1000 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(09/20/18 10:00am)
The Panther Football team suffered its first loss of the season this past Saturday while on the road at Wesleyan, falling to the Cardinals 52-21. Though the team started the season with a loss, the players work to improve upon their game this upcoming weekend against Bowdoin.
Middlebury heavily relied on its passing game to increase its offensive yardage. In comparison to Wesleyan’s 155 passing yards, the Panthers recorded about 100 more passing yards than the Cardinals.
The first drive of the game emphasized the strength of the passing game for the Panther offense, as quarterback Jack Meservy led the team down the field in nine plays. Middlebury scored the first 7 points of the game in the first quarter.
Wesleyan, however, took the panthers initial momentum and flipped the game quickly, first answering with a touchdown of their own, and then using a Middlebury turnover to claim the lead.
By halftime, the panthers were down by 10 points, but could not make up for the deficit. Wesleyan hit the field stronger in the second half, outscoring the Panthers by 21 (21-0) in the third quarter alone. Both teams matched touchdown for touchdown in the 4th, leaving the final score 52-21.
Though Middlebury’s passing game was more impactful than Wesleyan’s, the total Panther offensive yards lacked the Cardinals’ running game posted on the field. They fell 293 yards to the Cardinals 358. This differentiation came as a result of Wesleyan’s ground game and panther turnovers.
Panther highlights include an impressive performance from senior linebacker Kevin Maxwell, who led Middlebury in tackles on defense. Senior Conrado Banky and junior Maxin Bochman each assisted quarterbacks Meservy and Will Jernigan ‘21 in the passing game, recording 61 and 52 yards, respectively.
Wesleyan intercepted 3 of Middlebury’s passes and recovered 1 panther fumble, which ended up aiding the Cardinal victory.
Senior wide receiver Jimmy Martinez views the loss as an opportunity to improve their game as a team.
“After Saturday, we realized that we just need to make more plays and take advantage of opportunities. In order to win this week, and win out like we plan to, more people need to step up,” Martinez said, “I’m positive that with more mental focus and a positive attitude going forward that we will begin to dominate.”
Though this past Saturday was a tough loss, Martinez and the team are excited for what lies ahead. With a whole season ahead of them, the panthers have time and room to make improvements.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t put it together this week, but I promise--we’ll make Bowdoin sorry they got off the bus,” Martinez said.
The Panthers will face Bowdoin on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. for their home opener.
(09/20/18 10:00am)
For three days following the tragedy, the public did not know his name.
It was in the early morning of Saturday, Jan. 13, that Middlebury police found the body of a man who had frozen to death overnight off a path on the Town Green, covered with snow and sleet. The following Monday, local media began to report his identity: Suad Teocanin, a 45-year-old Middlebury resident who had been living at the Charter House during a recent period of homelessness. Following a night of drinking, Teocanin tried to make his way back to the Charter House before apparently collapsing, just yards from the shelter’s front door.
Reports of Teocanin’s death circulated around Middlebury that week, accompanied by photographs of his smiling face, descriptions of his recent homelessness and statements by police that alcohol had been a “significant factor” in his death. What these relatively brief media accounts could not capture, however, was the totality of Teocanin’s experience before his death — a life that began in the Bosnian city of Zvornik and led to ten years of employment at Middlebury College and another decade in the kitchens of several restaurants in town.
To the many people who knew him at the college and in town, Teocanin was not only a friend and coworker, but also a generous neighbor, a fellow immigrant and a bright spot amid the stresses of college life whose broad smile was cited without exception.
“The best antidote”
Teocanin came to America as a war refugee.
From 1992 to 1995, Bosnia was torn apart by ethnic conflict, as Serbian forces targeted the Muslim Bosniak population, burning cities and towns and massacring entire communities. In Teocanin’s hometown of Zvornik, tens of thousands of residents were driven from the area, and almost 4,000 were killed.
Teocanin was not Bosniak, however, but Romani, the historically itinerant ethnic group known colloquially as gypsies. Romani people, persecuted in Bosnia as they are in much of the world, were targeted specifically in the killings that took place in Zvornik. Those who knew Teocanin in Middlebury would recall that he rarely spoke about his life in Bosnia, or about the family he left behind. One former Proctor Dining Hall colleague, however, said Teocanin had spoken of witnessing the deaths of his parents and siblings.
Over 1,700 Bosnian refugees were resettled in Vermont between 1993 and 2004, and Teocanin was one of them. In Middlebury, a small community started to form by the mid-1990s, centered in the Pine Meadow Apartments near the Pulp Mill covered bridge. From their homes in the apartment complex that became known as Little Bosnia, Teocanin and his fellow refugees began to rebuild their lives in Vermont.
Jovanka Jandric was among the Bosnians who settled in Pine Meadow during that time, along with her husband, Refik, and their children. Refik came to the United States first in 1994, to a New Hampshire hospital, having lost both of his legs in Bosnia after stepping on a landmine. Jovanka came with their children several months later, and the family moved to Middlebury.
The older couple found jobs in town — Refik at Danforth Pewter, and Jovanka at the now-closed Greg’s Meat Market — and cared for Teocanin, who, in his early twenties, had arrived in town alone. “I loved him like a son. I’m old enough to be his mother,” Jovanka said. “He was too young.”
Teocanin’s childhood education had been minimal and he never learned to read or write. In order to communicate with his brother, who fled to Germany, Teocanin brought his letters to Jovanka, who would read them and help him compose replies.
Teocanin, after a stint at Mister Up’s restaurant, found his way to the college, where he began work in 1998 as a pot washer in Proctor Dining Hall. His coworkers, several of whom remain at Proctor today, were struck by his ability to adapt in what must have been a daunting new environment.
“You always start out in a different place, not being sure of yourself,” said Claudette Latreille, who still works at the college. Colleagues watched Teocanin transform from an inexperienced new hire who spoke little English to a skilled worker who mastered the language and the intricacies of food service.
“He was the kind of guy who fit in by watching, and then doing what the cooks were doing and saying,” said Richard O’Donohue, now retired, who worked as Proctor’s head chef. Coworkers helped Teocanin study for a driving test, went with him to college hockey games and invited him to Middlebury Union High School to watch their children play sports.
A few years into his time at Proctor, Teocanin began to work in the main dining area known as the servery, and students began to gravitate toward his warmth and near-constant smile.
“College can be a little intense, and literally, Suad was the best antidote for that,” said Megan McElroy Rzezutko ’04, who formed a close bond with Teocanin at Proctor. She recalled the feeling of “being in the library for many hours and then seeing his smiling face, so elated to see you.”
Libby Pingpank ’04 remembered meeting Teocanin soon after her arrival on campus. “It was the first time we were away from home,” she said. “He was just this welcoming, friendly face that we always knew we would see when we went to eat.”
Teocanin became known for stopping by tables to chat and joke with students, and for his vast collection of movies on VHS tape that he offered up as gifts and even as betting payments, when a group of fellow employees began placing bets on football games.
“Suad had some money, but not a whole lot, and he’d make side bets,” O’Donohue said. “When he couldn’t pay the bet, he’d bring in a bag of VHSs. Everybody got to the point of, ‘No, Suad, we’re not doing VHS.’”
To employees like Dawn Boise, the current Proctor manager, memories of Teocanin’s socializing feel like symbols of a bygone era, when the smaller student population meant that staff could talk freely with students without the looming threat of the mealtime rush.
“You used to have a little down time, where you could chat with people,” she said. “Now, you really don’t have time to get to know a lot of the students, which is hard.”
For the students who knew Teocanin, memories of those conversations have only grown in value in the years since their graduation.
