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(05/09/19 9:58am)
The Middlebury women’s tennis team battled to the very end this Sunday before falling to second-seeded Wesleyan 2-5 in the NESCAC Championship on the Proctor tennis courts. On Friday, the Panthers blanked fourth-seeded Amherst 5-0 to advance to the final for the fourth-straight year. Wesleyan will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament with Middlebury now boasting a 16-2 record for this season.
“I think we can all agree that this is the strongest our team has ever been physically and mentally,” senior Christina Puccinelli ’19 said. “Even though we may not be thrilled with the results of this past weekend, we are all extremely confident in our ability to take it all the way at NCAAs … I’ve got two more weeks playing tennis with my ten best friends, and I don’t intend to waste them.”
On Friday during doubles play, Middlebury swept all three doubles matches. The junior duo of Katherine Hughes and Skylar Schossberger posted an 8-2 victory in the second flight over Camille Smukler and Anya Invenitsky, while Puccinelli and Maddi Stow ’20 clinched an 8-6 win against Anya Ramras and Maddie Dewire in the third slot. The top squad of Heather Boehm ’20 and Ann Martin Skelly ’21 triumphed 8-7 (1) over Kelsey Chen and Jackie Bukzin to secure the 3-0 lead.
In singles action, Boehm eased past Bukzin 6-0, 6-1 at the No. 1 spot, while Puccinelli posted a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Dewire in the third flight. As for the remaining matches which went unfinished due to the Panther’s 5-0 lead, Hughes and Smukler split sets at No. 2 singles, with Hughes up 1-0 in the third. At the No. 4 spot, Schossberer also split the first two sets with Ivenitsky, trailing Ivenitsky 0-2 in the third set. In the fifth slot, Amherst’s Claire Evans clinched the first set against Stow and was up 3-2 in the second, while Middlebury’s Emily Bian ’21 claimed the first set at the No. 6 spot over Camilla Trapness, down 1-3 in the second.
On Sunday during doubles, the Panthers secured a 2-1 lead, grabbing points at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. The No. 1 duo of Boehm and Skelly toppled Victoria Yu and Kristina Yu 8-2, after which the Cardinals tied the match at 1-1 with an 8-5 win in the third spot. The No. 2 pair of Hughes and Schossberger triumphed 8-6 over Venia Yeung and Polina Kiselva, however, to solidify the team’s 2-1 advantage.
“Wesleyan played like they had nothing to lose,” Boehm said. “Every point was close, we just got a little unlucky here and there and the score was definitely not indicative of the play … The men’s team actually lost NESCACs to Bowdoin last year, and they ended up beating them in the NCAA final when it really mattered. We brush this loss off, because at the end of the day, we came here to win a national championship.”
During singles play, the Cardinals grabbed the first four points to win the match, posting a straight-set win at the No. 3 spot followed by a three-set triumph at the No. 4 spot. Wesleyan advanced to a 4-1 lead after securing a three-set win at No. 5 and a three-set victory in the second flight as well. As for the two matches remaining when Wesleyan clinched the winning point, the Cardinals claimed the opening set in each one. Victoria Yu edged Boehm 7-6 (5) in a first-set tiebreaker in the top flight, with Boehm leading 3-0 in the second set. At the bottom of the lineup, Wesleyan’s Alissa Nakamoto triumphed over Bian 7-5 in the first set, with the second set tied at 4-4.
With many of the matches being close three-setters for the Panthers, their championship loss was heartbreaking to say the least. However, it will only make them stronger as they prepare for the NCAA tournament starting next weekend.
“It actually takes a lot of pressure off of us,” Boehm said. “The love we have for each other is unmatched by any team we played this season. We played an incredible match and just needed a few points here and there. Our goal is not to look back, and to just look forward at who our next matchup is.”
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SADIE HOUSBERG
(05/09/19 9:52am)
The Middlebury track and field team competed well in the Division III New England Championships on Friday, May 3 and Saturday, May 4.
Previously, Nick Hendrix ’20 said the team would prepare for the meet with a “business as usual” attitude. “There will probably a bit more of an individual focus as athletes concentrate on their best events and try to get qualifying marks,” Hendrix said. “As far as training goes, we’re all in good shape now, so our volume will go down and staying fresh is the priority.”
The men’s team finished in third place with 64 points. They were behind MIT, who finished with 139.50 points and Tufts, who finished with 89.50 points. To start the meet off, Hendrix finished in third place in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.76. Nathan Hill ’20 came in first place in the 800 meter run with a time of 1:50.56.
On the 800-meter race, Hill said, “It was a great race. New England is particularly strong in the 800, and so tough competition usually breeds fast times. I always look forward to competing against that group.”
