meets, the men’s track & field team almost exclusively competed in Boston for the remainder of their indoor season. The DIII New England Championships take place this weekend, and the team has already posted a string of impressive results as they move towards the outdoor season. Benjamin Hughes ’27 ran a 4:09 mile in early February, winning the MNESCI meet. At the BU Valentine Invitational, the team saw three separate runners finish under 50 seconds in the 400m, along with a career-best 22.16-second 200m from Donnell Harvey Jr. ’28. Jed Nelson ’27 set his own career best in the triple jump the weekend prior, simultaneously breaking the school record. The Panthers can look forward to a couple of meets during their annual San Diego trip over the break, marking the official start to the spring season — and their defense of last year’s NESCAC title. 

Key Competitions: Mangrum Invitational (Away – Mar. 27), NESCAC Championships (Away – Apr. 25-26), Farley Inter Regional Extravaganza (Away – May 8-9)

Men’s Golf

Head Coach: Justin Kumpulanian

Athletes to Watch: Charlie Schulman ’26, Logan Wang ’27

Following a fantastic 3rd place finish at the home Duke Nelson Invitational, Middlebury men's golf trailed off towards the end of the fall season. However, their freshman core leaves plenty of room for excitement. Jake Forrest ’29, Lincoln Mackay ’29 and Evan Fulgieri ’29 look to build on their impactful fall seasons, where Mackay paced the Panthers with a T6 at the Williams Invitational, and Fulgieri and Forrest both contributed multiple starts and top-20 finishes. Complementing the young trio is senior Charlie Schulman ’26, with an individual win and four top-10 finishes in five fall tournaments. Though the ground is frozen, men’s golf is hard at work at the indoor simulator, and will look to gel during their annual spring break trip before kicking off the season in Connecticut at the Bantams/Hawks Invitational. 

Key Competitions: Bantams/Hawks Invitational (Away – Apr. 4-5), NESCAC Championships (Away – Apr. 24)

Women’s Golf

Head Coach: Tim Walko

Athletes to Watch: Ella Han ’27, Season Wei ’29, Morgan Lee ’26

Middlebury women’s golf opens the spring season coming off a consistently mediocre fall, where the group finished fifth in all four tournaments. The reigning NESCAC champions lost star golfer Audrey Tir’ 25, who led the team to an overall T6 finish at the NCAA national championship and finished T12 individually. However, two key members of last year’s dream team remain at Middlebury — Ella Han ’27 (who finished 6th at the NESCACs and 22nd at the national championships) and Morgan Lee ’26 (10th and T23, respectively). Last year’s team also struggled in the fall before recording an impressive spring season and a NESCAC victory. This team has proven winners — Lee and Han — and impressive new faces such as Season Wei ’29, who finished T15 at the Williams Fall Invitational and 17th at the Polar Bear Shootout. The pieces are there, but the question remains: Can they find the killer instinct that won them a NESCAC title?

Key Competitions: Jack Leamen Invitational (Away – Apr. 11-12), NESCAC Invitational (Away – May 1)

Editor’s Note: Schmieder ’26 is the Senior Sports Editor. Clifford ’28.5, Harthono ’28 and Maniatis ’28.5 are Sports Editors.