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(03/12/14 2:22pm)
The Middlebury track and field team rounded out the final week of competition before the NCAA championships by taking part in the Tufts Last Chance and the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECACs) meets.
One relay and two individuals ran in the Tufts Last Chance meet on Thursday March 6 at Gantcher Center.
The 4x400 meter team of Peter Hetzler ’14, Fritz Parker ’15, Alex Nichols ’17 and Bryan Holtzman ’14 entered the meet looking to better their season-best time of 3:16.82 and secure one of twelve NCAA qualifying spots, in the end finishing with a time of 3:23.64 on the flat track.
“Tufts was a unique experience,” Holtzman said. “There was originally another team entered in the 4x400m but they scratched out. This meant that we were the only team on the track in the last event of the night. Given that we had no competition, we all ran a bit slower than we wanted to and were capable of, but we weren’t upset with our performance.”
The rest of the Middlebury squad was rounded out by Wilder Schaaf ’14.5 and Luke Carpinello ’16, who headed to the line in the mile and the 800, respectively. Schaaf won his race in a time of 4:14.89 and Carpinello took 11th in 2:02.16.
Saturday, March 8, brought another day of competition for a small group of Panther athletes as the team participated in the ECAC championships at the Reggie Lewis Center.
The men’s contingent consisted of Brandon Cushman ’16, who took 17th in the 500 meters with a time 67.69, as well as Diego Galan Donlo ’14 who finished 19th in the high jump with a mark of 1.88 meters.
The 4x400-meter relay team took to the line for the second time of the weekend to attempt to better its chances of qualifying,. They ended up finishing in third with a time of 3:20.56.
“Our goal going into ECACs was to win and to improve upon our time from last week,” Holtzman said. “We did neither, but the winning team (SUNY-Oneonta) didn’t come close to our best time so we knew we were safe from being passed by any East Coast teams.”
On the women’s side, two Panther athletes competed. Hannah Blackburn ’17 finished off a successful first collegiate indoor season in the long jump with her second best jump of the year, taking 12th with a mark of 5.08 meters. Alex Morris ’16 emerged from the day victorious once again, winning the 400 meters in a time of 57.89 and earning herself the title of ECAC champion in the event.
The team now looks ahead to NCAA Championships, which will take place on March 14 and 15 at the University of Nebraska.
The Panthers will send three individuals and two relays to the meet, including the men’s 4x400-meter relay team which, despite not improving their time this past weekend, ended up hanging onto the 12th and final relay spot for the upcoming championship meet.
“As the 12th and final seed, we could surprise some teams and do some damage,” Holtzman said. “We all run well in big meets with good competition.”
The other Panther relay will be the women’s distance medley team consisting of Alison Maxwell ’15, Morris, Jackie Kearney ’16 and Erzsie Nagy ’17, who qualified in the sixth-place spot.
“Watch out for them,” Head Coach Martin Beatty said of the team. “They may surprise people.”
Individuals to compete include Schaaf in the mile and Morris in the 400, both of whom enter their meets as the 11th seed.
Schaaf ran the mile last Thursday at Tufts in order to lower his time, in the hopes of qualifying for NCAAs. Despite being unsuccessful at Tufts, he was able to slip into one of the qualiying spots when all of the entries were in.
“I’m really excited to have really fast girls that will pull me through that first 200 meters right to the breakline because a big weakness of mine is not pushing myself that first lap,” Morris said. “After that, I’ll just be focused on holding on to that speed and trying to pass as many girls as possible. In both championship races I’ve won this year, I only secured the lead in the last 50 meters, so I’m confident in my strength right to the finish line.”
Laura Strom ’14.5 is the final Panther athlete and sole field eventer, entering the meet with the highest ranking of anyone on the team. She is in a three-way tie for the best jump in the country this season at 5’8.5”.
“It’s a great group going and we are all going to be cheering for each other, and I love having the runners around because they are so insanely impressive,” Strom said. “We just support each other even though we don’t do the same events.”
“In this meet, the records get thrown out the window, and it depends on who shows up that day and wants it more,” Beatty said.
(02/26/14 8:52pm)
The Middlebury men’s swimming and diving team placed seventh at NESCAC Championships last weekend, held at Bowdoin’s LeRoy Greason Pool. Williams won the title with 1,849 points, followed by Amherst (1,750) and Connecticut College (1,468). The Panthers finished with 730 points, only 38 behind sixth-place Bates.
It was a slight fall in the standings for the men, who finished in fifth place overall last year.
“Even though we didn’t place as high as a team overall this year,” Ian Mackay ’14 said, “I think that our hard work and training could be seen in the accomplishments of many individual swimmers on the team.”