In the 1500-meter run, Jon Perlman ’19 and Will Meyer ’20 came in third and fourth place, respectively. Perlman had a time of 3:53.37 and Meyer had a time of 3:53.40. Theo Henderson’s time of 14:56.28 placed him second in the 5000-meter run. The 4x100 meter relay team composed of Noah Wagner-Carlberg ’19, Hendrix, Arden Coleman ’20 and Conor Banky ’19 got third place with a time of 42.08. A throw of 59.73 meters got Minhaj Rahman ’19 the win in the hammer throw event. Also, John Natalone ’19 captured third in the pole vault event, while Jack Litowitz ’20 ended in fourth in the 3000-meter steeplechase.
“I think we performed very well at this meet,” Perlman said. “It can be tough to come back from such an emotional meet like NESCACs, but we were still able to have a large number of people get personal bests and position themselves high up on the national qualifying list.”
The women’s team tied for seventh place in a total field of 34 teams with 34 points, while Williams and MIT came in first and second place respectively. The Panthers scored well in many of the races at the meet. Cassidy Kearney ’22 captured third place and Meg Wilson ’20 captured fourth place in the 800-meter run. Kearney finished with a time of 2:11.55, while Wilson had a time of 2:13.37. In the 1500-meter run, the Panthers were able to finish in the fifth, sixth and seventh spots. Here, Abigail Nadler ’19 had a time of 4:38.86, Rory Kelly ’19 had a time of 4:38.98 and Kate MacCary ’19 had a time of 4:40.35. The 4x400-meter relay team was able to come in fifth place with a time of 3:53.72. This team was composed of Lucy Lang ’19, Ava O’Mara ’21, Julia Munz ’22, Kearney and Gretchen McGrath ’21. Kreager Taber ’19 came in fourth in the pole vault event with a vault of 3.51 meters. Also, a throw of 39.96 meters placed Rebecca Gorman ’20 sixth in the javelin throw event.
Kearney said, “I was really excited and surprised with my performance at the meet this past weekend ... My coach (Nicole Wilkerson) is always cognizant of how to construct workouts so that athletes peak at the right time in the season, and I think that the performances in D3’s overall really showed how everyone is at their highest fitness level. I PR’ed by two seconds in the 800 to run 2:11, and I also was part of the 4x4 relay, in which we just barely broke the school record in 3:53.”
The Panthers’ journey to the end of the season continues, as they will participate in the Open New England Championships on Friday, May 10 and Saturday, May 11, and then the NCAA Championships on May 23-25. This team definitely has the spirit to continue their success as the end of the season nears.
“Open New England’s always has strong competition and we plan to prepare by challenging each other each and every day in practice,” Hill said. “It has been such a successful year thus far from a team perspective and we hope to continue that success.”
Kearney added, “Many athletes realized their potential and are now focusing on what goals they can accomplish next. This end portion of the season seems super fun as the level of competition rises.”
(05/09/19 9:51am)
With a series win against the Amherst Mammoths, the Middlebury baseball team (23-10, 7-5) clinched a spot in the NESCAC Championship playoffs for the fourth time in program history and the second time in three seasons.
The Panthers started the week with a 12-3 win versus Union College (18-20, 14-10), adding a single-game program record of 17 walks and 12 stolen bases.
Middlebury took a 5-1 lead in the third inning on three Union erros and six walks. In the top of the fifth inning, Middlebury tacked on six runs in three hits.
FIrst-year pitcher Alex Rosario received the win, starting five innings, only giving up one run on three hits, with seven strikeouts. Senior pitcher Colby Morris tossed a scoreless inning against Union.
“We basically just let the game come to us,” Morris said. “Their pitchers weren’t throwing strikes and we were patient at the plate and worked walks to get on base. Conversely, we threw strikes on the mound and forced contact from their hitters, essentially controlling the game from the get-go.”
In Game one against Amherst (16-14-1, 6-6), Middlebury scored three runs in the 10th inning to earn a 6-4 win over the Mammoths.
Morris threw nine innings against Amherst, allowing just three runs and striking out six batters. With his 18th career victory, Morris moves into third-place all time with 168 strikeouts.
Junior second baseman Andrew Hennings went 4-for-6 with an RBI single.
In Game two, Middlebury eliminated Amherst from postseason contention and clinched a NESCAC playoff spot.
Amherst took the lead in the bottom of the second inning, but Middlebury responded in the top of the third with an RBI single from Hennings, evening the game out at 1-1. Middlebury took the lead with an RBI single up the middle from senior catcher Phil Bernstein in the top of the fourth.
First-year pitcher Alex Price earned the win over six and two-thirds innings of work, allowing one run on four hits and striking out five. Junior Andrew Martinson got a groundout to the shortstop to end the game and collect his first save of the year.
Game three started with three scoreless frames from the Panthers to open the contest. Amherst scored one run in each of the first three innings to lead 3-0.
