SportsBriefs

Author: Geoff Homer

Women's hockey wins two more

The women's hockey team continued its success this season as the number three-ranked Panthers beat Utica and RPI last weekend. The Panthers have not lost a game in their last 13 contests, and hold their record at 12-1-1.

Friday night the Panthers beat Utica 4-2 in a non-conference game. The Panthers entered the second period trailing 2-1 after a short-handed goal by Lacey Farrell '08. Goals from Karen Levin '08 and Abby Kurtz-Phelan '07 in the second period put the Panthers up 3-2. Captain Shannon Sylvester '07, who has the most goals for Middlebury this season, added the game's final goal in the third period. Angie Todd '08 had 24 saves in goal to get the win.

On Saturday, the Panthers took on tenth-ranked RIT at Hamilton College, which they won 3-1. Shannon Tarrant '07 added the only goal of the first period with an assist from Erika Nakamura '09. In the second period, first-year Ashley Bairos added another tally from a feed by Molly Vitt '09. RIT came right back and scored on a 5-3 power-play to make it a 2-1 contest. However, Heather McCormack '10 gave the Panthers some insurance with a little less than 13 minutes remaining. Lani Wright '10 stopped 16 shots on goal to get the victory for Middlebury.

This weekend brings rematches against Colby and Bowdoin, both at home in Kenyon Arena. Earlier this month, Middlebury traveled to Maine and defeated Colby 5-2, then trounced Bowdoin 4-1. Surely both teams will be looking for revenge after the Panthers humiliated them on their home rinks.


Indoor track competes at UVM

The men's and women's track teams competed in a three-team race this past Friday at the University of Vermont along with McGill University. Both teams placed third, and UVM took first in each meet.

Jennifer Brenes '09 captured the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.66 while Kelley Coughlan '09 finished right behind in second. Simone Weisman '09 captured the 600-meters with a time of 1:41.12. First-year Anjuli Demers took first place in the 300-meter dash.

Ian O'Reilly placed third for Middlebury in the one mile run while Robert Athan '10 captured the long jump with a meet-high jump of 19'6". Pascal Losambe captured the 35-lb weight throw with a distance of 43'2", and later added another victory in the shot put with a throw of 44'5.5".

This weekend the Panthers cross the border for an event at McGill in Montreal.


Men's squash has best weekend ever

On Jan. 13 and 14 at the Yale Round Robin, the men's Club Squash team made history, and took a giant leap forward in their push for Varsity status and respect in the collegiate squash world. The Panthers impressively beat three of the four varsity squash programs they faced, defeating Colby, Wesleyan and George Washington, and fell short against Bowdoin.

It was in their victory over Colby, however, that they re-wrote Middlebury Club Squash history. Entering the match, they knew that 22nd ranked Colby was vulnerable, especially the lower half of their lineup. The Panthers pounced on the Mules in exciting 5-4 fashion by winning at the 2, 6, 7, 8, and 9 slots. The win proved to be monumental for the Panthers as Colby was the highest ranked team that Middlebury's club squad had ever defeated.

Co-Captain Zach Foster '06.5 could not have been more proud of his team. "[Colby] trounced us last year at NESCACs so it was great to leave the courts with the taste of revenge on our lips. We simply had more heart than them from top to bottom on the ladder," said the senior leader.

The 26th ranked Middlebury club squash team is back in action this Sunday at 1:00 pm as they play host to Vassar College.