The meet was extremely challenging for swimmers, who participated in preliminary sessions in the mornings and finals at night over the course of three days. Middlebury finished day one in seventh and held onto that place all the way to the end.
On the first day, the Panthers got off to a fast start with a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Mackay led off with a flat-start time of 20.72 seconds, putting the Panthers in the lead. Mackay was followed by Stephan Koenigsberger ’16, Captain Mike Oster ’14 and Bryan Cheuk ’16, finishing with a time of 1:24.53.
Mackay dominated the action on Friday, earning the NESCAC title in two events and breaking a record along the way. During preliminaries he set a NESCAC record in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 21.89 seconds. That night he finished first in the final with a time of 22.01 seconds. Mackay went on to win the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.80 seconds. His prelim time of 20.53 seconds is the 13th-fastest in the nation this year in Division III. He is the also the school and NESCAC record holder in the event, having set the record last year.
Koenigsberger lowered his own Middlebury record with a time of 25.59 seconds in the 50-yard breaststroke preliminaries. He was then disqualified in the final for a false start.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times as for some of us the meet started out a little bit rough,” Koenigsberger said.“However we were all able to rally and everyone swam their hearts out which was just epic to be a part of. Going forward we are only going to get faster and closer as a team.”
On Saturday, Mackay earned a second-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 29.24 seconds. Two events later Koenigsberger set another school record, placing third in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 57.66 seconds.
Koenigsberger continued his hot streak on Sunday, this time finishing fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke. His time of 2:04.97 shattered the Middlebury record of 2:07.02 set back in 2004.
Distance swimmer Michael McGean ’17 excelled in his first collegiate championship meet, finishing seventh in the 1000-yard freestyle (9:37.27) and fourth in the 1650-yard freestyle (16:04.16).
In the one-meter diving event, Dylan Peters ’16 finished sixth with 394.30 points, followed by teammate Skylar Dallmeyer-Drennen ’14 (347.85). They switched spots in the 3-meter event, with Dallmeyer-Drennen placing sixth (389.80) and Peters seventh (337.75).
Those who qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships will have about three weeks to train before the March 19-22 event in Indianapolis, Ind.
(02/19/14 4:10pm)
The Middlebury women’s swimming and diving teams finished in third place at the 2014 NESCAC Championships this past weekend, Feb. 14-16, at Samuelson-Muir Pool in Williamstown, Mass. Host Williams won the event with 2,007 points, followed by Amherst (1,216.5) and Middlebury (1,207). Bates (1,132) and Connecticut (1,000.5) rounded out the top five in the 11-team event.
The weekend held a full slate of competition for the women, with morning trials and evening finals sessions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
After sitting in second place – behind only Williams – for most of the championship, Middlebury entered the weekend’s final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, trailing Amherst by just 11.5 points. The Panther squad of Morgan Burke ’17, Jamie Hillas ’15, Megan Griffin ’16 and Courtney Haron ’15 finished just ahead of Amherst in fourth place with a time of 3:30.52. Because the Lord Jeffs finished just one place back in fifth, however, Middlebury was unable to make up the whole point differential and Amherst hung on for a tight second-place finish.
The third-place finish was an improvement for the women, who finished fourth in both the 2012 and 2013 NESCAC championships, and their best team result since a runner-up finish in 2008. This year’s margin between second and third was the closest that any team in the conference has come to unseating either Amherst or Williams in the top two spots since that 2008 finish.
Hillas dominated the competition, breaking three school records on the weekend. She lowered her 2012 Middlebury record in the 50-yard breaststroke first in preliminaries and then in the finals, hitting the wall in a speedy 29.10 seconds. Hillas finished in a tie with Tufts’ Jenny Hu for the NESCAC title in the event, and their time was also good for a joint pool record.
Hillas also improved on her school record in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing in 1:03.90 and missing first place by only 0.01 seconds. Finally, she broke her own 2013 school record in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:20.21, finishing third in the race.
Griffin finished second in the 50-yard butterfly in 25.63 seconds, breaking a school mark that had stood since 2008.
The relay team of captain Andie Tibbetts ’14, Hillas, Griffin and Burke finished only 0.02 seconds behind winner Amherst in the 200-yard medley relay on Saturday night, finishing with a time of 1:44.51. The squad broke the previous school record of 1:45.25, which was set back in 2009, with a time that was good for an NCAA provisional ‘B’ cut.
Tibbetts – who has accumulated a total of 287.5 points in NESCAC championship events over her four years – was honored at the meet’s end as the fifth-highest-scoring senior in the conference.
“Our performances throughout the weekend were remarkable across the board and surpassed anybody’s expectations,” Tibbetts said.
“This meet marks the strength of our program and bodes extremely well for the coming years.”
I think what really made the difference this year was the energy we showed on deck,” Hillas said.