The Panthers responded in the fourth inning, loading the bases with two outs. Sophomore center fielder Henry Strmecki hit a clutch two-run single up the middle, cutting the lead to 3-2. First-year second baseman Andrew Gough added an RBI single to put the Panthers ahead.
Amherst won on a walk-off after loading the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth.
Carroll went 2-for-3 for the Panthers with one stolen base. Sophomore pitcher George Goldstein took the loss in relief.
“Against Amherst, the games all happened in a similar manner,” Morris said. “Each of the three games were pitchers’ duels as each team commanded the strike zone and worked efficiently on the mount. We were able to put pressure on their defense, stealing bases and just scrapped enough to outscore them in the first two games. On the mound, our pitchers really executed well in clutch situations to kill their momentum and keep the game within reach until we took the lead.”
Junior infielder Brooks Carroll boasted an OBP of .529 over the week, walking five times, stealing five bases and driving in a pair of runs.
Middlebury will face the Tufts University Jumbos (26-8, 10-2), in its first game of the tournament at 6 p.m. this Friday at Colby College.
The Panthers have made it to the NESCAC Championship series twice, and won their only NESCAC title in 2006. Tufts is the top seed in the East for the sixth straight year, after sweeping Colby College. The Jumbos have played in the last four championship series and won their fourth NESCAC title in 2017.
“We are preparing for the tournament like any other weekend series,” Morris said. “As we don’t have any midweek games the next few days, we should have extra time to focus on specific defensive plays and get ready for important situations that these intense games will likely produce. The pitchers will get some much-needed rest for our arms and our position guys should get some live at bats during practice this week too. We are headed up Thursday night to Colby College and will be locked in and ready to bring the noise against Tufts on Friday night.”
(05/09/19 9:50am)
The Panthers played their last game of the season on Friday, May 3 against Tufts in the NESCAC Tournament. Though the softball season worked hard all season and made it to the tournament, the Jumbos ultimately won the game 2-0, and then went on to win the entire NESCAC Championship.
The Panthers finished with a 4-8 record in the conference and 12-19 record overall for the 2019 season. Last year, the team finished with a 5-6 conference record and a 20-11 overall record.
The team might not have taken NESCACs, but they still had a successful season. Middlebury holds third in the conference for total number of home runs (17) and slugging (.463). Their stats are comparable to those from last season, their on base percentage is .398 in 2019 compared to .383 in 2018 and their batting average is .323 compared to .312 last season. Panther Melanie Mandell ’20 currently holds the highest batting average (.464) and the third highest number of runs batted in (34) in the conference.
As it was the last game of the season, it was the last game ever for senior captains Ally Doll, Irene Margiotta and Liza Tarr, who have all played for Midd since they were first-years.
These seniors will leave the team in very capable hands. The girls can rely on rookies who made waves this season, with a significant percentage of notable plays coming from infielders Sophia Marlin ’22, Sophie Bolinger ’22, Noelle Ruschil ’22 and pitcher Jen McGann ’22.
(05/02/19 10:00am)
Middkids encounter many tough decisions throughout their time at the college: which courses to take, when to study, when to party, what career to pursue after graduation, etc. However, perhaps the most divisive and controversial decision students must make boils down to one simple question, asked daily between 4:30 and 8:30 p.m., Proctor or Ross?
As an editorial board, we are here to tell you that Proctor is the better dining hall. (We are definitely not biased by the fact that it’s like a hundred feet from our office.) Proc has got it all, so if you’re a Ross-er, go ahead and check your Ross privilege at the door and listen up.
First up: lines. Proctor conveniently has two lines serving the same dinner food while Ross’s single line is so long that you need a new haircut and have to make another tuition payment by the time you finally get your food. The lengthy Ross queues also create an epidemic of line-cutting. Don’t be one of those people. You aren’t sneaky. We all see you.
Ross’s layout feels more like a high school cafeteria than Proctor’s. The long tables, the drab color scheme, the panini machines all the way at the back. It’s just sad. Proctor has cozier — albeit stuffy — feel. (No joke, one of our editors has to bring her inhaler just to breathe there.) When you’re in Proc and decide to go for a panini, it’s easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy. In Ross? Difficult-difficult-lemon-difficult. Only once you assemble your materials and then walk the runway in between all of the sports teams, friend groups, classmates, and people you’d rather never see again do you finally make it to the panini press (and only two out of the four are EVER turned on?! What’s up with that?). That’s if you make it there without tragically stumbling and falling, causing a dish to crash to the floor and receiving thundering applause from your merciless peers.
“Ross is treacherous,” said one member of the editorial board. We have confirmed reports of pizza-slips and coffee tumbles, of ice-water-dispenser-overflows and awkward run-ins. One of our own editors got physically squished between two varsity basketball players hugging on her very first day of college four years ago. That would never happen in Proctor.
