WINTER SPORTS PREVIEWS
Women’s Swim and Dive
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Women’s Swim and Dive
Women’s Soccer
The Middlebury softball season ended last Saturday, May 5, when the Panthers gave up a late lead to Bowdoin in the Nescac quarterfinals in Amherst, Massachusetts. The Panthers were ahead 2–0 and five outs away from advancing to the semifinal, in which they would have faced Amherst, before Bowdoin strung together a few hits and tied the game at two. Bowdoin eventually secured the game in the seventh inning, when they scored on a walk-off single to win 3–2. Before the Nescac playoffs, Middlebury played a doubleheader at home against Lyndon St. on Wednesday, May 2, in what would be the Panther seniors’ last games at home. Allison Quigley ’18 also pitched her last game as a Panther on Wednesday, and she went out with a flourish. In the second game of the doubleheader, Quigley no-hit the Hornets in an 8–0 Middlebury win, the eight no-hitter in program history. Middlebury obliterated Lyndon St. in the first game too, 23–0, powered by Melanie Mandell’s six RBIs. In the top of the third inning of Saturday’s game, Ali Della Volpe ’18 led off with a single. The very next batter, Olivia Bravo ’20, doubled in Della Volpe to put Middlebury ahead 1–0 and advanced to third on the throw home. Then Emily Moore ’21 hit a sacrifice fly to left field, and the Panthers led 2–0 after two and a half innings. Morris also took the hill on Saturday. She held the Polar Bears in check over the first five innings of Saturday’s quarterfinal matchup, allowing only four baserunners in that time frame. In the top of the sixth inning, Middlebury threatened once more, loading the bases with only one out. But Bowdoin struck out the next two hitters to get out of the jam. And the Polar Bears’ momentum carried into the bottom half of the inning, when they finally broke through, stringing together two hits, a walk, and a sacrifice fly to tie the game at two heading into the final frame. Middlebury could not respond in its turn at bat in the seventh. Bowdoin’s first hitter singled, but Moore got the next two batters out as the baserunner advanced to second. She walked the next batter, and then Bowdoin’s Lauren O’Shea ended Middlebury’s season. She hit a walk-off single, and Bowdoin won 3–2. Middlebury finished the season 20–11 in Quigley, Della Volpe, Taylor Gardner ’18 and Kati Daczkowksi ’18’s last season in the blue-and-white. As a group, they went 78–47–1 in their four-year careers while making two Nescac appearances. Without those four, Middlebury will return nine players from this season’s roster in 2019, including Mandell, who had the team’s best batting average and slugging percentage, and Moore, who tossed the most innings for the Panthers in her first season and led the team with a 2.15 ERA.
In the past five seasons, the men’s track and field team has finished second, third and fourth at Nescacs, but not first. In fact, the Panthers had never won a Nescac championship … until last Saturday, April 28. On the backs of first-place finishes by Kevin Serrao ’18, Jimmy Martinez ’19, Nicholas Hendrix ’20, the 4x100-meter relay team and the 4x400 team, and bolstered by strong performances in every event, the Panthers supplanted the two-time defending champions, Williams, who have now won only 23 of the 33 Nescac crowns — instead of 23 of 32. And combined with the women’s team, which finished third, Middlebury track and field improved upon last year’s performance, when the men’s and women’s teams came together to finish seventh at Nescacs. “Knowing that this was the first Nescac title in program history made last weekend even more special,” said Martinez. “Knowing that we could actually win it this year led to so many spectacular performances. I can’t express how proud I am of everyone for bringing the amount of energy they did.” Martinez was one of several Panthers who rose to another plane of performance on Saturday. He won the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.02, while Serrao won the 1500-meter race in 3:52.20 and Hendrix crossed first in the 100-meter dash in 10.58. Two relay teams encapsulated what needed to be a complete team effort if they wanted to unseat Williams and outrace the rest of the Nescac competition. Jackson Bock ’19, Jackson Barnett ’18, Mike Pallozzi ’18 and Hendrix came together to run a 42.29 in the 4x100-meter relay, crossing the finish line five-hundredths of a second before Tufts’ team to win the race. Arden Coleman ’20, William Robertson ’21, Josh Howard ’19 and Martinez beat the entire field by at least two seconds to claim the 4x400-meter relay crown. Along with these five victories, a Panther finished in the top five of every competition but two on the men’s side. James Mulliken ’18, Nathan Hill ’20, Connor Evans ’19, Matt D’Aquila ’21, Harrison