Colleen Harper ’14 finished in eighth place in the one-meter diving competition on Friday with a score of 381.60. She improved on Sunday to place fourth in the 3-meter event with a score of 433.30. Harper was the only diver to compete for the Panthers.
The 200-yard medley relay team will compete in the NCAA Division III Championships in Indianapolis, Ind. over the weekend of March 19-22. Several swimmers from that relay will also compete in the individual events in which they earned NCAA ‘B’ cuts. Hillas will compete in both the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke, Griffin in the 100-yard butterfly and Burke in 200-yard freestyle.
The men’s swimming and diving team will compete for NESCACs this weekend, Feb. 21-23, at Bowdoin. The Panthers finished in fifth place at the event last year, an improvement upon their seventh-place finish from 2012.
Ian Mackay ’14 will look to defend his 2013 conference titles in both the 50-yard freestyle and 50-yard butterfly events, while Stephan Koenigsberger ’16 looks for his first NESCAC title in the 50-yard breaststroke after finishing second in that event a year ago.
(02/12/14 6:59pm)
The men and women’s swim teams hosted the Middlebury Invitational at the Natatorium during the first weekend of February break on Friday, Jan. 31 and Saturday, Feb. 1. NESCAC opponents Williams, Amherst, and Tufts participated along with Springfield and UVM. As has been the case in past Invites, no team scores were kept during the meet.
“[The Middlebury Invite] is a great place for us to rehearse for NESCACs and I think the results show that we have a lot to look forward to next weekend,” Co-Captain Mike Oster ‘14 said.
The women displayed their strength first and foremost in the relay events, winning two and finishing in the top four in the rest. The team of Andie Tibbetts ’14, Jennifer Koide ’17, Jamie Hillas ’15, and Morgan Burke ’17 won the 400-yard medley relay in 3:59.22, more than six seconds ahead of second-place UVM. Tibbetts, Hillas, and Burke also teamed up with Megan Griffin ’16 to win the 200-yard medley relay.
Koide led the way for the women, winning the 200-yard individual medley in 2:11.62 and the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:25.04. Nora O’Leary ’17 finished right behind Koide in the latter event with a time of 2:25.56.
Tibbetts, a senior captain, was also part of three victories, winning the 100-yard backstroke in 58.57 seconds in addition to her part in the two relays.
Also earning individual honors for the Panthers were Maddy Berkman ’15 in the 200-yard butterfly (2:11.11) and O’Leary in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:08.81).
“We swam incredibly well overall,” Tibbetts said. “It gives us the mental and emotional boost we need heading into NESCACs.”
The men’s best race of the day came in the 400-yard medley relay, which they won in a time of 3:30.39, just ahead of rival Williams (3:31.00). Ian MacKay ’14 led off with a time of 52.77 seconds in the backstroke, the second-fastest split of the event. He was followed by Stephan Koenigsberger ’16 (breaststroke), who put the Panthers well in the lead with a split of 56.71 seconds. Teddy Kuo ’15 (butterfly) and Paul Lagasse ’16 (freestyle) were able to hold off Williams as the Ephs attempted a comeback.
Though the men did not win any individual events, they highlighted the team’s depth with many top-five finishes. Michael McGean ’17 was second in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:44.51. MacKay earned a second-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle, stopping the clock in 47.65 seconds.
The most impressive race of the day for the women was the 100-yard butterfly. The top four finishers were all Panthers, with Hillas finishing first with a time of 57.29 seconds.
The women are tapering their training this week in order to be ready for the NESCAC Championship, which will take place between Friday, Feb. 14 and Sunday, Feb. 16 at Williams.
The men, meanwhile, will have an extra week of training before their Championship meet, which will be held Feb. 21-23 at Bowdoin.
Both the men and women will hope to record qualifying marks for the NCAA championships, held March 19-22 in Indiana.
(01/23/14 5:50am)
In their final home dual meet of the season on Saturday, Jan. 18, the Middlebury women’s swimming and diving team easily topped Union 209-78 while the men fell to Union 163.5-136.5. The victory gave the women a winning record at 4-3, while the men sunk to 2-5 on the year.
In the final home dual meet for the teams’ seniors, the women impressively won thirteen of the sixteen total events, and had the top two finishers in eight of those races.
The Panthers set the tone early in the 400-yard medley relay, with four different Panthers squads finishing ahead of the top Union team. The ‘A’ team consisted of Andie Tibbets ’14, Jennifer Koide ’17, Jamie Hillas ’15, and Morgan Burke ’17 and finished in a time of 4:04.20. The Panthers have won this relay four times this year and will look to earn crucial points in the race at the NESCAC Championships in February.
