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» 😮‍💨 What. A. Weekend. And, we’re just getting started.

» 🗓️ What’s Happening Today. The men’s and women’s tennis quarterfinals are slated for today. Also, the swimming and diving playing rules and officiating committee begins a two-day session.

» 🎸 Daily Bruce. “The road is dark, and it’s a thin thin line. But I want you to know I’ll walk it for you any time.” - Tougher Than The Rest

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TOP STORY
1. Monarchs Rule The Links, Again

Methodist won its 14th NCAA DIII men’s golf championship with a one-stroke victory over defending champ Carnegie Mellon. It is the first time since 2010 that a title has been determined by a single shot and that was also in the Monarchs’ favor.

Oglethorpe’s Michael O’Sullivan posted a final-round 69 to hold off hard-charging Connor Hrabek of Methodist to win individual medalist honors. Hrabak made a birdie putt on the 18th hole to secure the team win for his school and the Monarchs set a championship record (-21) by 12 shots.

LACROSSE (M)

2. RIT, Tufts Battle For Title

It will be #2 RIT and #8 Tufts for the 2024 NCAA DIII men’s lacrosse title next Sunday in Philadelphia. The Tigers (21-2) received seven goals and two assists from Clifford Gaston in putting away #14 Bowdoin, 19-11. It is the third time in four seasons that RIT will be playing for the national championship.

Connor Garzone turned aside 15 shots to lead the Jumbos (17-3) past No. 16 Washington and Lee, 19-13. Four players had hat tricks for Tufts which is back in the final for the second straight season.

» Weekend Recaps

LACROSSE (W)
3. Final Four Set For Salem

Two-time defending national champion Middlebury is back in the national semifinals along with Franklin & Marshall, Salisbury and William Smith after Sunday’s quarterfinal action. Susan Rowley scored six times and assisted on another goal to lift the Panthers past Pomona-Pitzer, 16-1. Franklin & Marshall overcame a 10-7 fourth-period deficit and downed Tufts, 11-10, on an overtime goal from Lauren Pittman.

Salisbury returns to the final four after defeating Washington and Lee, 12-8, on the strength of five goals from Caroline Knight. And William Smith rounds out the quartet, as Natalie Daniels had a seven-point day in lifting the Herons past Colby, 14-6.

National Semifinals - Friday, May 24

#1 Middlebury vs. #3 Franklin & Marshall
#5 Salisbury vs. #9 William Smith

SOFTBALL
4. Three Top Seeds Fail to Advance

Three of the 16 top seeds failed to advance out of the regional round of the 2024 DIII softball championship. Williams allowed just one run in three games, including a 4-0 whitewashing of Husson. Moravian dropped a pair of Friday contests, while Belhaven eliminated Washington U.

Super Regionals - May 24-25

Williams at #2 East Texas Baptist
#12 UW-Oshkosh at #5 Trine
#15 Rowan at #3 Christopher Newport
Coe at #7 Case Western Reserve
#17 Tufts at #4 Salisbury
#10 Belhaven at #6 Berry
#24 Central vs. #1 Linfield
Muskingum at #8 Virginia Wesleyan

» Results

BASEBALL
5. Seven of Top 9 Survive Opening Regionals

A pair of top-10 teams - #3 Baldwin Wallace and #7 Case Western Reserve saw their seasons come to a close last weekend during the regional round. The Yellow Jackets were swept out in two games in the Berea Regional, while Lynchburg ousted the Spartans in Cleveland. #10 Christopher Newport is also living on the edge, as the Captains play a winner-take-all game against N.C. Wesleyan today.

Super Regionals - May 24-25

#15 UW-La Crosse vs. #5 UW-Whitewater
Birmingham-Southern vs. #2 Denison
Lynchburg vs. #4 East Texas Baptist
#9 Salisbury vs. #8 Salve Regina
#10 CNU/#17 N.C. Wesleyan vs. #11 Misericordia
#6 Johns Hopkins vs. #1 Endicott
Adrian vs. #24 Randolph-Macon
#16 La Verne vs. #12 Pomona-Pitzer

» Results

TENNIS
6. The Great Eight

The NCAA DIII men’s and women’s tennis championship begins the quarterfinal round today in St. Louis.

Quarterfinals (M)

#2 Chicago vs. #8 Denison, 11 a.m.
#5 Emory vs. #7 Middlebury, 11 a.m.
#1 Claremont-M-S vs. #6 Tufts, 2 p.m.
#3 Case Western Reserve vs. #4 Bowdoin, 2 p.m.

Quarterfinals (W)

#1 Claremont-M-S vs. #7 Middlebury, 11 a.m.
#4 Wesleyan vs. #5 Emory, 11 a.m.
#3 Chicago vs. #6 Johns Hopkins, 2 p.m.
#2 Pomona-Pitzer vs. #8 Washington U., 2 p.m.

» Live Stats

TRACK AND FIELD
7. Take Your Mark

“The NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Committee announced the participants in the 2024 NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

For each individual event contested, including the decathlon and heptathlon, the top 22 declared student-athletes were accepted into the competition. For each relay event contested, the top 16 declared relay teams, one per institution, were accepted into the competition.

The championships will be held May 23-25 at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.”

» Men’s Qualifiers | Women’s Qualifiers

NEWS
8. Lightning Round

» 🏌️‍♀️ Golf (W). Illinois Wesleyan’s Lexi Onsrud won the NCAA Elite 90 award for women’s golf. A kinesiology and allied health major, she has a 4.00 grad point average.

» 🏈 Football. “The Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) and the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) have announced a football scheduling agreement for the 2024 season. Week three of the Division III football calendar will now feature a series of crossover matchups between members from each conference.”

» 🏒 Ice Hockey (W). “The Norwich women’s ice hockey program will join the Little East Conference as affiliate member for the LEC’s inaugural season in 2025-26.

» 🗞️ News. “Keystone College and an unnamed partner have reached “the final stages” of negotiations on an agreement to ensure the school stays open, the college announced Friday.”

TRANSACTIONS
9. Comings and Goings

• CASE WESTERN RESERVE - Alyssa Johnson named head women’s soccer coach

• CLARK - Linda Wage retired as head softball coach

• CONCORDIA (Wis.) - Steve Crook stepped down as head softball coach

• DEAN - Kenneth Elmore stepped down as president

• HAMLINE - Maggie Meixl resigned as head women’s volleyball coach

• HENDRIX - Wes Sullivan named head women’s basketball coach

• NICHOLS - Tyler Hundley named head men’s basketball coach

• PRINCIPIA - Todd Zimmerman stepped down as head men’s basketball coach. Neyko Dominguez named interim head coach. Rusty Jones retired as head men’s tennis coach. Zimmerman will serve as interim head coach

• RIPON - Grace Carlson named head swimming and diving coach. Steve Wammer stepped down as head softball coach after being named associate athletic director

• VIRGINIA WESLEYAN - Sam Jones named head men’s lacrosse coach

• WILLIAMS - Hesham Aly named head squash coach

1 THING
10. Plays of the Weekend

1. ⛳️ The putt that sealed the national championship for Methodist.

2. 🥍 Overtime elation for Franklin & Marshall.

3. 🥍 Best pole-goal you’ll see this or any season!

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