Join us for our upcoming virtual event that brings together three of our distinguished coaches and three exceptional student-athletes for an engaging discussion on the upcoming season and insights into the athletics programs at Mount Holyoke College!

What To Expect:

• Meet the Coaches: Hear from coaches as they share their expectations for the upcoming season, their coaching philosophies, and what they look for in student-athletes in order to put together a stellar team.
• Student-Athlete Perspectives: Gain compelling insights from current student-athletes about their experiences and what it takes to succeed in sports at the collegiate level.

Why You Should Attend:

• Get an Inside Look: Understand the current field of college athletics.
• Connect With the Community: Reconnect with fellow alums and engage with the next generation of athletes (and alums!).
• Gain Valuable Insights: Learn how current student-athletes are navigating their college and athletic careers and what it means to be part of the athletics program at Mount Holyoke.

This event will be recorded and made available following the event.

About the panelists:

Moderated by: Andrea Ricketts-Preston. Andrea Ricketts-Preston serves as the director of athletics and chair of physical education for Mount Holyoke College. Ricketts-Preston previously served as the senior associate director of athletics at Goucher College in Towson, Maryland.

Ricketts-Preston joined Goucher College in 2017 as the women’s basketball coach. She was then promoted to senior woman administrator and associate director of athletics in 2019. Before joining Goucher, Ricketts-Preston was an assistant coach at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. Prior to that, she served as the head women’s basketball coach at both Clarkson University and Hiram College.

In 2023, Ricketts-Preston began a four-year term on the NCAA Division III Interpretations and Legislation Committee. The committee reviews requests from the membership, issues official interpretation and recommends legislative changes to the Division III Management Council. She is a member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics , WeCOACH and Women Leaders in Sports organizations. Ricketts-Preston earned her degree in health and physical education from Luther College and later pursued a master's degree in exercise and sports science with a concentration in sports administration from the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse.

Coaches: 

Andy Whitcomb: Andy Whitcomb will enter her 28th season as the head field hockey coach at Mount Holyoke College during the 2024–2025 academic year. Whitcomb is also a senior lecturer in the College's Department of Physical Education. She was named Senior Woman Administrator in 2024.

Whitcomb received a master's degree in exercise and sports studies from Smith College and a bachelor's degree from SUNY Cortland. At Mount Holyoke College, she has an overall record of 255-174-1, including a mark of 104-76 in NEWMAC. She has coached the team to three NEWMAC Championships (2015, 2001 and 2003), earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament.

In addition to her experience at Mount Holyoke College, Whitcomb has served as the president of the National Field Hockey Coaches Association, was the National Chair of the NFHCA Division III Senior All Star Game, has been an NCAA Division III National Representative, has worked at Montclair State University as the head field hockey coach and has been recognized as New Jersey Athletic Conference Coach of the Year . 

Annie O'Byrne ’13: Annie O'Byrne ’13 was appointed as the ninth head coach in the 47-year history of the Mount Holyoke College lacrosse program. Her appointment prior to the 2022–2023 academic year gave the team a new leader dedicated to the holistic development of each student-athlete. Since she graduated from Mount Holyoke, O’Byrne has coached lacrosse at four institutions, including as head coach at Curry College and Newbury College.

In December 2021, she earned two master's degrees from the University of Florida: a Master of Science in Sport Management with a concentration in athlete development; and a Master of Science in Applied Physiology and Kinesiology with a concentration in human performance.

O'Byrne is well-versed in the life of a Mount Holyoke student-athlete. As a four-year member of the field hockey team playing under head coach Andy Whitcomb, she became the Lyons' starting goalkeeper, making all 17 starts in 2012 and ranking fifth in the NEWMAC in goals-against average.

Abby Wemhoff: Abby Wemhoff was named the 14th head coach in the history of the Lyons’ basketball program in the spring of 2024. Wemhoff graduated from the University of Mount Union in 2016 as a four-year member of the Purple Raiders basketball team. Wemhoff holds a bachelor's degree in physical education pedagogy from Mount Union and an MBA from Waynesburg University, where she also began her collegiate coaching career. Wemhoff was a graduate assistant coach at Waynesburg for one year, helping the Yellow Jackets go 15-12 in the 2017–2018 season.

From the 2018–2019 season through 2023–2024, Wemhoff served as assistant basketball coach at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, where she was involved in all facets of program management, including operations, recruitment coordination, individual skill development, game film breakdown and analysis, pre- and post-season strategy, weekly individual meetings and study hall management, and team travel logistics. She organized the team's alumni game weekend event and created engaging social media content for the team. Wemhoff also served as advisor to Juniata's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, assisted Juniata's strength and conditioning coach for athletes across multiple sports teams and served as director of the college's basketball camp for girls. 

Student-Athletes: 

Marley Berano (SAAC president/basketball): Marley Berano is a member of the class of 2025 at Mount Holyoke College. She is a psychology and education major and is pursuing a NEXUS in Educational Policy and Administration. Someday, she hopes to be an athletic director. Outside of the classroom, she holds the roles of captain of the basketball team and chair of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee.

Sonia McCollum (soccer): Sonia McCollum is a member of the class of 2025 and is majoring in environmental studies at Mount Holyoke College. She chose Mount Holyoke because she felt that the camaraderie between students and the love of learning was very apparent, and it seemed like a wonderful place to go to school.

Ioanna Tsoni (track and field): Ioanna Tsoni is a member of the class of 2027. She is an international student from Greece planning to major in psychology and neuroscience at Mount Holyoke College. Tsoni is the senator of the neuroscience club, Neuroscience Student Forum. Some of her favorite memories from freshman year include Orientation 101, where she met teammates for the first time, and the tri-meets she competed in with Smith and Wellesley.

Accessibility information

This event will include an oral presentation from coaches and alums about the upcoming athletics season at Mount Holyoke College. For inquiries about the accessibility of this event or to request any accommodations, please email programs_team-g@mtholyoke.eduor call Kate Sawicki at 413-538-2734. Please make accommodation requests 10 business days before the event or sooner to allow for implementation time; however, in all situations, we will make a good faith effort to provide accommodations up until the time of the event.

As the host, Mount Holyoke College reserves the right to record this session, and the event sponsors will give prior notification to event participants of any intention to do so. The recording feature for others is disabled so that no one else will be able to record this session through Zoom. At all times, recording by any other means is not permitted without prior written permission from the event sponsor or as an approved accommodation.