“Honestly, when I think back, it’s my advisor and Suad who had the most impact on my time in college,” McElroy Rzezutko said. “There’s obviously faculty and administrators there that are a part of your life, but this was different. It was comforting, and wasn’t forced.”
“He was too good”
After over a decade, Teocanin left the college in 2010 after accepting a voluntary separation package offered by Middlebury following the 2008 financial crisis.
“When he decided to leave, we were pretty upset,” O’Donohue said. “But we couldn’t talk him out of it. He had his mind set.”
Years earlier, during his stint at Mister Up’s, Teocanin had worked alongside Megan Brady. When she and her husband Holmes Jacobs prepared to open Two Brothers Tavern, Brady insisted they hire Teocanin.
“He had a reputation of being a golden soul, a great person, a great work ethic and just a big heart,” Jacobs said.
Teocanin remained at Two Brothers until his death, working his way up from dishwashing to food preparation. There, like at the college, he became a beloved and visible figure, famed for his humor and, of course, his enormous grin. “Even though he had so many things stacked against him, he brought out the best in other people,” Jacobs said.
Work was steady, but Teocanin’s personal life was not. Over the years, the Bosnian community in Middlebury splintered along many of the same ethnic lines that had been present during wartime, and prejudices welled up against Teocanin’s Romani heritage.
“Not so many people liked gypsies,” Jovanka Jandric said. “Some people would open the door for him, some people would close the door.”
To make matters worse, friends say that a girlfriend extorted Teocanin out of what little money he had. Generous to a fault, Teocanin supported her unquestioningly. “Suad was one of those rare people who gave of himself to anyone without expecting anything in return,” Jacobs said.
For years, Teocanin had moved around frequently, often camping or living out of a truck when he had no reliable source of housing. As cold weather approached in the fall of 2017, Jacobs helped Teocanin move into Charter House.
“We’re so grateful for the Charter House,” Jacobs said. “But if he had been less generous with all of his time and money he probably would have had a housing setup that was more permanent.”
“He was too good,” Jovanka Jandric said. “Too naïve.”
“Richer and happier”
Jacobs remembers the day of January 12 vividly.
“It was a really weird, beautiful, sunny, 60-degree January day,” he said. “As the sun fell, the weather turned really quick.”
Temperatures that night dipped to 30 degrees and falling rain turned to snow. And Teocanin failed to make it home to the Charter House after a night of drinking in town.
The amount of alcohol that Teocanin had ingested came as a shock to those who knew him, as alcohol did not seem to play a major role in his life. News of Teocanin’s death left many in the community with the impression that he had long struggled with drinking, a notion that Jacobs feels compelled to refute.
“I don’t believe that he had a real substance abuse problem,” Jacobs said. “But that’s how he died, and that’s perhaps part of the perception that comes from that.”
In the days and weeks following his death, posts made on the Two Brothers Tavern Facebook page memorializing Teocanin garnered hundreds of reactions and dozens of comments.
“We have lost one of the biggest hearts we have ever known,” the first post read. “But deep down, somewhere hard to find tonight, we realize, as we always have, that each of us is so much richer and happier for having had Suad in our lives.”
However, months later, his friends still puzzle over the circumstances of his last night, and why Teocanin was in such a situation in the first place.
“It still confounds me a bit how he was left alone,” Jacobs said. “It’s unclear to me why the police weren’t called sooner to try to find Suad, especially when there had been witnesses to where he was. I feel like a phone call to the police could’ve saved him.”
Of all the ironies surrounding Teocanin’s death, including that he passed out just steps from shelter and that alcohol, a substance he seemed to use only rarely, was involved, what most disturbs those who knew him is the disjunction between the way he lived and the way he died.
“To me, the most horrific thing is that he was alone,” McElroy Rzezutko said. “This person that created such warmth, human-to-human.”
Amid their grief, James and Jacobs planned a memorial befitting Teocanin’s legacy at Middlebury’s Congregational Church. After first offering a small room, a church official eventually agreed to open up the entire building for the January 27 service.
Among the many attendees were Jandric, Jacobs and several Proctor employees. Speakers recounted how Teocanin made an impact on their lives in Middlebury.
“Everyone had a story, even if they didn’t really know Suad, about how he would help them cross the street, or [how] he would hold the door for them when he was walking into their shop with a big smile,” Jacobs said.
Since January, mementos of Teocanin have accumulated inside Two Brothers Tavern. A framed photograph hangs on the wall in the dining area, near the bar. Another sits above the sink, where Teocanin spent many hours washing dishes. And Jacobs is proudest of the life-sized poster of Teocanin, showing him beaming in his cook’s uniform, that now sits in the kitchen to greet Jacobs every day as he walks into work.
“It’s not Suad,” he said. “But it still makes me smile.”
(09/20/18 10:00am)
The community-initiated conversations have been hosted, the survey results analyzed and invitations to facilitated talks no longer populate student inboxes. The next phase of Envisioning Middlebury begins this semester, the phase in which the framework will start to have a concrete impact on the institution. Yet, despite the fact that this process has been in the works for well over a year, many in the broader Middlebury community still do not understand what it is.
That is in part because Envisioning Middlebury is not the typical strategic plan college presidents implement upon assuming their roles. Instead, it is a set of guidelines and values that inform decision-making, big and small, across the institution. Since Envisioning Middlebury’s adoption in 2016, members of every facet of the Middlebury community have engaged in dialogues centered around the future of the institution. Those discussions shaped and informed Envisioning Middlebury, and under President Laurie Patton’s direction, then-Provost Susan Baldrige took the lead in developing the new framework. The Board of Trustees approved the framework last October.
The decision to create a framework, rather than the typical checklist plan, came after issues that arose with the institution’s last 10-year-plan, Knowledge Without Boundaries, implemented under then-President Ronald Liebowitz in 2006.
Knowledge Without Boundaries took a more traditional approach, offering 82 concrete recommendations that were hindered when the 2008 financial crisis interrupted the subsequent fundraising process. According to Vice President of Communications Bill Burger, Envisioning Middlebury is intended to be “crisis proof,” to provide more flexibility and withstand unknown future obstacles.
This fall, the project will move into the implementation stage. With all the major building blocks of the program now in place, centered around a new mission statement, the institution is ready to accept proposals for “first moves” that will lead to changes based on the values and goals laid out in the strategic framework.
FRAMEWORK COMPONENTS
Envisioning Middlebury is comprised of five distinct pieces. First, a new institution-wide mission statement, which emphasizes immersive, engaged and creative learning. Second, a vision statement, which underlines the need for a “robust public sphere” in which citizens work across boundaries. Burger said the goal of the vision statement is to provide a more short-term focus in service of the broader mission statement.
The framework also highlights “distinctions,” or areas in which Middlebury already succeeds, and “directions,” which are areas for growth. Distinctions include Middlebury programs around the world, as well as more local programs like MiddCore and Oratory Now. The “directions” aim in part to bolster existing resources and programs, like the Anderson Freeman Resource Center and the Middlebury School of the Environment. Lastly, the framework includes four principles: promoting community, making intentional choices, responsible use of resources and committing time and space to collective goals.
Burger explained the principles as values that would guide intentional choice making. “That means holding ourselves accountable for the fact that Middlebury tries to do so much, or not allocate sufficient resources to our ambitions.” he said. “We have a tendency to stretch ourselves a little too thin sometimes and so these exist to help check ourselves as an institution.”
The entire framework can be found at go.middlebury.edu/envisioningmiddlebury.
