Wheaton Thunder

A special accolade earned through high academic achievement! Upon the conclusion of this afternoon's CCIW Women's Tennis Championship, Wheaton sophomore Mariclare O'Gorman was presented with the Elite 26 Award as the conference's honoree in women's tennis. The Elite 26 Award is given to a sophomore, junior, or senior student-athlete in each CCIW sport who is in at least their second season of competition with their current team. For sports that compete in a conference tournament such as tennis, the student-athlete with the highest GPA from the first or second-place team in the tournament receives the award. Congratulations to Mariclare for earning this noteworthy recognition! #LetsRoll Pictures courtesy of Ashtin Elder.

Title clinched and ticket punched on a big day in Bloomington! The Thunder women's tennis team rolled past the top-seeded North Central Cardinals in this afternoon's CCIW Championship match to earn Wheaton's first conference tournament trophy in seven years and the league's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championship. Wheaton's 4-1 victory on Saturday snapped a four-year trophy run for North Central in the conference tournament and marked the Thunder program's 11th all-time championship since the CCIW's automatic qualifying tournament began in 2007. The 2026 NCAA DIII Championship is set to be held May 18-26 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and more information about the selection show and Wheaton's tournament draw will be made available in the coming days. #LetsRoll Pictures by Ashtin Elder.

Conference Tournament Champions!! The Wheaton women's tennis team took down the four-time reigning conference champions, North Central College, in the CCIW Championship match in Bloomington this afternoon to secure the program's first conference tournament title since 2019 and earn the CCIW's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Division III Championships. The #2 doubles duo of Janet Kondo and Ella Malone (pictured here) won a thrilling 7-6 tiebreak to help claim the doubles point for the Thunder in today's match, before the senior Kondo clinched the trophy with her win at #4 singles. #LetsRoll

Thunder women's tennis team rolls past Carthage College in semifinal match to advance to CCIW Tournament championship athletics.wheaton.edu/news/2026/4/24…

CCIW Tournament bid secured! The Thunder men's tennis team traveled to Decatur this afternoon for the first of two matches in central Illinois and took down Millikin University to move back up to .500 in conference play. This evening's victory confirms Wheaton's place at next week's conference championship in Bloomington, where the Thunder will be the #4 seed and rematch the Big Blue in a quarterfinal contest on Thursday. Wheaton heads to Bloomington tomorrow for the regular season finale, taking on Illinois Wesleyan University at 4 PM. #LetsRoll

The votes have been tallied, and the final results are in! Congratulations to the Thunder women's soccer, men's track & field, and football programs for finishing in the top three spots of our WheatonGives athletics donor nomination challenge! Each team has secured a monetary prize that will go towards their operating budget, with women's soccer winning $5,000, men's track & field earning $3,000, and football receiving $2,000. Thank you to all of our generous alumni, parents, and faculty/staff for your meaningful donations and for helping make yesterday another special and impactful WheatonGives!

Both soccer teams rise up the rankings in our final competition update! But WheatonGives is not over just yet! Visit give.wheaton.edu/wheatongives-2… to make a donation and nominate a Thunder team any time before 2 AM Central Time tonight when the 24-hour giving link closes. Thank you for following along with our Athletics donor challenge today, and be sure to check back here tomorrow morning to see the final results of which three varsity programs have won this year's cash prize!

Here is where our donor competition stands at dinner time. The top three teams have remained the same, but the women's swimming & diving program has rejoined the top five following an evening surge! A reminder that there are just under seven hours left to participate in the WheatonGives excitement! Visit give.wheaton.edu/wheatongives-2… to provide a gift and nominate your favorite athletic team(s) for this challenge. And stay tuned for one more leaderboard update tonight!

A mid-afternoon standings update sees the men's track & field program remaining in the lead with the top teams holding steady. But there's plenty of time left to give and propel other teams up the leaderboard! Head to give.wheaton.edu/wheatongives-2… to make your donation and nominate your favorite varsity team(s) to help them win a prize in this competition.

Here is your lunchtime check-in on our donor prize competition, and the men's track & field program has vaulted into the lead! Can women's soccer or any other Thunder team overtake them? Head to give.wheaton.edu/wheatongives-2… to make your gift in support of Athletics and select which varsity squad you would like to nominate in this challenge! Donations can be as small as $10.

