WESTFIELD, Mass. –  With the end of the 2025 calendar year and the semester break, we pause with a chance to reflect on some of the many accomplishments from Westfield State student-athletes and teams over the past 12 months.

We asked Owls Director of Athletics Richard Lenfest, Jr. for his top five favorite storylines for the Owls in 2025.

"I focused on team accomplishments because team-building is a big part of athletics - at Westfield State our emphasis is on the team – I like to say that 'team beats talent when talent is not a team," said Lenfest.  "Commitment, sacrifice, and responsibility to your teammates is all part of sport, and a great life lesson as well."

THE TOP FIVE

5.    Westfield State women's soccer – won their 11^th Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference title (all since 2008!) and made their 11^th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, traveling to national #12 Middlebury College for the first round.  Senior GK Julia Robak was the MASCAC Defensive Player of the Year and Liv DeMember was the league's rookie of the year.

               "As a team, they continued to improve as the season went on, and were very resilient as they got past injuries from early in the season before winning the league from the number two seed and playing the title game on the road.   Having gone to the tournament 11 times,  they have been a model of consistency in the league. This year they had graduated a really strong senior class and this fall the team really stepped up to contribute across the board."

 4.   Owls Women's cross country continued their dominance of the MASCAC winning their fifth straight conference championship, and earned a spot in the top 10 in the USTFCCCA Mid-East Region Rankings – a first for the program.  Coach Marlee Berg-Haryasz was tabbed as the league's coach of the year.

 "The last two years women's cross country placed eight and then seven athletes in the top 10 in the league, and won both those races in a dominating fashion," said Lenfest.  "15 is a perfect score and we got 24 - a feat that will be tough to repeat.   As a team they employed a good strategy of pack running, and it seemed on any given day any of our top five runners could be the #1 runner.   Getting ranked in one of the toughest regions in the nation is also a tremendous achievement."

 3.  SMITH CUP – It may be beginning to feel commonplace that the Owls won the Smith Cup as the best overall athletics program in the MASCAC, based on the finish of each of our varsity teams in the regular season.   Westfield won the Smith Cup for the fifth straight year.   The five straight wins is the first time that Westfield State has accomplished it, and the first time in over 30 years that ANY MASCAC team has won that many in a row.

 "I think the Cup is the ultimate award for our athletics department," said Lenfest.  "All of our teams contribute in order for Owls athletics to win the Cup – and the Cup speaks to the quality of athletes, coaches, and the student-athlete experience at Westfield – and it's great that our student athletes embrace the importance of what it means to the University and within the MASCAC."

 2.  MEN'S BASKETBALL TITLE - In the spring of 2025 Westfield State won the MASCAC title for third time in the last five seasons, and advanced to the NCAAs. The Owls finished with a 21-7 overall record and faced off with national #5 Randolph-Macon (Va.) in the national tournament.  Individually, Kenney Rogers was the regional rookie of the year and earned both the conference player of the year and rookie of the year awards, and Eric Johnson was the league's defensive player of the year.  There has been little if no drop off as the Owls are off to a fast start this fall for the 2025-26 team, holding a 8-2 record heading to the break, and won the Rick Martin – Hampton Inn Tournament to tip off the season.

 "I thought there was a lot of parity in the league last spring,  and we had had some significant losses to graduation, so to come back and win the regular season have the league's player of the year, rookie of the year, and bench production and a lot of different contributions to get to a 30-point win in the conference championship game was fantastic. Our men's basketball team has also had consistent success in winning the MASCAC in three of five years, and in the championship game in five of last six."

 1. Field hockey enjoyed unprecedented success this fall – winning a second straight conference title, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in school history, and enjoying a record 16-game winning streak during the season and setting the school record for wins in an 18-3 season.   Coach Carden Brown was named the MASCAC coach of the year, goalkeeper Emma Gniadek was the defensive player of the year, and first-year Caroline Andrade was the rookie of the year as well as winning national player of the week honors during the season.

 "Going undefeated in the conference and winning 16 straight games is tremendous achievement," said Lenfest.  "Winning conference titles back-to-back, this group of players has really helped to step our program up a level and have built a great team culture and have set the tone for the future of the program.   It's Carden's third year as our head coach and her teams have won the league twice and extended the school record for wins in a season each year."

Honorable mentions:  Baseball's Dan Burnett was named an All American, setting school records for single season home runs (14), and runs batted in (61), Nick Parakilas was the conference offensive player of the year in men's soccer, and all-region pick,  and finished second in the nation in goals score with 22.   Softball finished with 32 wins – a program record – as coach Joe Hough was the league's coach of the year.

What to look forward to in 2026 ?

"Ely pool is in the process of getting a face lift," said Lenfest.  "The building is over 50 years old, so it will be all new mechanical and heating and cooling equipment, the plan is for it to open in late January, and we're hoping to be able to have the senior meet there, and it will be a great facility for our team to compete – Autumn Sutherland has already set one program record this year, and coach Nodell brought in a very strong freshman class."

"I hope all of our student-athletes have a chance to enjoy the semester break, and get to rest and relax with their families over the holidays, before coming back refreshed for the spring semester.    We don't let much grass grow under our feet in athletics – men's basketball will tip off the 2026 calendar year at home on January 3 – I hope I will see you at the game !"