Proctor has a versatility of seating arrangements that Ross just can’t match. Because of its multiple seating options (circle tables, long tables, the booth room, the lounge if you’re a Feb), Proctor is much more conducive to eating alone than Ross. When we want to get away from our friends for just a few minutes of solace over a meal or a coffee, Proc is the place to go.
Does upper Proc occasionally feel like you’re inside one of those croissants you put in the toaster even though it says not to and is about to catch on fire? Yes. Does the women’s soccer team have a permanent stranglehold on one of the circle tables? It appears so. (If you have any insight as to how we can get that setup as well, let us know.) Do you have to sleep there overnight to get a booth? Potentially.
You may say all of this is a bunch of baloney, but we actually have the data to back it up. According to Zeitgeist findings, students prefer Proctor (39.2%) compared to Ross (26.6%) and Atwater (33.0%). To those students that haven’t hopped on the Proctor train yet, you don’t know what you’re missing. In the Proctor vs. Ross debate, there can only ever be one winner: Proc forever and always.
(05/02/19 10:00am)
Campus lore suggests that varsity athletes at Middlebury are socially liberal, fiscally conservative economics majors. Some stereotypes surrounding varsity athletes are rooted in truth. Zeitgeist reveals, however, that the stereotypical image of a Middlebury athlete is not indicative of athletes as a whole.
Political Views
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When comparing social and fiscal views, most students in general, varsity athletes included, reported being socially and fiscally liberal. For both student athletes and the general student body, individuals’ social and fiscal values went hand in hand
In line with conventional belief, athletes demonstrated a slightly stronger likelihood of holding socially liberal and fiscally conservative values, as evidenced by the bigger size of the dots in the upper left quadrant of the varsity athlete political spectrum graph. However, the range of political values remained mostly consistent between varsity athletes and the overall population sample.
Academics
While 16% of Zeitgeist survey participants were varsity athletes, they are represented disportionately in certain majors. Athletes made up 30% of surveyed economics majors. Additionally, 21% of all neuroscience majors and 23% of all psychology majors were varsity athletes.
Sexual Activity
Another stereotype about athletes is that they may have more sexual partners than non-athletes. Both groups of students most commonly engaged in consensual sexual activity in the last 12 months with one to three partners, with 53% of athletes and 55% of non-athletes falling into this category. However, 23% of athletes had 4-6 partners compared to 13% of non-athletes.
Financial Aid
11% of varsity athletes reported being on financial aid, while 21% of non-athletes were on financial aid. This disparity in financial-aid recipients could reflect the expenses involved in nurturing athletic talent over an athlete’s career. Varsity athletes who are playing at the Division III level likely practiced their sport via private lessons or through a traveling club, both of which can be costly ventures.
Loneliness
One in five non-athletes feel lonely once a day, while one in 10 athletes feel lonely once a day. Research has shown that there is an loneliness epidemic on college campus in today’s age of social media, especially during a student’s first year. Many athletes seem to forge strong bonds with their teammates, which could be why athletes are slightly less likely to feel lonely.
Dining Halls
General student population preferences were fairly evenly split between Proctor, Atwater and Ross Dining Halls, with 39% of the student body preferring Proctor. Varsity athletes were slightly more likely to opt to go to Atwater, which captured 39% of varsity athletes’ top choice.
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The Middlebury track and field team began the first part of the championship season with a bang. On Saturday, April 27, the team competed with a great deal of passion at the NESCAC Championships. The men’s team ultimately captured the gold, while the women’s team came in second to Williams.
The men were able to win the NESCAC Championships with a total score of 201 points. The great performances started with Nick Hendrix ’20, as he came in first place in both the 100 meter dash and 200 meter dash. The Panthers also captured the first three places in the 400 meter dash. Jimmy Martinez ’19 came in first with a time of 50.06, Josh Howard ’19 came in second with a time of 50.89 and William Robertson ’21 came in third with a time of 51.02. It is also important to mention that Nathan Hill ’20 came in second place in the 800 meter run, while Jon Perlman ’19 and Hill came in second and third place respectively in the 1500 meter run. In the 4x100 meter relay, the Panthers finished first with a time of 42.76. This team was composed of Noah Wagner-Carlberg ’19, Hendrix, Arden Coleman ’20 and Conor Banky ’19.
“I am very happy we won the 4x100,” Banky said. “We have a great group of sprinters that work hard and continue to push each other everyday. I believe my times on Saturday are a result from everyone’s effort throughout the week.”
The Panthers also got first in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:23.35. This team was composed of Coleman, Robertson, Howard and Martinez. To finish off, Theo Henderson ’20 came in first in the 3000 meter steeplechase, John Natalone ’19 came in first in the pole vault event, Zack Sieb ’21 came in first in the discus throw and Minhaj Rahman ’19 finished first in the hammer throw.
