Warrior Top Ten

Merrimack College graduate student and women’s swimmer Cailin Currie competed in the 400 meter freestyle at the summer’s Paralympics in Tokyo, finishing sixth in her heat and ninth overall in the qualifiers. This is the second time that Currie competed in the Paralympics, having competed in the 400 meter freestyle and the 100 meter butterfly at the 2016 games in Rio.

Warrior pride filled campus as Merrimack hosted its largest crowd at Homecoming Weekend. Men’s and women’s soccer kicked off the weekend with a pair of thrilling wins as the women earned a 2-1 double overtime win against rival Fairleigh Dickinson and the men earned a commanding 5-0 win against Howard. On Saturday, Oct. 2, fans filled Duane Stadium to see the football team take on Duquesne, setting a home attendance record of 12,147 spectators. In addition, women’s hockey competed against the nation’s No. 1 team and defending national champion, University of Wisconsin.

Merrimack College has named a pair of alumni, Brian Murphy ’03 and Jen Fox Sargent ’09, as head coaches of the baseball and women’s lacrosse programs. Brian Murphy ’03 returns to Merrimack as the seventh head coach in baseball program history. Murphy previously coached at William & Mary, where he was the Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year, had four 30-win seasons and led the team to its first NCAA Tournament at-large bid. Fox Sargent ’09 returns to North Andover to coach women’s lacrosse, the program she was a two-time captain for. Sargent previously coached at Roger Williams University and was the Commonwealth Coast Conference Coach of the Year in 2021 after a 34-win season and a conference title. For the first time in school history, Lawler Arena was transformed from an ice rink into a basketball court on Friday, Nov. 19. The men’s basketball team took down Lehigh University in its inaugural game played at Lawler Arena, 55-45. The women took to Lawler stage against Boston University on Dec. 9.

In the biggest win in program history, the football team defeated

No. 24 Holy Cross 35-21 at Holy Cross on Sept. 11. This victory was the first time Merrimack football earned a win against a ranked NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) opponent, scoring 28 unanswered points with three touchdowns in the second quarter.

Tony Martone, head men’s soccer coach, is now one of four active men’s soccer coaches in the NCAA to have been in their role for 40 or more years, becoming one of 19 coaches in NCAA history for men’s soccer to reach a ruby anniversary. The men’s soccer team ended the season on a four-game winning streak and an overall winning record over the first three years in the Northeast Conference (NEC). Coach Martone completed the season with an overall record of 412 career wins.

Jan Semerak ’24 earned the men’s tennis program’s first-ever win at the ITA Regional Championships, earning a singles win in consecutive sets. In two home matches, Conrad Koch ’22 and Henrik Lindeman ’25 had an unbeaten home weekend before Aryaan Bhatia ’24 and Andre Singer ’22 combined for a doubles win and 4-0 in combined singles play in the Warrior Challenge. The women’s tennis program went undefeated in its fall season, with a 6-3 win over Babson, a 7-2 win over Endicott and a 4-3 win at Bryant.

Jacari Carter ’25 was named a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award — he was one of 23 national FCS freshmen up for the award. Carter has been named a two-time NEC Special Teams Player of the Week and was named the FCS National Freshman of the Week after his game against Maine, where he had 18 receptions for 131 yards and two touchdowns. Carter led the Warriors in receiving yards and touchdowns. The Jerry Rice Award is bestowed upon the best freshman in FCS football each year, and the recipient is announced after the conclusion of the FCS regular season.

Three cross country runners represented the Warriors with top finishes in the NEC Championship for All-Conference honors. Captain TJ Corliss ’22 earned an 8th place finish in the race and Ryan Dyer ’25 finished 14th. The men finished in third place overall. For the women, Samantha LiPetri ’24 earned an AllConference recognition for her 12th place finish, as the women finished sixth overall in the conference race.

Three Warriors qualified for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Dominika Laskova ’21, ’22 and Kate Bukolska ’20 earned the Czech women’s national team qualification after their success in the Olympic Qualifying tournament in the Czech Republic in November. Bukolska, who now plays professionally in Sweden, was team captain of the Warriors and previously served as an assistant captain for the national team in the Under-18 World Championships. Laskova previously competed on the Olympic Qualifying squad in 2012–13. Dani Castino ’23 will represent host nation China in the Olympics as well. Castino has spent the fall competing with KRS Vanke Rays with her national team teammates, competing in the Russian women’s league in preparation for the Games.

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