Knowlton ’19, Ascencion Aispuro ’18, Tyler Farrell ’18, Jon Perlman ’19, Sawyer Tadano ’21, Jonathan Fisher ’20, John Natalone ’19, Max Memeger ’21, Nathaniel Klein ’21, Minhaj Rahman ’19 and Brenden Edwards ’18 all chipped in top-five performances. And these spectacular efforts came across all of the events — individual running and relays, jumping and throwing. The man who has guided Middlebury to this moment is Martin Beatty ’84. Beatty was a sprinter for the track team and a running back on the football team at Middlebury. After graduation, he was an assistant for the track and field, football and women’s basketball teams for a season before leaving to fill similar assistant roles at Trinity. In 1987, he returned to Middlebury as an assistant for the track and field, football and men’s basketball teams. Then, in 1988 he chose to focus on track and field, becoming the head coach. The women’s team has won two Nescac titles under Beatty. Now, in his 30th season at the helm, he has championships with both teams. “Being the first men’s track team to win Nescacs is something we will never forget,” said Hendrix. “Not having won before definitely served as a motivating factor. We’re especially happy for our coach, Martin Beatty, because he deserves it for all the hard work he’s put in over the last 30 years.” The women’s team also featured remarkable performances. Kate McCluskey ’18 broke a personal record and placed third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.13, along with a first-place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.22. Additionally, McCluskey won first place in the 4x400 team race along with Lucy Lang ’19, Kai Milici ’21, and Kate Holly ’21. “I am so proud of both of our teams this weekend, men and women,” McCluskey said, praising her teammates. “We had a lot of outstanding performances all around, and everyone had a lot of fun doing it. I also really admire the way our team comes together at NESCACs. All day we had people cheering for one another.” With a time of 4:35.22, Katie Glew ’21 placed fourth in the 1500-meter run. Kate MacCary ’19 secured second place in the 5000-meter run with a time of 17:16.57. Kreager Taber ’19 placed second in the pole vault event with a vault of 3.55 meters, while Alex Cook ’20 captured third in the long jump with a jump of 5.44 meters. Finally, Helene Rowland ’20 finished third in the shot put event with an 11.99-meter throw. “Competing at Nescacs is completely different from any other meet. In my opinion, the team seems to be much more unified and competitive with our overall results, as opposed to our own personal performances” said Devon Player ’18. “As a senior, I look back at all of the positive memories of being a part of this team, and it makes me want to try so much harder to do the best that I can and to cherish the time that I have left with my fellow athletes.” Camaraderie proved to be a constant theme amongst members of the team. “The preparation for this meet was a real team effort. When a few of the guys realized there was a chance for us to win, the excitement quickly built,” said Paul Malloy ’18. “From top to bottom, this team has shown an incredible amount of commitment and drive. Everybody knew we had a strong group coming into the season, and we’re so fortunate to have an amazing coaching and training staff that knows how to push our limits so that we could perform our best this weekend. I’m so proud of this team for setting a goal of winning this meet and not letting anything get in the way.” One of the Cinderella stories for the track and field teams that emerged in last weekend’s championship was that of Isabella “Speck” Alfaro ’18, who spent much of the last five months on crutches due to a high risk of stress fracture. However, after being cleared to run in April, she leapt at the opportunity to compete. “I didn’t think I would race for Middlebury again until Coach Wilkerson gave me the option to be a wildcard entry at Nescacs,” said Alfaro. “The support from my coaches and team made competing on Saturday incredibly special to me and reminded me why I never quit, even when my doctor told me I wouldn’t have a spring season. “The track team has always been my favorite part of Middlebury,” Alfaro added, “so to have all my teammates line the track and cheer gave me the biggest smile while I was running down the last straightaway.” With this spirit of support and pattern of excellence, the track and field teams now look forward to the Division III New England Championships, which start at MIT this afternoon and run until Saturday, May 5. “This win should propel us into New Englands and some of us into NCAAs,” Martinez said. “Over these next few weeks, expect some sick performances and a lot of qualifiers. The goal is to score some serious points at these meets and crown even more champions.”