In a total field of eleven teams, the women were able to come in second in the NESCAC Championships. The Panthers had a total of 145.50 points, while Williams came in first with 165 points. The notable performers include Gretchen McGrath ’21, who came in fourth place in the 200 meter dash with a time of 26.32. McGrath also came in fifth in the 400 meter dash. Cassidy Kearney ’22 had a time of 2:15.83 in the 800 meter run to capture third place. Abigail Nadler ’19 got third place in the 1500 meter run with a time of 4:39.57. Rory Kelly ’19 and Nadler captured first and second place respectively in the 5000 meter run. Kelly had a time of 17:47.74. A time of 35:58.49 placed Kate MacCary ’19 first place in the 10,000 meter run. The Middlebury “A” team won the 4x800 meter relay with a time of 9:34.62. This team was composed of Katie Glew ’21, Meg Wilson ’20, Anna Willig ’20 and Nicole Johnson ’22. Kreager Taber ’19 got second in the pole vault event with a vault of 3.55 meters. Rebecca Gorman ’20 was able to capture first place in the Javelin throw with a throw of 41.22 meters.
“The overall team had a fantastic showing at NESCACs and many people out-performed the predicted results,” Kelly said. “The women’s team really went for it despite being down some key contributors and we were all very proud of our collective work and that all of us competed bravely. In addition, it was great to see the men win the team title for the second year in a row.”
Despite an early win in the championship season, the Panthers still have a long way to go. The Division III New England Championships begins on Thursday, May 2 and goes through Saturday, May 4. I have no doubt that the Panthers can continue their dominance.
“We are heading into postseason with one of the best combined NESCAC performances Middlebury track and field has ever seen,” Gorman said. “Moving forward into championship season, the team is going to take that energy and run with it. There is more work to do and more records to be broken. We are going to show DIII Track and Field what Middlebury is made of.”
Banky adds, “Everyone’s excited to keep this train going. Even though some athletes will not move on to compete, everyone continues to support each other until competition season is over. Seeing the support within the team has been one of the best parts of getting to know this close-knit group.”
(05/02/19 10:00am)
2020 ELECTION PREFERENCES: TRUMP
It is no secret that President Trump is not particularly popular among Middlebury’s student body — the Zeitgeist poll shows that less than 3% of students approve of the way he’s handling office. On the other end, Trump’s campus disapproval rating hovers north of 90% — compared to 41% nationally — while around 4% of students describe themselves as neutral.
There are quite a few factors that could explain these results. Middlebury College can be somewhat self-selecting in terms of ideology, often attracting students with its environmental programs and reputation for liberal student activism. Then there is the phenomenon known as “social desirability bias,” in which survey respondents may underreport opinions deemed socially unacceptable. Although the existence of social desirability bias cannot be proven here, 51 students reported themselves to be “neutral” and 23 chose “I prefer not to answer,” indicating that there may be some undisclosed ideological tendencies among a student body that is not always particularly open to conservatism.
2020 ELECTION PREFERENCES: TRUMP BY SOCIAL AND FISCAL VIEWS
As expected, there is a strong correlation between students identifying as socially liberal and disapproving of the Trump administration. This is also by far the most popular pair of stances. Even among the 45 students who identified as socially conservative, only 18 approved of the job President Trump is doing in office.
Overall, there were many more students who identified as fiscally conservative — 207 respondents — yet only 25 of them approved of Trump. By the numbers, most of these fiscally conservative students identified as socially neutral or liberal. Nationally, voters with this combination of views tended to swing right and vote Trump in 2016, so why do Middlebury students not reflect the same trends?
It could be that Middlebury students feel much more strongly about their social views. Almost 400 respondents identified as the most liberal possible option when asked their social views, whereas less than half that number identified themselves as the most liberal fiscally, instead opting for more center-left gradations. Because of this difference, some students’ support for President Trump’s economic policies may be outweighed by their disapproval of his social conservatism.
2020 ELECTION PREFERENCES: DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES
With many months left before the Democratic primary and a historically large pool of diverse candidates, Middlebury students can’t be blamed for favoring the option “I prefer not to answer.” The first-choice candidate, however, is Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a predictable choice for Middlebury and one that mirrors national polls. (Or, really, mirrors polls as closely as it can, given that former Vice President Joe Biden, who has topped recent primary polls after entering the race, was excluded from the Zeitgeist survey due to his late announcement. Nationally, Sen. Sanders currently polls second.)
The next choice for Middlebury students, California Senator Kamala Harris, also mirrors some national trends. Some nationwide polls show Sen. Harris to be neck-in-neck with South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg for third place. However, Middlebury students chose Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and former Texas Representative Beto O’Rourke before Buttigieg, who came in fifth. Again, this may be attributed to the timing of the survey, as Buttigieg’s popularity saw a spike after the survey was closed. Besides these top five candidates, none won more than 5% of the student body.