With the framework in place, the Envisioning Middlebury Committee set about developing transformational goals, which the Board endorsed in January 2017. The three goals are to turn Middlebury into a center for persuasive and inclusive dialogue, a laboratory for curricular innovation and experiential learning and a globally networked changemaker. Each goal now has a working group led by a senior administrator who is responsible for brainstorming programs in pursuit of that goal.
ALL OF THE INSTITUTION
The framework also incorporates for the first time each part of Middlebury: the Language Schools, C.V. Starr Schools Abroad, Bread Loaf School of English, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, School of the Environment, Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS) and the undergraduate college.
Amy Morsman, interim dean for faculty development and research, believes the broad framework model is particularly useful for an institution with so many branches, though she acknowledged that it may feel undefined.
“It is a set of guidelines and that sometimes can feel frustratingly vague, but Middlebury is a big place and it doesn’t make any sense to create a fixed plan that is one-size fits all,” she said. “Some folks may not like that, but that is the reality of Middlebury, and so our strategic planning process should reflect that.”
The Campus reached out to three of the four undergraduate students who served on the advisory committee. Two felt that the inclusion of MIIS and other branches of the institution in the Envisioning Middlebury process made it harder to address issues specifically related to the college during the conversation phase.
“I had to keep reminding myself that Envisioning Middlebury was about all of the programs that fall under Middlebury’s umbrella,” said Tabitha Mueller, who graduated last May.
“I’d hoped Envisioning Middlebury would be a campaign to develop and strengthen the undergraduate college, but it took a macro-scale approach rather than a micro-scale one,” she said. “This macro-scale approach may have achieved the administration’s goals, but as a student, I remember getting frustrated because there was so much I hoped to address at the more micro-scale.”
Morgan Rawlings, a MIIS student, served on the advisory committee and wished more students and staff at the institute had participated. She felt the Envisioning Middlebury process was relevant to MIIS and hopes the framework will have an impact in Monterey. She also felt, like many at the college, that students at MIIS did not understand what Envisioning Middlebury was.
NEXT STEPS
Jeffrey Cason, the interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, began overseeing Envisioning Middlebury on July 1 after Baldridge stepped down, and has been tasked with moving the framework from conversation to implementation.
“Envisioning Middlebury was designed to hear from as many voices as possible across Middlebury,” Cason said. “Now that those voices have been distilled into strategic directions and transformational goals, we have a solid foundation from which to act, and to build.”
According to Cason, the next stage of the process, which is already underway, is to solicit ideas from programs, departments, offices and self-organized groups on how to move forward within the framework. Cason received initial proposals for programs and initiatives on Sept. 14, though he says the submission process will be ongoing. Working within budget constraints, academic leadership will determine which projects have priority and help refine proposed ideas. “There will also be some great ideas that we will have to say no to, because they require resources that we don’t have or don’t align with the strategic directions,” Cason said.
Cason acknowledged that resource allocation is especially important since Envisioning Middlebury took shape as much of the institution is working to cut costs and rein in financial deficits. But he argued that a strong strategic framework is exactly what Middlebury needs in the face of tough financial decisions. “In a sense, the Envisioning Middlebury process is even more important now, when we know we have to limit our expenses,” he said. “We need to decide what is most important to invest in, and we need to prioritize.”
ENDURING CHANGE
Envisioning Middlebury is designed to create change gradually while asking big, complicated questions about what Middlebury is and where it is going. Given the wide scope of the project, it is unclear whether current students will see the effects of the framework before they graduate. With time, though, the foundation laid so far during Envisioning Middlebury, and the work that has yet to be done, could fundamentally change the character of the institution.
For that to happen, Morsman believes, faculty and staff will need to continue to frame their work with the aforementioned directions and principles in mind. She acknowledged that this can feel like a big ask when everyone is already so busy.
“If people don’t stay engaged, then they are just leaving decisions to be made by a smaller group who have to pay attention to this, and that will reinforce the notion I have heard several times on campus that the administration is ‘just going to do what it wants anyway,’” she said, adding that the framework can create lasting change.
“I see the possibility of a Middlebury that is more focused, more collaborative among faculty and staff as well as students,” she said. “And more in tune with helping learners become highly capable participants and contributors to the world that is developing in this century.”
(09/20/18 10:00am)
The Panthers opened their season this past weekend at the Lindsay Morehouse Invitational hosted by Williams. While no individual tournament winner was awarded due to the invitational’s round-robin nature, the Middlebury women’s tennis team came back home with wins in their hands. To start off, doubles partners Christina Puccinelli ’19 and Emma Gorman ’22 led the team with an 8–3 win on Saturday. Following this victory, the new members of the team stepped up to the court. Gorman and Nora Dahl ’22 each earned two wins in singles, and Ruhi Kamdar ’22 had one. Experienced players Puccinelli and Emily Bian ’21 also won one singles match each. The Panthers continued to dominate the courts on Sunday with doubles duo Gorman and Puccinelli, who tallied two wins, and Dahl and Kamdar, who defeated Skidmore in a match.
Not only did the women’s team boast their athletic abilities this weekend, but they also demonstrated class and sportsmanship. Puccinelli was presented the Lindsay Morehouse Award, a distinction celebrating positive character, friendship, perseverance and sportsmanship.
As the Panthers start their season off with multiple victories, we look forward to their performance at the ITA Championships hosted at Williams from Friday, Sept. 28 to Sunday, Sept. 30.
(09/20/18 10:00am)
The Middlebury women’s golf team opened its fall season on the weekend of September 8 with a fantastic start, placing 2nd among 11 teams at the St. Lawrence Invitational. The Panthers tee’d a two-day total of 625, consisting of a 317 score on day one and a 308 on day two. This past weekend at the Ann S. Batchelder Invitational, the team came in fourth with a total of 675.
After a summer of good practice, the Panthers were fired up to compete as a team. Coming out swinging at St. Lawrence, Blake Yaccino ’20 led Middlebury in the tournament, finishing in a 4th place tie with a pair of 75s for a total of 150. Another strong contributor was Chloe Levins ’20, who placed 7th and carded a 151 (75-76), with her fellow teammate Helen Dailey following in a tie for 9th place with a 154 (78-76).
After graduating three seniors last year, it was interesting to see how the team would perform with only six returning players. However, the Panthers strong performance at the first tournament of the season proved that they are ready to compete as one fierce unit.
As Chloe Levins ’20 put it, “Having such a small women’s golf program this season will require higher focus and dedication out of each player. Not only will every member of the team play a vital role this season, but the attitudes we approach practice with will also affect the team much more. It will be important to remain positive, patient and constructive in our preparation for tournaments throughout the year.”
Levins, a consistent performer, tied for third overall this past weekend at Wellesley. She carded a 75 on Saturday and a 77 on Sunday for a total of 152. Helen Dailey followed with a 171 (87-85), Maddy Cordeiro ’22 with a 175 (88-87), Erika Nakagawa ’21 with a 179 (89-90) and rounding out the scorers was Anna Zumwinkle ’20 with a total of 181 (87-94).
Planning to build off this weekend’s momentum, the Panthers will return to action at the Mount Holyoke Invitational on the weekend of September 22.
(09/20/18 10:00am)
The Ralph Myhre Golf Course at Middlebury was buzzing with activity for the 36th Duke Nelson Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 15 and Sunday, Sept. 16. The invitational was hosted by the men’s golf team. Twenty-two colleges were represented that weekend, including Nescac rivals Williams, Trinity, Amherst, Tufts and Wesleyan. Other schools included New York University, Springfield College and Endicott College. Weather conditions were perfect for attacking the par-71 course. The summer heat had decided to extend its stay on campus for the tournament, allowing golfers to squeeze in a final tan.
