Concordia students traveled all over for spring break, including spring athletics. Men’s and women’s lacrosse, softball, baseball, men’s and women’s tennis, and acrobatics and tumbling each traveled to compete over this break.
Men’s Lacrosse
The men’s lacrosse team won two of their three competitions during spring break and tallied an impressive 48 team goals over the week. They started the week at home with a win over Northwestern (Mn.) and then traveled to New York for their next two competitions.
Junior Scott Lileks shared, “The team went to Buffalo New York where we went 1-1 on the week. We’re playing at a great level with team chemistry increasing over the break, I can’t wait to get into conference play and show what we can do.”
Women’s Lacrosse
The women’s lacrosse team traveled to Hilton Head, South Carolina, and competed against Number 2 ranked SCAD. The team earned their first win of 2024 on March 9 against Augustana where sophomore Katelyn Cardinale broke the program record for most goals in a game with eleven.
Freshman Emily Robertson shared, “It was a really fun experience to bond with the team and we were given an opportunity to come together and face good competition. It was definitely a good learning experience that helped us to set new goals for the season.”
Softball
The softball team also went down south to Columbus, Georgia. After two canceled games on March 1, the team went 3-3 for the rest of their trip.
Senior Emily Walters shared, “It was lots of fun to see really good talent from other teams in the top 25. We are super excited to use what we learned from these games for conference play.”
Baseball
The baseball team traveled to Tucson, Arizona. They won against St. Olaf on March 3. The team had four canceled games on March 8 and 9.
“We play both Varsity and Reserve games, so everyone gets a chance to compete and play,” senior Connor Krauseneck shared. “While there, many players get to spend time with their families; for some this may be hiking, going into the mountains, zip lining, or catching a Spring Training Baseball game. Players often refer to this as the honeymoon phase of the season, the best of the best, memories that last a lifetime.”
Men’s and Women’s Tennis
Men and women’s tennis traveled to Orlando, Florida. The women’s team left spring break with five wins and the men’s team brought home three wins. In the women’s 9-0 win against Albion, Senior Ricki Budewitz broke the Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference record for career victories in combined singles and doubles play.
“We got to play at the USTA National Campus which is an amazing opportunity. I love our spring break trips because we get to play at a higher level than our normal conference play and it prepares us for our spring tournament and nationals,” junior Mya Werning shared. “We got an opportunity to play a nationally ranked DIII team, Carnegie Mellon, and it was amazing to see how hard we fought at every spot in our lineup. We went 5-1 out of our 6 matches for the week so it was a super successful trip for the team which excites us for conference tournament time.”
Acrobatics and Tumbling
During spring break the acrobatics and tumbling team competed twice. They competed against St. Leo in Florida and took a team trip to Disney World. In Michigan, they won 139.400 – 113.425 against Adrian.
“Over the spring break trip, my team and I had a season-high of 229.835. Our team event score beat them as well. We celebrated this victory while adventuring out in Disney World, going to all the different parks,” senior Paityn Taormina shared. “This experience was one to remember and will hold all the memories with me, yet I am so proud of how well we did all together.”
—Abigail (Abby) McGue is a Multimedia Creator and Writer with The Beacon. She is a Senior Mass Communication major graduating in May of 2024 with minors in sports media and graphic design.