Hillas led the way for the women, winning three individual events: the 50-yard freestyle (24.91 seconds), 200-yard breaststroke (2:23.16), and 200-yard individual medley (2:12.30), including breaking her own school record in the 200-yard breaststroke. The national swimmer of the week earlier in January, Hillas has consistently been a top swimmer for the Panthers this year and figures to contend in several events at NESCACs, where she won the 50-yard breaststroke last year.
No other swimmers won multiple individual races, as Middlebury had seven different individual winners, demonstrating the team’s depth.
Christina Belforti paced the Dutchwomen, winning both the 200-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly.
Colleen Harper ’14 won both diving events for the Panthers. She had scores of 267.83 and 253.50 in the 3- and 1-meter events, respectively.
“We saw some impressive drops in time across the board after a tough week of practices,” Hillas said. “I think it’s clear that we’re ready for some great races at NESCACs.”
The men started off strong and were up 91-78 after the first nine events. However, they were unable to hold on as Union rallied past them in the final seven races.
Ian Mackay ’14, the men’s best swimmer of the day, captured both the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly in times of 21.53 and 51.48 seconds, respectively. Mackay is the school record holder in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.34 seconds and is looking to repeat as NESCAC champion in the event next month.
Other individual winners included Michael McGean ’17 in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:00.35), Stephan Koenigsberger ’16 in the 100-yard breaststroke (59.33 seconds), and Paul Lagasse ’16 in the 100-yard freestyle (48.87 seconds).
Skylar Dallmeyer-Drennen ’14.5 won the 1-meter diving event with a score of 258.90 and later finished second in the 3-meter event (234.53).
“We have been training really hard in the past few weeks and it’s encouraging to see that we can still swim fast when we are broken down from practice,” co-captain Mike Oster ’14 said. “I think that if we are able to swim like this now we are going to have a lot of success in a few weeks at NESCACs.”
Both teams will head to Williams on Saturday, Jan. 25 to face their divisional rival. Last year both the men and women fell to the NESCAC powerhouse. It will be the Panthers’ last dual meet of the season.
(11/20/13 6:36pm)
The men and women’s swimming and diving teams opened the season on Saturday, Nov. 16 hosting Tufts and Connecticut College at the Natatorium. The women topped Tufts 190-108, but narrowly lost to Connecticut 148-140. The men were defeated in each matchup, falling to Tufts 216-84 and to Connecticut 189-99.
The women got off to a fast start, winning the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:48.70. Andie Tibbetts ’14 opened with a time of 28.07 seconds in the backstroke leg and was followed by Jamie Hillas ’15 (butterfly), Megan Griffin ’16 (breaststroke), and Courtney Haron ’15 (freestyle). The Panthers’ ‘B’ relay also finished third in the race.
Tibbetts was arguably one of the team’s best performer on the day, winning the 100-yard backstroke and finishing second in the 200-yard event. She is already the school record holder in both races. Hillas won the 100-yard breaststroke and finished second in the 100-yard butterfly. Jennifer Koide ’17 burst onto the scene by winning the 200-yard breaststroke and finishing second in the 200-yard freestyle in her first collegiate meet.
Colleen Harper ’14 won the one-meter diving event for Middlebury with a score of 221.50 points. Adrianna Baker ’15 finished third in both the one and three meter events.
It was an easy victory over Tufts, and the Panthers almost edged Connecticut as well. However, they could not catch up to the Camels in the final relay.
“After two months of intensive preseason training it was exciting to finally be able to race,” Tibbetts said. “At this point in the season our focus is on general performance and attitude and this meet allowed us to showcase that. It was a great first meet and indicative of a promising rest of the season.”
After finishing third in the opening relay against Tufts, the men made up ground in the 1000-yard freestyle with Michael McGean ’17 and Andy Rosenthal ’16 capturing second and third place, respectively. After that, however, the Panthers dug themselves a hole and were never able to catch up.
Stephan Koenigsberger ’16 won the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:00.20 seconds and later finished third in the 200-yard event.
Ian Mackay ’14 came in second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.55 seconds. He will look to improve upon his school and NESCAC record time of 20.34 throughout the season. Mackay also finished second in the 100-yard freestyle.
Skylar Dallmeyer-Drennen ’14 and Dylan Peters ’16 finished third and fourth, respectively, in both the one and three meter diving events.
Even following the defeats, the team is still optimistic about its chances moving forward.
“Team spirit was through the roof which makes the pool an awesome place to be,” Koenigsberger said. “We all knew to keep things in perspective and were thinking about the big picture, rather than just this one meet.”
The teams will travel to rival Amherst on Saturday, Dec. 7 for their final meet before winter break.
(10/16/13 5:32pm)
The Middlebury men’s golf team enjoyed another victory this season, easily winning the ECAC Championship at Crumpin Fox Golf Course in Bernardston, Mass.