While the Panthers may have returned with sun-kissed glows, they were unable to bring home new hardware. Middlebury finished seventh overall. The Williams Ephs captured first place after shooting a total of 584, and were followed by the Trinity Bantams, who tallied just four more strokes at 588. Middlebury was 12 shots behind first place with a score of 600.
The Panthers’ performance improved from day one to day two, when they shot 303 and 297, respectively. Middlebury’s second-round score of 297 was better than those of third-place NYU, fifth-place Johnson & Wales and sixth-place Amherst. The Panthers’ six-shot improvement, unfortunately, would not prove to be enough to capture first. Ironically, their position dropped from sixth place after round one to seventh place after the tournament ended.
Middlebury’s performance was led by David Packer ’20, who shot consistently at 74 and 73. Packer ultimately tied for 10th overall on an individual basis.
“Coming off our first round of tournament play for the season, I think the biggest factor [behind our improvement] was just a higher level of comfort competing again,” said Packer. “[It involved] getting some of those first-day jitters out of the way and being more confident standing over the ball.”
“The team was able to settle down after day one of our first tournament, and trust the process,” said senior captain Philippe Morin, who was tied at 48th after hitting 77 and 76. “We do not try to think too much about physical changes during tournaments, but mentally we commit to each other and every shot while on the course — a mindset needed to score well.”
Captains Reid Buzby ’19 and David McDaniel ’19 finished tied for 26th and 65th, respectively. Sophomore Jordan Bessalel ’21 also placed at 26th.
The Panthers will be looking to exact revenge on Williams this weekend at the Williams Fall Invitational this weekend, Saturday, Sept. 22 and Sunday, Sept. 23.
(09/20/18 9:59am)
On the patio of Otter Creek Bakery, a group of students pet an elderly couple’s golden retriever. Inside, a mother with a stroller walks up to the counter, greeting staff like old friends.
For over 32 years, owners Ben and Sarah Wood have been building a beloved neighborhood institution, churning out pastries, sandwiches and cakes for the Middlebury community. Now they are preparing to take a step back, putting the bakery up for sale.
The couple’s decision marks the latest change in a town whose landscape has dramatically shifted over the past year, including the closure of Carol’s, the Lobby and other retail businesses, like Ben Franklin. The bakery appeared, for a moment at least, to be the next victim of a difficult economic environment.
But unlike many of the businesses, Otter Creek is neither struggling nor shutting down. Through the financial crisis in 2008 to the disruptive construction of a rail bridge in downtown Middlebury, Ben and Sarah have weathered multiple storms over the years, unfazed by the problems that seemed to cripple their neighbors.
In fact, this summer brought one of the most profitable seasons in recent memory, with language school students and community members alike flocking to their store even in the sweltering heat.
Wood is optimistic that the shop’s growth will continue in the close-knit community that is Middlebury.
“People do want to shop locally,” she said. “They do want to know who’s behind the counter.”
At the same time, she recognized the need to be careful not to invite unsustainable competition, refusing to crowd the limited market with offerings similar to those of other stores in town
“We don’t make bagels and doughnuts, it’s too small of a population,” Wood explained, referring to Middlebury Bagel and Deli. She attributes part of her success to the niche she and her husband were able to build. It’s led them to focus their attention on a few items they know how to make well, like their famed chocolate cake and their unique sandwiches.
The Woods’ love for food has deep roots. For years, they spent summers training at a French bistro in Nantucket, learning the basics of cooking and baking. In the winters, they travelled to various cities to find off-season work. One of those places was Vermont, where they also fell in love with the land.
By the time they left the Nantucket bistro in 1986, Ben had more than a decade of experience with French cooking, and Sarah in baking. Between the two of them, they had also accumulated a restaurant’s worth of industrial kitchen supplies, from an oven to sets of copper pots, pans and knives. When they saw that the café on Frog Hollow Alley was up for rent in Middlebury, they jumped at the opportunity. They’ve stayed ever since.
For years, Sarah would come into the store before sunrise, and work until 8 a.m. “Baker’s hours,” Ben joked. He would take over to prepare for the lunch rush, building off his early menus from the bistro.
“I do the sweet, and he does the savory,” Sarah said.
Their dynamic has helped them succeed, appealing to a wide range of customers without stepping on each other’s toes.
They hope to find a buyer with similar skills and strong determination, able to handle the numerous dimensions of the business.
Until they do, they have no intention of shuttering its doors.
“We’re not in a hurry, so we want to make sure it’s the right match,” she said. “Or we’re not doing it. I’ll wait five years if I have to.”
The new owners will inherit a daunting responsibility. To the Middlebury community, Otter Creek is much more than just a pastry shop. Its food is often present for life’s most important milestones, a staple at weddings and birthday parties.
The bakery is also an important link between the town and the college. Located on 14 College Street, it is one of the few places where the two often-divided communities interact. For the business, that has also meant a diverse set of customers and a steady stream of new faces.
“With the college, there’s a lot of diversity that you don’t have in other towns — people with different ideas, from all walks of life,” Sarah said.
Ben and Sarah Wood even hoped that the college would buy their store. They reached out to the administration, proposing to move the admissions office to the bakery.
“The admissions office up there is kinda sterile,” she said. “Visitors could just hang out here, and you can have a cappuccino, croissant, see the town. It’s the threshold to Middlebury.”
But with little interest from the school, they are still searching. In the meantime, they continue to work at the store as they did for decades, with the same passion and quality. Though, at the end of the day, they remain committed to selling.
“The bakery’s sort of like our first child,” Sarah said. “It’s ready to get booted out of the nest and grow up.”
(09/13/18 10:03am)
The returning NCAA Champion field hockey team is off to another strong start, remaining undefeated after three games (10-0 v. Castleton, 4-0 v. Connecticut College, 7-0 v. University of New England). After putting in countless hours of hard work in the classroom and on the field during preseason camp, the Panthers are excited to be back in action. Joining the top-ranked team are five first-year athletes: Joan Vera, Hanna Sullivan, Riley Marchin, Nicole Johnson, Grace Murphy and Grace Harlan. They will be looking to fill the shoes of the star-studded senior class of 2018 — Audrey Quirk, Annie Leonard, Eva Dunphy, Caroline Knapp and Carson Peacock — who won two NCAA Championships during their time at Middlebury.
“The team is looking great so far,” said goalkeeper Meg Collins ’18.5, known for her ability to remain composed under pressure and also for her warm-up dance moves. “We have a 3-0 record so far which is awesome, but we are much more focused on the process of the game and perfecting our way of playing.”
This year’s team is stacked with talent and depth. Grace Jennings ’19, who scored the game-winner in both the 2015 and 2017 National Championships, is one of the few lefties to play college field hockey and is nearly impossible to defend. Amanda Bozorgi ’19, known for her aerial style corner play, brings strong offensive presence while also coming up big in defensive situations. Rounding out the senior class is Molly Freeman, who is great in the circle and contributes a lot of goals on offensive corners as a tipper.
Lauren Schweppe ’18, who graduated last year, now uses her expertise as a two-time National Champion and All-American in her new role as assistant coach. Also new to the program is Rachel Polombo, who comes from an assistant coaching position at Salisbury University. They will be working alongside assistant coach Andrea Way who has spent five years at Middlebury.
Returning for her 18th season is National Coach of the Year, Katharine DeLorenzo. DeLorenzo has led the Middlebury Field Hockey program to five NESCAC Championships and two NCAA Championships. She has been recognized multiple times as NESCAC and National Coach of the Year, and is known for cultivating team cultures rooted in love and excellence. As she noted in a press conference at the end of last season, “We never talk about winning. We just talk about playing.”