FINANCIAL AID RECIPIENTS: SOCIAL VS. FISCAL
Like other campus groups, financial aid recipients were further left on the social scale than on the fiscal one. Still, the majority of financial aid recipients considered themselves to be fiscally liberal. Overall, the most common response among this group was the most liberal possible option in both categories.
VARSITY ATHLETES: SOCIAL VS. FISCAL
Following school trends, Varsity athletes pretty consistently tended toward the left side of the political scale in terms of social views. There was greater variability in response to fiscal ideology, though a considerable majority still mostly identified as fiscally liberal. However, a greater percentage of athletes identified as fiscally conservative than the overall campus. Overall, however, athletes still tended toward liberalism.
ECONOMICS MAJORS: SOCIAL VS. FISCAL / TRUMP APPROVAL
Although most Middlebury students identified as fiscally liberal, Economics majors were not so quick to swing left. Out of 112 respondents, the (slim) majority of Economics students identified as fiscally conservative at 58 tallies, as compared to 50 who consider themselves fiscally liberal. This contrasts strikingly against the general student body, confirming the common quip that Economics majors are socially liberal but fiscally conservative. Regardless, Zeitgeist data has shown that there is not a correlation between Middlebury students’ fiscal conservatism and support for President Trump.
*Editor’s Note: During the period in which the survey was open to responses, Joe Biden had not yet declared his candidacy for president.
(05/02/19 9:58am)
The Middlebury men’s lacrosse team entered the past weekend as the seventh seed in the NESCAC Tournament. After closing the regular season at 7-8, the Panthers were still confident they could make some damage in postseason play. Heading to second seed Wesleyan University on April 27, Middlebury showed just exactly what they are capable of. In a huge upset and the biggest win of the season, the Panthers won 11-7.
Tyler Forbes ’22 showed up to play once again, opening up the scoring at the 13:48 mark of the first. After winning the next faceoff, the Panthers regained possession and senior Luke Peterson netted a goal of his own in the next 40 seconds. Defense remained quite strong throughout the entire game. Wesleyan was able to get two back on the board in the first, but after junior Chase Goree’s goal, the game was 3-2 in Middlebury’s favor.
Wesleyan opened up scoring in the second quarter, but Middlebury’s offense was able to rebound quite quickly. Fans were quite impressed with the constant attack by the Panthers, who scored the next four goals of the half and took a demanding 7-3 lead into the second half. A.J. Kucinski ’20 added two of his own, while Forbes and Will Brossman ’21 netted one each on rifling shots.
In the second half, the Panthers proved just how good they were in the net and on the defense. It wasn’t until more than halfway through the third quarter when Wesleyan scored their first and last goal of the quarter. Middlebury followed with two goals of their own, again by Forbes and Kucinski. The Panthers could start to taste the victory but remained strong to close out the game on the attack. They did not let Wesleyan, fifth in the country, gain momentum. Wesleyan scored at the 11:19 mark, but Middlebury answered minutes later. Trading goals was simply not enough for Wesleyan to come back. After the Cardinals closed within three goals with four minutes to go, Goree put the icing on the cake with a great goal at the 2:26 mark.
The Panthers proved just how well-rounded they can be when their season is on the line. Sophomore Jack Hoelzer, who has played a decent amount throughout the season for the Panthers, praised how solid their team depth is. “We had a bunch of young guys stepping up to the plate and older guys leading us on Saturday. We played a really solid game and put together a solid 4 quarters,” Hoelzer stated.
A.J. Kucinski led the scoring with four goals and two assists, Forbes followed with three of his own. The man in goal earned a lot of praise this past weekend. “Tyler Bass [’21] played an amazing goal in net and with the help of the defense only let in seven goals 24 shots against the defending nationals champs,” Hoelzer said.
The Panthers will continue their postseason run as they head to tournament-host Tufts on Saturday to take on the Jumbos at 12:00 p.m.
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(05/02/19 9:57am)
The Panthers wrapped up their regular season this past weekend as they picked up two victories against No. 6 Amherst (9-0) and No. 16 Skidmore (8-1). On Saturday, the Panthers blanked Amherst at home inside the Nelson Recreation Center before heading to Skidmore on Sunday for a 1:00 p.m. match. The Middlebury women’s tennis team has now won eight straight matches in a row, bringing their overall record to 13-1 and 7-0 within the NESCAC.
“We feel very fortunate to be in the position that we are in right now,” senior Christina Puccinelli said. “We can look back on a season of long practices and grueling matches and know that we’ve done everything we can to prepare ourselves for our goals of winning the NESCAC and NCAA titles!”