The Panthers finished with a two-day total of 635 strokes, 13 ahead of runner-up Western New England College. Elms College (649), Nichols College (651) and Endicott College (655) rounded out the top five. Amherst College, the only other NESCAC team to compete in the tournament, finished in eighth place.
Middlebury got off to a fast start on Saturday, Oct. 12 and finished with a score of 318, six strokes ahead of Nichols and Endicott. They followed up on Sunday, Oct. 13 with a total of 317, distancing themselves from surging Western New England and Elms while the other schools fell back.
Fitz Bowen ’17 led the way for the Panthers, capturing second place overall in the tournament with a score of 154. His day-two 75 was tied for the best single-day score of the weekend. Matt Marra ’17, playing in the team’s top five for the first time this season, made the most of the opportunity by finishing in a tie for sixth place overall with an impressive 158. NESCAC Player of the Year John Louie ’15 (160) finished eighth overall while Chris Atwood ’14 (164) tied for 20th. Max Alley ’14 rounded out the Middlebury squad with a score of 168.
Rob Donahoe ’14, the top scorer in the NESCAC this year, did not compete.
“Crumpin Fox was a true test of golf: tight tree lines, undulated greens, and plenty of hazards,” said Bowen. “Despite these challenges, we stayed focused and were able to keep the ball in play.”
It was the final weekend of the year for the Panthers, who finished the fall season with four trophies in only five tournaments. Most notably, the team qualified for the NESCAC Championship, which it will host in April at the Ralph Myhre Golf Course. The team missed this opportunity last year, finishing fourth at the qualifying tournament hosted at Amherst. It went on to finish third at the NESCAC tournament last May, behind Williams and Trinity.
The times seem to have changed for the Panthers as Middlebury is the favorite to win the NESCAC tournament due to both its success this fall and the strong veteran presence of players like Alley, Atwood, and Donahoe who have played in the tournament several times. If they continue their high level of play in the spring, they will also be poised for success at the NCAA Division III Championship in May.
(10/09/13 10:48pm)
For the second consecutive tournament, the Middlebury women’s golf team finished as the runner up, trailing only hosts Williams at the Williams Fall Invitational at Taconic Golf Club in Williamstown, Mass. The women claimed second place with a score of 639 strokes, 10 strokes behind rival Williams. Ithaca (643), Amherst (644) and Mount Holyoke (649) rounded out the top five.
The Panthers led the field after the first day with a strong team score of 313. They regressed on Sunday, however, falling behind Williams but holding Ithaca and Amherst at bay to salvage their strong first day performance.
Monica Chow ’16 and Michelle Peng ’15 both earned top-10 individual finishes for Middlebury. Chow (156) finished in a tie for sixth place and her day-one 75 was one of the best rounds of the tournament. Peng (158) tied for 10th-place overall, followed by teammates Theodora Yoch ’17 (161) and Jordan Glatt ’16 (164), both of whom finished in the top 20. Team captain Caroline Kenter ’14 (176) finished out the Panthers squad.
“It felt great to end the fall season with our best performance yet,” Peng said. “The team greatly improved this fall as individuals and as a group.”
The women’s golf team completed the fall season with top-three finishes in all five of their tournaments. The team will look to continue its success this spring, when the women will play in several tournaments before competing in the NCAA Division III Championship.
While the men did not compete last weekend, the team still enjoyed a noteworthy week. Head coach Bill Beaney and John Louie ’15 were named NESCAC Coach and NESCAC Player of the Year, respectively.
Beaney, in his 20th year as head coach, has previously led the Panthers to NESCAC Championships in 1999, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013. He has a chance to add a seventh trophy as this year’s team has qualified for the NESCAC Championships, which will take place at Middlebury at the end of April. It is the second time Beaney has earned Coach of the Year honors, previously winning the award in 2007.
The Player of the Year is awarded to the player who wins the NESCAC Qualifying tournament, which Louie captured Sept. 28 and 29 with an impressive 36-hole 145.
“I have learned to trust my swing and how to be creative on the golf course,” Louie said. “Coach Beaney helped me with my attitude about playing golf by emphasizing the need to have a good mindset out on the course and to grind it out because every shot counts.”
“He had a great weekend of play,” Beaney said. “He mentally really got his game together.”
Louie narrowly edged teammate Rob Donahoe ’14 for the award, finishing one stroke ahead of his senior captain. Donahoe was named to the All-NESCAC First Team this season alongside teammates Louie and Chris Atwood ’14.
The men’s team will compete in the ECAC Championship this weekend at Crumpin-Fox Club in Bernardston, Mass.