Make sure to head down to Peter Kohn Field this Saturday to support the Panthers as they take on Amherst at 11:00 a.m.
[gallery ids="39562,39560"]
(09/13/18 10:00am)
There’s a new man in charge of the Middlebury men’s soccer team. Last season’s assistant coach Alex Elias ’08 is taking over the program from David Saward, who retired after an illustrious 33-year career coaching the Panthers. During his time, Saward amassed a whopping 347 wins, as well as 10 NCAA tournament appearances and the program’s first NCAA title in 2007.
Saward’s last season was a special one for the Panthers, despite ending with a loss in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Kye Moffat ’19 noted that last year the boys rallied around the energy of shutdown goalkeeper and senior tri-captain Jeremy Yeager.
“[We] were fired up to be playing with [Yeager] and to extend coach’s last season,” Moffat said.
Moffat also referenced many special moments for the 2017 team. Moffat described one weekend when senior tri-captain Jed Sass scored an exciting winning goal against Amherst and then another one at home against Hamilton. In reference to the final 2017 captain Enzo Weiner ’18, Moffat said he will miss how “Enzo tackled harder than anyone in the league.”
This year, sophomore Matt Hyer looks to fill Yeager’s goalkeeper shoes on the field and in the locker room. Moffat, stepping in at center back for Weiner, hopes to carry on Weiner’s tradition of tough-nosed play. Moffat will additionally continue the legacy of his oldest brother Corey Moffat ’08, who played center back on Saward’s 2007 NCAA Championship team.
Elias, who also played for Saward’s 2007 team, looks to continue the legacy left behind by his former coach. Moffat describes Elias’s coaching style as more low-key than his predecessor. According to Moffat, Elias puts major emphasis on old-fashioned hard work.
“Elias demands hard work, and he wants the results to speak for themselves,” Moffat said.
Although he was an assistant last year, Elias is preparing to bring his own flavor to the men’s soccer program. Moffat noted that it has taken some time to get used to the new team formations and tactics. The transition has led to a slow start for the Panthers. Already the Panther’s record includes an overtime tie at home to Norwich University on September 4 and a devastating last minute 1-0 loss to Connecticut College on September 8.
The Panther’s next game is Saturday, September 15 at home against Amherst at 12:00 p.m. Moffat urges the student body to turn out regardless of the slow start.
“I am not worrying about the results so far and neither should you guys,” Moffat said. “So come out to the game this Saturday.”
(09/13/18 9:58am)
Meron Benti ’19 and Philitricia Baraza ’18 directed the first Amani for People with Albinism (APWA) summit last month, aimed to empower Kenyan youth with albinism.
With help from a Projects for Peace grant of $10,000, and a further $2,000 raised by Benti and Baraza themselves, the pair were able to host 25 participants ages 19-27, for a week-long program from Aug. 17-24 in the small town of Meru, Kenya.
The inspiration for this event came from a summit Benti attended as a high schooler called the Global Youth Peace Summit, which focused on personal development and confidence building by examining one’s own identity. Benti, who is originally from Ethiopia, worked with Baraza, from Kenya, to create a summit with similar goals to the Global Youth Peace Summit.
During the first few days, participants examined albinism through a biological and social lens in an effort to understand albinism as a condition and its misconceptions. They examined the discrimination and derogatory language that people with albinism often face with an emphasis on forgiveness and letting go.
Benti said they also talked about names and the idea of semantics. “It’s the fact that sometimes we have a name that is given to us, that does not reflect who we are,” she said.
They then discussed how their albinism does not define their identity.
“We talked about the fact that we shouldn’t define ourselves as albino, that we are people with albinism, we are not just albinos, so it goes beyond our condition,” Benti said. “We are humans and we just have a condition called albinism.”
The focus on personal development concluded with a session led by a guest speaker who discussed the idea of stereotypes and how to break them.
The rest of the week focused on professional development. Activities included practice in resume building, interviewing, business communication and entrepreneurship. Guest speakers with albinism spoke about their experiences in the professional world in order to show participants how successful people with albinism can be.
Benti and Baraza hoped that the participants would find peace within themselves and become more confident.
“Lack of melanin is not a lack of ability, knowledge or skills,” Benti said. “It’s the fact that yes we are people with albinism but [we] are not limited to anything.”
While organizing the summit was challenging, Benti hopes to organize another next summer. Her friend Alyne Goncalves ’19, who also attended the summit to interview participants, is working on a documentary about the lives and perspectives of people with albinism, which they hope will be finished early next year.
(08/29/18 4:33am)
[gallery size="full" ids="39374,39373,39375,39376,39377,39378,39379,39380,39381,39382,39383,39384,39385,39390"]
We spotted the marker of the day’s purpose to the left of the giant stone gates, a sign inscribed in black Sharpie: “Cheese Festival SOLD OUT."
We had decided some weeks before that a summer spent in Vermont called for a quintessential end. Attending the 10th Annual Vermont Cheesemaker’s Festival was our celebratory send-off. I had been studying French at one of the college’s language schools when I learned of the cheese event and immediately thought of my friend Griffin — a fellow French student, cheese lover, and a begrudging lactose intolerant. I sent him a text message with a picture of the poster, a quasi-ironic invitation that somehow evolved into our investing a New York-music-festival amount of money, all to indulge in a ritual well-suited to the state with the highest number of cheesemakers per capita.
The event was held at Shelburne Farms, which sits on 1,400 acres overlooking Lake Champlain. We quickly came to the realization that the ticket price wasn’t the only element of the Cheesemaker’s Festival that mimicked a music festival: with deft arm movements, volunteers directed vehicles to park in meticulous rows while colorful wristbands indicated the various tiers of prestige.
The leisurely hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. left many festival goers, like ourselves, rolling into the event about an hour late; sampling cheeses and ciders for six hours on a humid mid-August day seemed like overkill.
The shuttle bus rattled over the estate’s dirt paths, guiding us along the lake to the cavernous Coach Barn, a temporary temple of cheese. Dismounting the bus, we promptly received a branded tote bag and glasses for sampling wine and beer throughout the day.
Entering the first of two steamy tents and overtly overwhelmed, we were approached by an enthusiastic volunteer. “Not sure where to start?” he inquired. Nope, no idea. Hoping he would tell us there was some structure to the swarms of people flooding the nearly 200 vendors, we were told instead that there wasn’t a clear way to tackle the crowds or the cheese. “I’d suggest heading to a corner and just working your way through,” he offered.
We started at the far right with Jasper Hill Farm. The Northeast Kingdom producer is renowned for its on-site “cellars,” a 22,000-square-foot underground facility devoted to cheese maturation, also known as affinage. Its selection of a dozen cheeses ranged from the spoonable Harbison, a runny substance swaddled in strips of the innermost layer of tree bark to the nutty Haley Bazen Blue, which I deemed one of the day’s frontrunners.
Despite the volunteer’s advice, the crowd was no more penetrable at the far end of the tent. Fifteen minutes in, we had already brushed against a few too many sweaty shoulders for our liking. The aisles were congested and the cheese patrons overly excited. It was the dairy equivalent of a mosh pit.
But I was undeterred. My lifelong love affair with cheese dates to my earliest months. My first two-word combination, in fact, was “more cheese,” and by age four, I was attacking tubs of cream cheese with a spoon. In middle school, while other kids were stuck on Swiss and American, I was consuming ripe slabs of sheep’s milk cheese from the Hudson Valley and stinky rounds of aged goat from southern France.