Happy WheatonGives, Thunder fans! It's time for an early bird update on the donor nomination competition between our varsity athletic teams... Football has established an early lead, but there's a very small gap between each team this morning! A reminder that you can visit give.wheaton.edu/wheatongives-2… at any time today to contribute a gift. When you select "Athletics" as the designation for your donation, you will have the option of choosing a varsity athletic program to nominate for this competition. Follow along for more leaderboard updates throughout the day and spread the word to help your favorite teams win the cash prize!

WheatonGives 2026 is happening on April 22! Wednesday marks the College's annual giving day celebration, and you can play a role in this meaningful tradition! Our 27-hour period of giving officially kicks off at 11 PM Central Time tonight, and starting then, you can visit give.wheaton.edu/wheatongives-2… to make a donation, learn about various events taking place on campus, and follow along with this year's prize challenges. One of those challenges is a competition among our varsity athletic programs! When you make a donation, you will be given the opportunity to select "Athletics" as the designation for your gift. All donors will then be able to vote for a specific varsity team to receive a nomination from your donation. The three teams that receive the highest number of nominations from donors will win a cash prize that goes towards their operating budget.  Even if you are unable to donate or directly participate in this giving competition, we encourage you to follow along on our social media channels throughout the day tomorrow to see which athletic programs are leading the way! Thank you for your generosity and participation in this annual celebration!

Mia Luo is named the CCIW Women's Tennis Student-Athlete of the Week athletics.wheaton.edu/news/2026/4/21…

Congratulations to Wheaton's Mia Luo for being named the CCIW Women's Tennis Student-Athlete of the Week! The freshman won at #3 doubles and #6 singles in the Thunder's contest against Coe College on Saturday and finished the regular season undefeated at #6 singles with a 15-0 match record. #LetsRoll

Thunder women's golf team returns to action at the Benedictine University Spring Invite athletics.wheaton.edu/news/2026/4/20…

The Wheaton men's golf team is in Decatur this week to compete in the final event of its regular season, Millikin University's Butts Classic. After today's opening two rounds, the Thunder are fifth in the 14-team field. Baylor Brogan had the top day among the six Wheaton players participating in the competition, shooting a two-round tally of 144 (Even par) and is currently tied for third overall on the 82-player leaderboard. The tournament will conclude tomorrow with a single round beginning at 9 AM, and a live score link for the classic can be found here: scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/24…

Men's Tennis faces Carthage College in conference road test athletics.wheaton.edu/news/2026/4/18…

Another record falls for the junior sprinter! Congratulations to Isaac Bledsoe for breaking the Wheaton men's track & field outdoor program record in the 100-meter dash! The Kansas native posted a time of 10.46 seconds at today's Don Church Twilight Meet, breaking the previous school-best mark of 10.64 that was set by Jim Adare in 1967. Bledsoe finished second in the 100 on Saturday, and his updated time in the event currently ranks in the top 20 of Division III, fourth in the Midwest region, and leads the CCIW this year. #LetsRoll

A Game 3 win clinches the series! The Wheaton baseball team traveled to Wisconsin this afternoon for the second portion of its conference slate against Carthage College, and the Thunder defeated the Firebirds in today's decisive third game to claim the weekend series. Wheaton tallied eight extra-base hits, including two home runs, and stranded ten Carthage runners to gain the upper hand this evening. Jack Gill (pictured) led all players with three hits and five RBI in the victory, and his two-run homer in the eighth inning capped the scoring. Tyler Burr, Will Clegg, Mason Diel, and Nathan Hedlund all registered two hits, with Burr and Diel scoring a pair of runs. Braden Engel and Caleb Schauer each contributed a hit, a run, and one RBI. Alex Bagley picked up his fourth win of the year on the mound and logged three strikeouts today, while Josh Ortiz sat down four Firebirds batters and did not allow a run in his two frames of relief. Next up for the Thunder is a trip to Bloomington on Tuesday to face Illinois Wesleyan University in a single game at 6 PM. #LetsRoll

Thunder women's tennis team faces Coe College in regular season finale athletics.wheaton.edu/news/2026/4/18…