(10/02/13 5:29pm)
The Middlebury men’s and women’s golf teams enjoyed extremely successful weekends. The men finished first at the NESCAC Qualifier, hosted by Bowdoin at the Brunswick Golf Club in Brunswick, Maine. The women hosted and earned a second-place finish at the Middlebury Invitational at Ralph Myhre Golf Course.
The men finished with a total combined score of 595 strokes, easily topping second-place Trinity (612) and third-place Amherst (619). It was a crucial victory for the Panthers, who qualified for and earned the right to host the NESCAC Championship next April. Trinity and Amherst also qualified, along with Williams (622).
The men’s team held a commanding 14-stroke lead after day one of the tournament, putting up an incredible score of 292. They then cruised to the easy victory on Sunday with a score of 303.
John Louie ’15 led the way for the Panthers, earning match medalist honors with a score of 145. He narrowly edged teammate Rob Donahoe ’14 (146), who finished second overall in the tournament. Louie and Donahoe both shot rounds of 70 on Saturday, blowing away the rest of the field.
All five of the Middlebury golfers finished in the top 11 overall, demonstrating incredible team depth. In addition to Louie and Donahoe, Chris Atwood ’14 (150) finished in fourth place while Eric Laorr ’15 and Fitz Bowen ’17 tied for ninth place overall with scores of 154.
“We were able to sustain this level of play from our first win at Bowdoin all the way through this win,” Louie said. “Our previous weeks were all in preparation for this weekend and we executed with confidence.”
The NESCAC Championship will take place April 26-27. Middlebury has won the tournament four times in the last ten years, most recently in 2012.
While Williams (628) pulled away from the field early in the women’s tournament, Middlebury (664) was able to earn a second-place finish at their home course. Mount Holyoke (669), Amherst (677), and Vassar (726) rounded out the top five.
The Panthers sat in fourth after the first day, but rallied back with a second-day 326 to pull ahead of Amherst and Mount Holyoke for good.
Jordan Glatt ’15 (161) earned a fourth-place finish overall, trailing only Williams’ top three golfers. Theodora Yoch ’17 (167) finished ninth, while Caroline Kenter ’14 (168) captured a share of tenth place. Michelle Peng ’15 (172) and Monica Chow ’16 (174) also competed for the Panthers.
“Our ability to rebound from a disappointing first day illustrated the passion and determination of the team,” Glatt said. “Each of us has the potential to shoot a good score every round, but the challenge is all playing well at the same time.”
The men will have next weekend off before finishing their fall season by playing in the ECAC Championship on Oct. 12-13 at Crumpin-Fox Club in Bernardston, Mass. The women will play their last tournament of the season at Williams on Saturday, Oct. 5 and Sunday, Oct. 6.
(09/25/13 7:35pm)
The Middlebury men’s and women’s golf teams both notched top-five finishes this weekend. The men finished fifth at the Williams Invitational at Taconic Golf Club in Williamstown, Mass. while the women placed third at the Mount Holyoke Invitational at The Orchards Golf Club in South Hadley, Mass.
The women finished with a score of 637, trailing only Williams (619) and Ithaca (631). They sat in second after day one, two strokes ahead of Ithaca, but fell back slightly on Sunday.
Michelle Peng ’15 led the Panthers with a score of 153, enough for a share of third place overall in the tournament. She was tied for first after shooting a sparkling 75 on Saturday. Monica Chow ’16 also earned a top-10 finish, placing tied for eighth with a score of 159. Jordan Glatt ’15 (162), Theodora Yoch ’17 (163) and Caroline Kenter ’14 (170) followed Peng and Chow, finishing 13th, 19th and 25th overall, respectively.
“As the fall season progresses the team continues to get stronger,” Peng said. “We need to stay mentally tough and be able to perform well both days.”
Host Williams won the men’s tournament with a score of 607, followed by RPI (611) and Trinity (612).
The Middlebury team found itself in a tie for 12th place after a disappointing 317 on Saturday. They rallied back on Sunday, however, propelling themselves into fifth with an impressive 301. It was the best team score on Sunday and was the result of a full team effort, with every golfer breaking 80.
Rob Donahoe ’14 followed up his first-place finish last weekend by capturing a share of seventh place at Williams with a score of 151. Fitz Bowen ’17 (154) finished in the top 20, matching Donahoe with a second-day 73. John Louie ’15 (155), Chris Atwood ’14 (158) and Max Alley ’14 (168) rounded out the Panthers squad.
“We have the talent to be the best in the NESCAC,” Bowen said. “We just have to keep doing what we’re doing and put it together both days of the tournament.”
The men travel to Bowdoin this weekend to participate in the important NESCAC Qualifier at Brunswick Golf Club. The top four teams will qualify to compete for the
NESCAC Championship in the spring. The Panthers finished in fourth place last year.
