As the new spring semester kicks off, winter sports are coming to the height of their seasons, starting to look towards their respective MIAA competitions.
Women’s Basketball
The women’s basketball team stands at 15-4 overall and 7-3 in conference play.
This month, Emily Bernas, a senior from Waterford, Mich., and Rain Hinton, a junior from Fort Wayne, Ind., became the tenth and eleventh players, respectively, in Albion College basketball history to reach the thousand-point milestone.
On Saturday, the Britons played at home against St. Mary’s. The Brits came out victorious 89-41. Hinton and Evelyn Wischmeyer, a senior from Lake Orion, Mich., scored 20 points each. Cerica Finjap, a freshman from Kalamazoo, Mich., had a career high in points and rebounds, finishing with ten rebounds and six points in 11 minutes.
The Brits have six conference games left. They play Adrian at home on Saturday at 3 p.m. where they will celebrate 50 years of Albion women’s basketball.
Men’s Basketball
The men’s basketball team is on a nine-game winning streak and sit at 16-2 overall and 7-0 in conference play. The men’s team has no losses at home.
On Saturday, the Brits played Trine. Going into the game, both teams held undefeated conference records, but Albion emerged victorious, leading the Brits to first place in the MIAA.
During the game, the Britons shot a season-high 20-21 from the FT line. Cortez Garland, a sophomore guard from Detroit, Mich., scored a career-high 27 points and was 13-13 from the FT line. Jamezell Davis Jr., a junior guard from Yipsilanti, Mich., contributed 32 points. Davis earned MIAA player of the week after his performance against Trine and Adrian.
The Brits started their final first-round MIAA match up against Olivet on Wednesday. They have seven conference games left and will face Calvin on Saturday at 3 p.m..
Swim and Dive
The swim and dive team has only two meets left before the MIAA Championship in Grand Rapids, Mich., during the week of Feb. 19.
The Albion men came out strong in a quad meet with DePauw, Hope and Franklin College on Jan. 19. The Britons finished with 919.5 points followed by DePauw with 747.5 points, Hope with 711 points and Franklin with 689.
Jake Huttenlocher, a junior from Shelby Township, Mich., led the Brits with 63 points and Evan Wonner, a junior from Saint Clair, Mich., finished strong with 60 points.
The women also came out victorious at the quad meet with 834 points, beating Hope by only one point. Samantha Swingewood, a sophomore from Carmel, Ind., led the Brits with 64 points after a first-place finish in the 400 IM and two third-place finishes in the 200 IM and the 200 Fly. Rileigh Eding, a senior from Hamilton, Mich., finished with a total of 63 points after three second-place finishes in the 50, 100, and 200 Free.
Last year, the men won the MIAA, whereas Hope topped the women. The men once again have a good shot at winning it all. According to Wonner, the women will be a good contender for this year’s MIAA with their win over Hope.
“The MIAA as a whole has improved very rapidly over just this one year. The gap between all the teams is getting smaller and smaller,” said Wonner.
Track and Field
The most recent track and field meet was the Larry Cole invite hosted by Ohio Northern University on Jan. 24. The men and women both finished fourth out of seven teams. The men had 75 points and the women finished with 78.
The men’s field team scored 51 out of 75 points. Xavier Aikens, a junior from Warren, Mich., finished second and had a person best throw of 16.23m (53’ 3”). He is now second in Albion College history in the weight throw.
On the track, Adam Ditri, a senior from Novi, Mich., placed second in the mile, and Cullen Cox, a sophomore from Leslie, Mich., placed sixth in the 200m.
The women’s team scored 32 points in the field and 46 on the track. Anna Albaugh, a sophomore from Frankfort, Ind., scored 11 points on the field and had two personal records in the weight throw and shot put. She was named the SAAC student-athlete spotlight winner on Thursday after her performance at the invite.
“We only had three meets so far, but I think that we’re really putting in a lot of work, cheering each other on and working hard to improve in our events,” said Albaugh.
The track and field team travels to Berea, Ohio on Saturday for the Dr. Taraschke Team Challenge.
“We’re really looking forward to our meet on Saturday at Baldwin Wallace. I think it will be really good competition. I’m excited to see how it goes,” said Albaugh.
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