Despite my amorous relationship with cheese, I was out of my league here. This event was filled with professional cheese purveyors who had come from across the country to sample potential candidates for their shelves. As we ducked out of the tent in search of fresh air, we made our way into the Coach Barn, which had workshops and seminars led by experts in the field. Intrigued, I leaned through the doorway during “The Future of Cheese with Rory Stamp,” only to hear him discussing something along the lines of “prime time cheddaring.” Other seminars included “Cheese Science 101” and “What is a Cheesemonger?”
The festival went well beyond cheese and beer to encompass other forms of dairy. In the courtyard of the Coach Barn, Griffin and I stumbled upon a homemade butter demonstration. Gripping clear, round basins, children churned handles round and round, turning cream into butter. A woman behind the stand offered us sweet-peppercorn and chive butter created moments earlier.
Of course, if anything can reinvigorate two overwhelmed cheese tourists, it is soft butter and fresh air. We were finally ready to head back into the tent. This time, we had a clear goal of finding the makings for a picnic. We spotted Red Hen Baking’s stand, a bakery located just outside of Montpelier, and were instantly allured by the bread’s offbeat ingredients. The company adds polenta or potatoes to bolster flavor and texture.
Adjacent to Red Hen Baking’s stand, family-owned Parish Hill Creamery handed out cheese samples while explaining the unique source of its milk. Co-owners Rachel Schall and Peter Dixon use cream produced at the Putney School’s farm. In keeping with the school’s philosophy, students not only study agriculture but also handle chores on the farm, which include milking cows. That leaves them with a surplus of fresh milk. Parish Hill transforms this raw milk into memorable cheeses, with whimsical names like Humble, Reverie and West-West Blue.
After sampling a dozen more cheeses, we were feeling more than a little sated as the crowds began to thin. At this pause in the action, Griffin remembered to take another lactaid pill. Then we walked past the V.I.P. area where we spied a man, semi-comatose, sprawled on a lawn chair sleeping with his mouth wide open. Hoping to avoid the same fate, we walked toward the lake. As the buzz of cheesemongers faded into the background, the lake’s surface mirrored the gathering clouds above. Griffin waded in up to his knees and, without saying a word, dunked his head in the water.
(05/10/18 12:08am)
The women’s lacrosse team earned another piece of hardware last weekend when they became the Nescac champions for the ninth time. Despite cruising past Trinity and Bowdoin in the regular season without breaking a sweat, the two rivals came out with nothing to lose and gave the Panthers a run for their money. But the Panthers fared well under pressure and toppled their rivals. Middlebury skated past Trinity 16–13 on Saturday, May 5, in the semifinals, followed by a championship win over Bowdoin on Sunday, May 6.
Last year in the conference tournament, the Panthers did not fare as well, falling to Colby in the second round. During this year’s regular season, Middlebury fans watched as the Mules once again took the women down in a regular-season matchup, 14–12. The women were prepared to avenge that loss in a game with higher stakes, but they didn’t have to worry about the pesky Mules because they were knocked out by Amherst in the quarterfinal to end a down season for Colby.
Although the Panthers had beaten Trinity handily 14–8 in the regular season, anything can happen in a conference tournament. The heightened pressure of qualifying for NCAA’s invigorates an underdog and creates a lack of security. On top of that, they were the top seed.
“There definitely is a lot of pressure being the No. 1 seed in the tournament as well as hosting,” Zecca said. “After losing in the semis last year and watching two other teams compete for the championship on our own field, we knew there was nothing stopping us from getting there this year. No. 6 Trinity upset No. 3 Tufts in the quarterfinals, so we knew that they [were capable of pulling off an upset].”
The Panthers were reminded of this lesson this weekend when they had a tight matchup with the Bantams, once again coming from behind in the second half to win 16–13.
The Panthers had some trouble getting off to a strong start throughout the season but seemed to overcome this weakness in the conference playoffs. The hosts punched first, swatting three goals past the Bantam goalie within two minutes of play when Hollis Perticone ’18 scored her 29th goal of the season. She was quickly followed by Erin Nicholas ’21, as well as Emma McDonagh ’19, who would go on to score three more goals.
The hosts needed to be more than a second-half team because they couldn’t afford to put so much pressure on themselves in the final stanza given the high postseason stakes. The Bantams were able to sneak two more goals by Julia Keith ’20 to narrow the margin until Casey O’Neill ’19 found the back of the cage. With a score of 4–2, Trinity continued to climb back, adding one more tally to their total at the 21-minute mark.
With about 20 minutes left to go in the period, the visitors would go on to outscore the hosts 5–3, claiming the 8–7 advantage as the teams headed into halftime.
Middlebury was not concerned with this one-goal deficit, as they had dug themselves out of much deeper holes earlier in the season. They were a second-half team and would prove it today, with their home crowd behind them.
The Panthers did not win the race to the scoreboard this time. The Bantams found openings in the Middlebury defense and capitalized on their quick breaks. After the visitors continued to increase their total to a 10–7 lead, Emily Barnard ’20 found Georgia Carroll ’18 to bring it back to a two-goal game. The visitors continued to preserve their edge, climbing to 12 goals. Sara DiCenso ’19 and Jenna McNicholas ’19 hammered two shots past the Bantam goalie in between the two visitor goals.
After feeling the sting of another Bantam goal, something clicked for the Panthers. Middlebury picked up four goals within the next six minutes of play. Kate Zecca ’20 was the first of the four, exploiting a perfectly executed pass from Carroll. The Panthers were now confident at a 14–12 lead and could not let their margin be ripped from their hands. In the final 10 minutes, the hosts allowed only one Trinity ball to enter their cage, while nailing two more shots past the Trinity goalie.
Once again, Keith and Kate Furber ’19 split time between the poles, with Keith making three integral saves in the first half and Furber making one in the final stanza to bring the Panthers to victory.
It was all smiles on Kohn Field when the last whistle blew to finalize the score of 16–13. They were on to the final and were ready for a fight.
“Overall, our team felt really confident about facing Bowdoin again in the championship,” Zecca said. “Though we played them earlier in the year, it was in the very beginning of the season. We knew they had been able to develop and better their play since we last saw them, so we knew that this game couldn’t be taken lightly.”
On Sunday, the Panthers had nothing left to lose and planned on leaving everything on the field. They took the field with confidence, knowing they had defeated Bowdoin by 10 goals earlier in the season. From time to time, this confidence did waver, as the women remained neck and neck throughout the game.
The first half kept fans at the edge of their seats, as both teams had a response for each goal scored. Bowdoin tallied the first goal as Allison Williams snuck a shot in after the first five minutes. Hannah Hirchfield’s goal was then sandwiched in between two Middlebury goals, one from McDonagh and one from Grace Getman ’21. Bowdoin increased their lead by two in the next five minutes. With under ten minutes to go, Kirsten Murphy ’21 showed up once again to toss a goal in the hosts’ direction. Carroll contributed her share, following the freshman, just before the Polar Bears were able to knock one more back. Then, McDonagh knotted the score 5-5 to finish out the period.
Once again, the pressure fell on the Polar Bears with the sound of the second-half whistle. Middlebury was now infamous for its second-half runs. But the visitors were the first to earn a goal. Three minutes later, we heard from McNicholas, who kept her team in the game. This momentum was followed by Perticone and Zecca, making the score 8–5. The Polar Bears were willing to leave it all on the field as they fought back to a tie game. With a little more than five minutes to go, the Panthers found their lungs to preserve their one-goal lead. McDonagh and Carroll were able to slap back two more shots to secure the trophy for Middlebury.
The Panthers’ defense once again played a major role in their victory. The seniors led the stats, knowing this would be their final conference tournament. Evie Keating ’18 grabbed three ground balls and forced two turnovers, while Perticone helped her out with seven draw controls and another two turnovers. Susana Baker ’19 contributed her share with three turnovers and three ground balls.