The women host the Middlebury Invitational at Ralph Myhre Golf Course this weekend. They finished second in the same tournament last year.
(09/18/13 11:51pm)
The Middlebury men and women’s golf teams enjoyed successful tournaments on Saturday Sept. 14 and Sunday, Sept. 15. The men hosted and won the 30th Duke Nelson Invitational at the Ralph Myhre Golf Course while the women finished second in the NYU Fall Invitational at Spook Rock Golf Course in Suffern, N.Y.
The men finished with a score of 596, narrowly edging out runner-up Clarkson (597). It was the first time in the history of the tournament that Middlebury has captured the title. Williams (599), Salem State (602) and Hamilton (603) rounded out the top five. The Panthers sat in second after day one, just a stroke behind Hamilton. On Sunday, however, the team shot a solid 304 and withstood a charge from a surging Clarkson.
“It was really exciting golf played across the board,” Coach Bill Beaney said. “A one-shot win when we’re talking about nearly 600 strokes really highlights what every shot can do.”
Rob Donahoe ’14 captured medalist honors, finishing with a total of 139. He shot two-under 68 on Saturday, becoming the only one of the 114 golfers to break 70. He followed it up with another top round on Sunday, shooting 71 and beating out Salem State’s Cameron Daley (141) for the top spot on the leaderboard. It was the lowest two-day total in the history of the tournament.
Max Alley ’14 and John Louie ’15 tied for 21st place overall with scores of 151. They were followed by Chris Atwood ’14 (155) and Eric Laorr ’15 (158). Because the Panthers played at home, five other Panthers played the tournament as individuals, most notably Fitzgerald Bowen ’17 (152).
“It was a great win for the team,” Donahoe said. “I think playing on our home course made us comfortable with certain shots other teams found difficult. The course can get tricky at times and I think we managed to stay out of the troublesome areas for the most part.”
In the women’s tournament, no team came close to catching winner Williams (625). However, The Panthers (652) were able to overcome an eight-stroke deficit after day one to narrowly overtake host NYU (653) on Sunday. Mount Holyoke and Amherst finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Jordan Glatt ’15 led the way for the Panthers, shooting 156 and finishing with a tie for sixth place overall. Monica Chow ’16 (158) was close behind her, finishing in tenth place. Michelle Peng ’15 and Theodora Koch ’17 tied for 22nd place with scores of 171, with Koch impressively shaving seven strokes off her day-one total. Caroline Kenter ’14 shot 176 to finish out the Middlebury squad.
“I was proud of the team because of our ability to improve over the course of the weekend,” Glatt said. “Coach [Mandigo] does a great job inspiring the team to do better. He always stresses that every stroke counts.”
The women play in the Mount Holyoke Golf Invitational Saturday, Sept. 21 and Sunday Sept. 22, while the men travel to participate in the Williams Invitational, a warm up to the NESCAC Qualifier, which takes place at Bowdoin the weekend of Sept. 28.
(09/12/13 12:58am)
The Middlebury men’s golf team opened their season in impressive style last weekend, easily winning the 2013 Bowdoin Invitational at Brunswick Golf Club in Brunswick, Maine. The Panthers finished with a total of 605 strokes, followed by Husson University (616). The University of Southern Maine (633), Endicott College (634), and Williams College (637) rounded out the top five. Meanwhile at the eight-team St. Lawrence Invitational, the Middlebury women’s golf team finished third overall. Ithaca (631) claimed the top spot followed by NYU (638) and the Panthers (662).
At Brunswick, Rob Donahoe ’14 (149) led the way for Middlebury, finishing in a tie for second place with Husson’s Greg Pike and only one stroke behind medalist Tom Murray of University of Southern Maine (USM). Donahoe finished in ninth place after the first day, but his second day of 72 propelled him and the team up the leaderboards. The Panthers had three golfers among the top six finishers, with John Louie ’15 (153) and Chris Atwood ’15 (154) putting in impressive rounds. Eric Laorr ’15 and Max Alley ’14 tied for 17th place overall with scores of 159.
Middlebury trailed Husson by one stroke after day one, but came out firing on Sunday with Atwood, Alley, and Donahoe each shaving multiple strokes off their day one totals while Husson, USM, and Williams fell back.
“We’re all excited for a strong season, especially after coming off a win in our opening tournament,” Alley said.
On the women’s side, Jordan Glatt ’15 was the top finisher, placing fourth overall with 156 after a 76 on day one. She was followed by six-place finisher Monica Chow ’16 (159), while Michelle Peng ’15 (171), Caroline Kenter ’14 (176) and Emma Kitchen ’15 (204) completed the Panthers lineup.