The Panthers kicked off the match against longtime “rival” Amherst by grabbing all three points during doubles play. The No. 3 duo of Puccinelli and Maddi Stow ’20 blanked Jackie Ahn and Laura Swenson 8-0, while the top squad of Heather Boehm ’20 and Ann Martin Skelly cruised past Risa Fukushige and Renee Karchere-Sun 8-2. The No. 2 junior duo of Katherine Hughes and Skyler Schossberger posted an 8-1 victory over Lily Feldman and Sofia Carlsson to secure the team’s third point.
The Panthers crushed their singles matches as well, sweeping all six points in straight sets. At the top of the lineup, Boehm won 6-3, 6-0, while Hughes clinched a 6-4, 6-0 victory against Smukler at the No. 2 spot. In the third flight, Puccinelli won 6-3, 6-3 against Dewire, while Schossberger triumphed 6-4, 6-3 over Ivenitsky at the No. 4 spot. At the No. 5 spot, Stow posted a 6-4, 6-1 victory against Camilla Trapness before Emily Bian ’21 rounded out the scoring with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Ramras at the bottom of the lineup.
On Sunday against Skidmore, the Panthers once again took all three doubles points. The No. 3 tandem of Puccinelli and Stow came out firing to earn an 8-0 victory over Jackie Ahn and Laura Swanson, while Boehm and Skelly eased past Risa Fukushige and Renee Karchere-Sun 8-2 in the top flight. At the No. 2 spot, Hughes and Schossberger clinched the team’s third point with an 8-1 win against Lily Feldman and Sofia Carlsson.
In singles action, Puccinelli did not drop a single game as she cruised past Karchere-Sun 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 3 spot. In the second flight, Hughes secured the team’s fifth point and overall victory with a 6-2, 6-0 win against Kaiova, Schossberger clinched a 6-2, 6-4 win against Feldman at the No. 4 spot. Emily Bian blanked her opponent at the bottom of the lineup and Stow posted a 6-4, 6-0 victory at the No. 5 spot. Skidmore picked up one point with a straight-set win at the top of the lineup for the final 8-1 score.
The Panthers are heading into the postseason on a high note as they eagerly anticipate the NESCAC Championships and NCAA playoffs. “We have five days to prepare for the NESCAC tournament and we plan to use them wisely,” Puccinelli said. “We all have individual projects that we come to practice with each day, and we will continue to work on those projects throughout the rest of the postseason. While we are all incredibly excited for the conference tournament, it will be important for us to approach this weekend just as we have every other weekend this spring.”
Middlebury will host the NESCAC Championships next weekend on the Proctor Tennis Courts.
(05/02/19 9:56am)
The Middlebury Panthers (20-9, 5-4) wrapped up a four-game week with a series win over the Wesleyan University Cardinals (14-15, 4-5) in a NESCAC West matchup.
In a 9-4 win versus Plymouth State (13-20, 4-9), Middlebury scored four times in the second inning. Plymouth State scored a run and loaded the bases in the eight, but left runners stranded and the Panthers added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the inning to win the game.
Freshman pitcher Alex Rosario allowed just three runs on five hits over four innings. Senior pitcher Colby Morris received the win on a scoreless inning of relief.
“We were successful because we were playing loose and having fun playing instead of feeling like there was a ton of pressure on us to win,” junior pitcher Andrew Martinson said.
In the first matchup against the Wesleyan Cardinals, the Panthers scored in the third inning when junior third baseman Hayden Smith reached base on an infield error and stole second base, moving into scoring position. Junior left fielder Justin Han drove Smith in on an RBI single down right-center field.
The Panthers took the lead in the bottom of the fourth, off a solo home run from junior first baseman Kevin Woodring.
Wesleyan pulled ahead in the seventh, and the Panthers threaten in its final at bat, but were unable to pull ahead.
Junior catcher Gray Goolsby went 2-for-4 with two doubles. Morris threw a complete game, allowing four runs on seven hits with five strikeouts.
In Sunday’s doubleheader, the Panthers swept the Cardinals, winning 5-2 and 8-4.
In the first contest, Middlebury jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Panthers extended its lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI single from Woodring and an RBI double from sophomore center fielder Henry Strmecki.
Freshman pitcher Alex Price earned the win with six innings of work, allowing two runs on five hits, and striking out four. Earlier in the week, he tossed a hitless inning against Plymouth State. Sophomore pitcher George Goldstein earned the save on an inning of relief.
In Game 2, Middlebury scored a pair of unearned runs in its first at-bat. In the bottom of the fourth, the Panthers took a 3-2 lead on a sacrifice fly to drive in senior left fiedler Sam Graf. Middlebury scored twice in the seventh, with an RBI double from Graf. In the eighth, junior Alan Guild, who went 1-for-1 pinch hitting, homered and Strmecki scored an unearned run.
Martinson received the win on two innings of scoreless relief. Graf went 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI, junior shortstop Brooks Carroll added two RBIs.