Keith and Furber showed up where they needed to. In the first period, Keith prevented three balls from netting the cage. In her second-half appearance, Furber made a tremendous effort with eight stops.
The fourth-ranked Panthers will host their regional this weekend. They will play the winner of Babson and Castleton on Sunday, May 13, and are preparing by focusing on the fine points of their game, according to Zecca.
“In both the [conference] semifinal and championship, we have had to come back from three- to four-goal deficits,” said Zecca. “Although we have come out on top in those close games, it would be undoubtedly better for us to come out strong and prove that we are playing to win for a full 60 minutes.
“We are confident that we have what it takes to make it all the way to the Final Four,” Zecca added. “We just need to play the way we know we can.”
(05/09/18 11:50pm)
On the evening of Friday May 4, bright neon glow sticks illuminated the packed crowd in Wilson Hall. The audience’s energy was palpable as they anxiously waited to celebrate Middlebury College’s second annual Korean Culture Show. The show began at 8 p.m. and ran for about two hours (with 18 individual acts), featuring a diverse collection of Korean performance art including dancing, singing, rapping, poetry reading, instrumental music and more.
The only requirement for participation in the show was a love of Korean culture and a desire to share it with the Middlebury community. A diverse cast, comprising ethnically Korean and non-Korean students alike, graced the stage for each performance.
“Through the Korean Culture Show, I started to engage with community members that I hadn’t been exposed to,” said Max Lucas ’21, who danced in the show. “[It’s about] bringing together different people from different backgrounds… It’s really nice because you get to learn more about traditional Korean culture but then you can also just to have fun and dance on stage. Our group had a ramen night where we had different Korean ramens, did facemasks, and watched a bunch of Korean videos to build the community and get everyone excited about the performance in general.”
The Korean Culture Show is a significant event on campus because it is one of the only formal platforms for celebrating and sharing Korean culture. While organizations such as Korean American Student Association and Asian Students in Action exist, their events usually take place on a smaller scale and in informal settings. Students praised the Korean Culture Show for giving the Middlebury community such accessible exposure to this culture.
“It was really nice to see how a lot of people came out from the Middlebury community who may have not necessarily known what K-pop is or about Korean culture, but they were willing to come and see what people had produced,” Lucas said.
This entirely student-led production showcased the talents of over 50 students and was coordinated by a logistics team made up of Abby Escobar ’20, Karl Lin ’20, and Lia Yeh ’20. These students began organizing the program as early as this fall while team-wide rehearsals began at the start of spring semester. The individual performances were conceptualized by a group of team leaders who finalized the show’s setlist and led rehearsals. Members of the Leaders Team included Mika Dab ’20, Jeffrey Formen ’19, Monica Galbraith ’20, Abla Laallam ’20, Karul Lin ’20, Nathan Nguyen ’19, Alan Ohikuare ’20, Miko Dai ’20, Jilian Ohikuare ’20, Anton Gallegos ’20 and Lia Yeh ’20. Four lively emcees, Keun Young Ko ’21, Sean Rhee ’21, Jin-Mi Sohn ’18 and Miles Tyner ’18, kept the show moving with detailed introductions of the performances and their cultural significance and helped maintain a vibrant energy among the crowd and performers alike.
Upon entering Wilson Hall, audience members were given a yellow ribbon sticker in honor of the Korean Culture Show’s theme: commemorating the heartbreaking sinking of the Sewol Ferry in South Korea and suicide awareness. Sean Rhee ’21 delivered a speech at the end of the show dedicated to these issues.
“Even though four years have gone by [since the sinking of the Sewol Ferry], the tragic accident continues to pain the people of South Korea,” Rhee said. “Tonight, we continue to honor those 153 students who lost their lives on April 16, 2014. The yellow ribbons [are] to remember the Sewol Ferry disaster and to keep pushing for justice for those students and passengers we lost that day.”
“South Korea is known for its youthful culture and viral K-pop performances like the ones you have seen tonight,” Rhee said. “However, underneath that vibrancy exists a growing concern of depression and suicide. South Korea, unfortunately, has one of the highest rates of suicide in the world, and is even referred to as the ‘Republic of Suicide.’ Tonight, we support those who suffer from society’s immense pressures. Within this society that pushes against us, stigmatizes mental health and expects us to accept these adversities as a part of life, let us push back against these ideas.”
For the show’s final performance, the entire cast gathered onstage to lead the audience in an interactive dance. Audience members exited Wilson still practicing their dance moves and smiling from ear to ear. It is safe to say the second annual Korean Culture Show was a wild success. The audience ate up every bit of the show and erupted in applause at the end of each act. Congratulations to the entire team who put on this passionate and striking performance. Your dedication truly shined through.
“It’s a baby — it’s only two years old so hopefully it becomes a tradition,” Rhee said. “I really hope that it continues because it was really exciting for me as a Korean to share that culture on this campus. As hard as it was and as stressful as it was, it was really rewarding at the end of the day.”
(05/09/18 11:41pm)
[gallery ids="39020,39021,39022,39023,39024"]
The Middlebury Farmers’ Market (MFM) started its summer market season last Saturday, May 5, featuring a variety of products including fresh produce, prepared foods and other Vermont crafts. This year’s outdoor summer market will run every Saturday and Wednesday morning from 9:00am to 12:30pm until Oct. 27. The Middlebury Farmers’ Market is especially known for its variety in organic vegetable and dairy items.
The summer market, unlike in the winter season, is held outdoors and offers a wider variety of different products. The summer season also brings musicians and special events such as the Grand Opening on May 26, Dairy Day on June 16, Red White and Blue Day on July 7, and the Harvest Festival on Oct. 13. This year’s summer market has also reached out to community partners for more special events like Homeward Bound’s meet and greet with dogs up for adoption this past Saturday.
While MFM was previously located at Marble Works, the ongoing rail bridge construction project led to a permanent relocation last summer to 530 Exchange Street, a less visible location from downtown Middlebury. “It’s a shame that there isn’t more interest from the city and downtown retailers to support a more centrally located Farmer’s Market,” said Laura Quill of Quill Hill Farms about the new location.
Though the past location was more easily accessible to pedestrians, the market has worked to make both parking and biking easier at the center for Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). “The VFW does have its advantages,” said MFM’s promotions and outreach liaison Elisabeth Woronzoff. “More space for more vendors, a beautiful green space to sit and enjoy the event, easy access to an ATM, a new and improved parking methodology and access to other great businesses located on Exchange Street.”
BENJY RENTON
Still, MFM remains a significant component of Middlebury’s community. “Addison County is so rich in resources that our market can offer an amazing assortment of fruits and vegetables, cheeses, meat, breads, crafts, and other products,” Woronzoff said. “The vendors are also creative and interested in experimentation, so you never really know what products are available until you stroll through their offerings.”
For instance, Quill Hill Farm tries to stand out in the market by offering a more unusual variety of vegetable products, including unique heirloom tomato starts, mixed purple green beans, spicy chili peppers, and distinctive garlic powders. “Our garlic powders are also unique in that they are a small batch made using a blend of eight varieties of garlic where some are spicier or sweeter,” said Quill. “We also dehydrate at lower temperature than traditional commercial garlic powders, which gives our powder a really deep, fresh flavor that you don’t get from garlic powder in the store.”
Woronzoff said that MFM is unique because “our vendors are also willing to collaborate with each other and other businesses in town. Having our vendors come together to show how their products work together is a key element to engaging customers.”