While satisfied by her team’s performance, captain Caroline Kenter ’14 believes that there is much room for improvement.
“We’re all recovering from very busy summers, so working on getting our swings back is our priority during practice,” she said. “I had some rough holes, so there are definitely some things I need to work on before our match at NYU.”
Kitchen echoed her captain’s sentiments.
“We did well for the first tournament back, especially in tough weather on Saturday,” she said. “Being in fourth going into Sunday we were excited to make it in the top three. I thought our team held up strong, and can do really well going forward as we all get back into the swing of things.”
The men’s team will host the 30th annual Duke Nelson Invitational on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 14-15 at the Ralph Myhre Golf Course. Middlebury placed third in the tournament a year ago and will look to use its knowledge of the course to improve upon that mark. The women’s team will travel to NYU, meanwhile, hoping this time it can reverse the results of the St. Lawrence Invitational and seek revenge on the hosting side.
ALEX MORRIS also contributed to this report.
(04/17/13 11:33pm)
The Middlebury men’s golf team competed at the Manhattanville Spring Invitational at Lyman Orchards Golf Club in Wallingford, Conn. last weekend, April 13 and 14, coming away with a seventh-place finish. Skidmore won the tournament with a score of 601 strokes, narrowly edging Williams, St. Thomas Aquinas, Adelphi and RPI. Middlebury’s golfers combined for a final score of 620.
Billy Prince ’13 led the way for Middlebury, tying for 19th place overall with a score of 153. He has consistently been one of the team’s lowest-scoring golfers all year. Chris Atwood ’14 was right behind him with 154, good enough for a share of 21st place. Rob Donahoe ’14 had a strong 74 on Saturday, but struggled on Sunday to finish with 158. Max Alley ’14 and Andrew Emerson ’14 rounded out the Panthers squad with scores of 159 and 161 respectively.
The Panthers were in position to compete after sitting in fifth place after Saturday, but added eight strokes on Sunday to fall back into seventh.
“We struggled on Sunday,” said Atwood. “We’re not satisfied with the results and know we have a lot of work to do before NESCACs.”
The men will head to rival Williams this weekend to compete in the Williams Spring Opener at Taconic Golf Club in Williamstown, Mass. It is their final tournament before the NESCAC Championship, which will take place the weekend of April 27.
“We’re moving in the right direction and we’ll be ready when it counts,” said Atwood.
(04/10/13 9:34pm)
After months of training, the men’s golf team opened its spring season in impressive fashion last Friday and Saturday, April 5 and 6, by winning the Rhode Island College Spring Invitational, hosted at Triggs Memorial Golf Course in Providence, R.I. The Panthers finished with a combined score of 620 strokes, easily topping runner-ups Endicott College (653) and Husson University (658). Elms College and host RIC rounded out the top five.
Tough conditions made the already difficult course even more of a challenge, with gusting winds and cold temperatures all weekend. The greens were firm, fast and crowned. The men responded by playing somewhat conservatively, putting the ball in the right place and planning their shots well on the way to victory.
“The team is coming along real well,” said head coach Bill Beaney. “They adapted well and played very smart with good course management.”
Rob Donahoe ’14 and William Prince ’13 led the way for the Panthers, tying for the lowest score of the weekend with 151 strokes each. Donahoe was able to edge out Prince in a tiebreaker, earning match medalist honors. The two golfers were very consistent, with Donahoe shooting 76-75 and Prince 75-76.
“As is typical early in the season, there were some bright spots and some weak spots on an individual and team level,” said Prince. “Going forward we are going to work hard to improve upon these weaknesses.”
Max Alley ’14 was just behind Prince and Donahoe all weekend long, finishing with a 157 strokes – good enough for fourth place overall in the tournament. Eric Laorr ’15 shot 80-81 for a total of 161 strokes, finishing seventh overall. Chris Atwood contributed a 165 with a strong 79 on Saturday and finished 12th. Charlie Garcia ’15 rounded out the Panthers squad with 172, shooting an 86 each day. As evidenced by having five of the top 12 individual finishers, the men’s team boasts a deep starting lineup this year.
“The win this weekend was great for us in terms of getting in a winning mindset,” said Prince. “We want to win every weekend this spring, so this will help us get in the mindset of dominating and closing out a tournament.”
The Panthers head south next weekend, April 13 and 14, to play in the Manhattanville Spring Invitational at Lyman Orchards Golf Club in Wallingford, Conn. There they will face stiff competition, including divisional rivals Trinity and Williams, in what will surely be good preparation for the NESCAC Championship at the end of April.
“I hope that this weekend will give us a great idea of the small things we need to work on and tie some loose ends together,” said Beaney.
It will also be an opportunity for the team to figure out its top five.
“We have a deep team with a lot of good competition in house,” he said.