On the week, Woodring hit .538, with a double, a home run, and two RBIs. He went 5-for-11 against Wesleyan, with an OBP of .500 and was perfect in the field with 25 putouts.
The Panthers face Amherst College (15-12-1, 5-4) in its next NESCAC West matchup, beginning Friday, May 3rd at 4 p.m. at Amherst.
“We’re preparing to keep the same mentality this weekend by having fun and playing loose and trusting that our work in the fall and winter is going to pay off,” Martinson said.
(05/02/19 9:55am)
Middlebury played its last series this weekend; they closed out the season with a five game losing streak.
The team played hard, but they were not able to snag a win from the Amherst Mammoths. The Panthers played twice on Saturday, April 28, losing 4-1 in the first game and 12-4 in the second with only six innings completed. Saturday morning, Amherst took a 3-1 lead by the third inning, and the Panthers weren’t able to close the gap. In game two, the Mammoths established themselves early, taking a 5-2 lead by the top of the second. The Panthers tried to close the gap in the bottom of a third, bringing the score to 5-4 with runs completed by Sophia Marlino ’22 and Melanie Mandell ’19. Sunday, the Panthers played their final game and lost 7-0. However, the team showed up with a strong defense, holding off the Mammoths from earning a single run until the top of the fifth.
The team played 29 games this season and finished with a 12-17 record. They won 41.4% of their games, which is down from 64.5% (20-11) in 2018 and 54.7% (17-14-1) in 2017. Their PCT for conference games this year was .364 which is relatively comparable to the past two years, .445 in 2018 and .333 in 2017. They have a cumulative batting average of .326, up from .312 in 2018 and slightly lower than .341 in 2017. The team’s on-base percentage is consistent with what it has been for the past two years, .401 this season, up from .383 in 2018 and .398 in 2017. The team also kept on par with the number of homeruns his, 17 this season compared to 18 from last season.
This weekend, the Panthers are set to play in the NESCAC Tournament, beginning on May 3. Middlebury will face the hosting Jumbos in the first round of the tournament. Tufts is currently ranked No. 1 in the East; Middlebury is ranked No. 4 in the West. Last year Tufts made it to game 6, or round two of the Championship, while Middlebury played in game 3 but lost to Bowdoin.
(05/02/19 9:54am)
Middlebury narrowly fell short on Saturday to No. 4 Amherst, who have been on a tear this season and have locked up the No. 1 seed for the NESCAC tournament which starts tomorrow. The Panthers can take away the fact that the match was incredibly close and they missed taking down the upstart Mammoths by just a few points.
In the doubles competition, Andre Xiao ’21 and Nate Eazor ’21 eased to the lone victory for the Panthers, as two upperclassmen pairings fell to give the Mammoths a 2-1 start to the match.
Amherst’s sophomore standout Sean Wei, a former 5-star recruit out of John McEnroe Tennis Academy, handed Midd’s Noah Farrell ’19 a straight-set loss at #1 singles. Wei is an impressive 9-5 on the season out of the top spot. After Xiao lost at #3, the Panthers found themselves with their backs against the wall, down 4-1.
“We were fighting from behind, but our guys definitely dug in and fought back,” said Assistant Coach Andrew Thomson. Panthers vet Lubo Cuba ’19, having recently ceded the No. 1 spot to Farrell, pulled out an impressive straight set win.
More ladder changes for the Panthers have seen first-year Stanley Morris drop into the #6 spot. Morris also charged to an impressive straight-set victory against 4-star recruit William Turchetta out of New York.
Middlebury had two of its most contentious matches of the season while down 4-3 with the match on the line. Sophomores Nate Eazor and Adam Guo have been reliable for the Panthers this season in the bottom half of the ladder, and they were just a tiebreak away from getting the job done for a would-be upset against Amherst.
After winning the first set, Eazor just barely lost an 8-6 tiebreaker in the second set, before going on to lose the third set. Guo finished just after, losing a 7-3 tiebreaker in the decisive third set of his own match.
“It was definitely an extremely close match with Amherst…[they have] a great team and it was a hard fought match. That said, if we continue to put in work, stay healthy, and come ready to rumble for the NESCAC tournament, we will have a great chance to win no matter who we play,” Thomson said.
The Panthers are definitely looking forward to the tournament on their home courts starting Friday, May 3rd. Middlebury earned the No. 3 seed and the right to play No. 6 seed Tufts, who they handed a 6-3 loss a couple weeks ago. A win on Friday would set up a rematch in the semifinals against No. 2 seed Wesleyan, who beat the Panthers 6-3 in early April.
Middlebury has reached the finals of the NESCAC tournament 10 times in the last 13 years. There are big expectations for the Panthers, but they have experience and home-court advantage on their side going into a pivotal weekend.