The men’s and women’s swim and dive teams hit the road to face Colby in Waterville and Bates in Lewistown last weekend in Maine. The women’s squad came away with a victory at Colby, earning 202 points to Colby’s 96, while the men’s team lost to Colby 183–111 before both teams lost to Bates. In Lewistown, the women’s team lost in a close call 152.5–141.5, while the men’s team struggled and fell 170–118. With their win at the Colby meet, the women’s team earned their second victory of the season. The formidable pair of Panther sophomores, Maya Gomez ’20 and Frances VanderMeer ’20, had their fingerprints all over Middlebury’s success in the Colby meet. VanderMeer and Gomez were on the 200-yard medley relay team with Erin Kelly ’21 and Steph Andrews ’18 that touched the wall almost six full seconds before the second-place group that consisted of Sarah Bartholomae ’18, Lisa MacCowatt ’19, Kelly Delane ’18 and Angela Riggins ’19 . Middlebury’s B team (Bartholomae, MacCowatt, Delane and Riggins), however, finished 1.3 seconds ahead of Colby’s A team. Middlebury’s winning A squad registered a time of 1:50.45, the B squad a time of 156.06 and Colby’s A team finished with a time of 1:57.39. VanderMeer won the 200-yard freestyle heat by finishing a full two seconds ahead of the second place finisher from Colby, Maria Armillei, and that was even in light of VanderMeer easing up in the last half lap. The 50-yard backstroke was the closest heat of the day, but the Panthers came out on top in that event as well. Bartholomae touched the wall at 29.75, just under a tenth of a second before Colby’s Emily Ambeliotis. Meanwhile, in the 50 yard breaststroke Gomez took another top finish by edging out two teammates, Erin Kelly (32.04) and MacCowatt (32.57), as she registered a time of 31.15. In both the men’s and women’s meets, Middlebury diving continued its run of great success. On the women’s side, Kacey Hertan ’20 won the 1-meter event with 230.85 points and Elissa DeNunzio ’18 captured the 3-meter event title with 241.35 points. On the men’s side, Mike Chirico ’20 won both diving events, racking up 271.87 points in the 1-meter event and 267.45 in the 3-meter event. While the men’s team did not win the Colby meet and Chrico led the way from above the pool, they did have several notable performances in the water. One of those was Zack Einhorn ’21’s performance in the 200-yard freestyle, which he won by just north of four-tenths of a second over Colby senior Hugh Jacobsen by touching the wall at 1:49.28. The other highlight was the first-place finish of the 200-yard freestyle relay team. Cory Jalbert ’21, Brendan Leech ’19, Connor McCormick ’18 and Keegan Pando ’21 allowed the day to end with a bang as they finished with a time of 1:29.84, about half a second before Colby’s A team. After the Colby meet, the teams got on the bus and travelled southwest to Bates, where they both fell to the Bobcats. The women’s team made it close, while the men’s team struggled, although they improved their team total from the Colby meet. VanderMeer and Gomez once again were highlights for the Panthers in the pool, and Elissa DeNunzio impressed on the boards. VanderMeer claimed the title for the 100 yard freestyle in 53.59, 50 yard freestyle in 24.47 and the 100 yard butterfly in 59.02. VanderMeer has consistently overcome the competition in her events throughout the season thus far. Gomez also carried over some of the previous day’s momentum, as she touched the wall first in both the 200 yard (2:29.63) and 100 yard (1:06.82) breaststroke events. DeNunzio won both of her diving events to close the gap between the Panthers and Bobcats. DeNunzio scored 244.05 points in the 1-meter event, while also pulling out 260.03 points in the 3-meter competition. MaryCate Carroll ’21 finished second in the 1-meter diving event with a score of 216.9 and the previous day’s winner in the 1-meter, Hertan, finished third with 210.63 points. Chirico continued his dominance as he again placed first in both the 1m and 3m diving events. In Lewiston, he racked up 286.87 points in the 1m and 293.55 in the 3m. In the pool, the Panthers had less luck. McCormick and Jack Dowling ’19 did pull out victories in their events though. McCormick finished first in the 400 IM by touching the wall at 4:18.01, a little over two seconds before the second place finisher from Bates, Alexander Ignatov. McCormick also posed a second place finish in the 200 breaststroke (2:12.95) and 200 free (1:46.67). After winning the same event in the Colby meet, Einhorn finished second in the 200-yard butterfly against Bates with a time of 2:01.01. Other good performances came from the efforts of Santoro, who finished second in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:59.66, and Will Pannos ’20, who finished the 100-yard butterfly 54.09 which was good for second place. Leech, Robert Cheng ’20, Jalbert and Alex Smith ’18 also placed second in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:39.42. This Saturday, the Panthers face Union at the Natatorium 2 p.m.