For some farms like Quill Hill Farm, MFM is crucial because restaurants and co-ops typically pay only 50 percent of the cost of the wholesale product, while the farm can sell to customers at full price at markets. Their sales at markets comprise half of their income. The market is also an opportunity for farms to expose tourists to their unique products, which can aid in progress toward online purchasing. However, selling at the farmer’s market does not come without its challenges.
BENJY RENTON
“One of the largest struggles we face here in Vermont with the Farmers’ Market is population size. Vermont just doesn’t have a lot of people, so while you as a farmer can produce tons of food, selling that food is difficult,” said Hill. “It’s also a struggle to figure out supply and demand of products/what customers will want that week. It’s often a guessing game which makes it especially challenging when your product is so perishable.”
Beyond the business, farms still consider the farmers’ market a rewarding venture. Hill said, “ I love talking to customers and sharing farming stories and educating people on growing organically.” The market provides an opportunity for vendors to interact directly with their customers and to share growing techniques and farming philosophies, Hill explained. “At the market we swap recipes with customers, see babies grow bigger, share in sadness and triumphs of life, learn all sorts of new things, and simply enjoy getting off the farm for a few hours a week being a part of a like-minded community.”
The MFM has also impacted individuals in the town of Middlebury beyond its farmers by bringing in many people from outside the town, who then stay for activities and events around town. “Essentially, the Middlebury Farmers’ Market contributes to the local economy and acts as a community hub,” said Woronzoff. “But the market also impacts more than the town, it has a huge impact on the county as well. Our vendors are from across the county, thereby creating an interconnection across sweeping farmland. That interconnection is an advantage for the town but then expands even further across the county. Our emphasis is on the local and that supports the individual and the collective.”
Woronzoff is also excited about the future of MFM and hopes to see it continue to expand and evolve. “Whether that means doing more outreach with community partners, hosting more vendors, or offering an even greater variety of products,” said Woronzoff, “the market must grow to ensure the success while contributing to our local economy.”
(05/09/18 11:16pm)
“To be perfectly honest, given the talent on both teams, I think the match could have gone either way,” said Christina Puccinelli ’19 after the women’s tennis team’s 5–4 loss to Williams back on April 7. “They happened to come out on top this time, but we came away from the match with absolute confidence that we have what it takes to win in the future.”
On Sunday, May 6, the two teams met again, this time in the Nescac championship at the Bay Road Tennis Club in Amherst, Massachusetts. Once again top-seeded Williams (18–0) prevailed, this time by a score of 5–3, to win its third consecutive conference crown over second-seeded Middlebury (14–3).
But Puccinelli’s words rang true once again on Sunday. Despite losing the match and being swept in doubles, the Panthers outscored Williams because all their singles wins came in straight sets, while their losses all went down to the wire, requiring the full three sets to finish.
Trailing the Ephs 3–0 after doubles, the Panthers mounted a comeback, winning the first two singles matches to pull within one. All at once, Middlebury had fought its way back into the contest. Christina Puccinelli ’19 and Maddi Stow ’18 bounced back from first-set losses to win their second sets, and Catherine Blazye ’20 won her first set in dominant fashion, 6–1.
For the second time this season, the match between the conference’s best could have gone either way, but Williams outlasted Middlebury to win its sixth championship in the past eight years, riding its doubles’ dominance to victory even after the Panthers’ surge in singles play.
Going into the playoffs, the Panthers knew they had some work to do in doubles after losing two out of three against Amherst in the last match of the regular season.
“We did not come out as strong as we would have liked in doubles, so this week we are going to focus a lot on our doubles play,” said Katy Hughes ’20 after the Amherst match. “We want to — we must — have a stronger start.”
In their semifinal match against Wesleyan on Saturday, the Panthers came out stronger than they did against Amherst, winning two of three doubles matches — the only loss came to the reigning NCAA doubles champions, Eudice Chong and Victoria Yu, in the first slot.
In fact, just like in Middlebury’s first match against Wesleyan, Chong and Yu were the only Cardinals to score victories on Saturday, as the Panthers controlled the rest of the ladder to win 5–3 and earn a spot in the conference championship match the next day.
Stow and Catherine Blazye ’20 won 8–2 in second doubles, while Heather Boehm ’20 and Ann Martin Skelly ’21 remained undefeated as a pairing by defeating their opponents 8–6. Blazye, Boehm and Stow all won in straight sets to set up Middlebury’s match with Williams, who shut out Tufts 5–0 in the other semifinal to move into the championship.
Middlebury could not replicate Saturday’s doubles success against Williams on Sunday. The Ephs leapt out to what seemed to be a commanding 3–0 lead for the winners of 30 consecutive matches overall, a streak dating back more than a year to April 8, 2017, when Middlebury beat Williams 6–3.
But then the Panthers made a move of their own. Hughes made a statement by dominating Leah Bush 6–2, 6–0 in second singles. Then Boehm, after trailing 5–2 in the first set of her match with Chloe Henderson in the third slot, rattled off 11 straight games to win in straight sets as well. Both Hughes and Boehm pushed their doubles struggles out of their minds to bring Middlebury back within one match of Williams.
“It is really hard to lose all 3 doubles to a team as good as Williams,” said head coach Rachel Kahan. “But after the doubles points, regardless of who we are playing and what happened in the doubles, our mindset is that the match resets. We look to go out and win all six singles matches.”
Meanwhile, Puccinelli lost her first set 6–1 to Juli Raventos in first singles, as did Stow, 7–6, to Korina Neveux in the sixth slot. But both of them bounced back too, as Stow wasted no time winning her second set 6–1, and Puccinelli came back in her second set to win in a tiebreaker 7–6 (7–5).
Williams regained some hold of the match when Neveux beat Stow in the third set to put Williams one win away from the conference championship. But Blazye countered in fourth singles, winning 6–1, 6–1 over Mia Gancayco to keep Middlebury alive.
Raventos won Sunday’s decisive match, outlasting Puccinelli in a three-set victory, 6–1, 6–7 (5–7), to secure Williams’ third-straight Nescac crown. At that point, Skylar Schossberger ’20 led Julia Cancio 3–0 in the first set of their match, but they stopped when Williams clinched the match.
Since Williams last lost in that match to the Panthers over 13 months ago, the Ephs have won one national title and two conference championships, and will enter this month’s NCAAs 18–0.
But Middlebury inched a little bit closer on Sunday. The Panthers dominated three singles matches, led in a fourth, and lost in three sets in the other two.
“The team fought extremely hard, and I felt the belief that we could win through the whole match,” said Kahan. “Every match with Williams has been close and has come down to a couple of points.”
More than anything else, Sunday’s match demonstrated the fickle nature of sports.
“Once again, the results could have gone either way, and once again we drew the short end of the stick,” Puccinelli said.
She and the rest of the Panthers remain firmly convinced that they can beat Williams and any other of the top teams in the country. Simply viewing Sunday’s match as a loss is a waste of time because of how well Middlebury played.
“My team competed with energy, composer and grit, and I could not be more proud,” said Puccinelli. “We came out with energy and determination, and we did not waver in either throughout the full five-hour battle.”
Not only did the Panthers play extremely good tennis, they did so in the face of adversity after falling into a daunting 3–0 hole.
Middlebury’s full body of work this season is much more representative than one loss. And because of their hugely successful spring, the Panthers will host one of the NCAA Regional brackets, starting today and running to Saturday, May 12. The Panthers have a bye through the first round of the seven-team draw and will play their first match tomorrow. No. 18 Skidmore is the only other ranked team in the regional.
If the Panthers win on Friday and Saturday, they will advance to the quarterfinals which will be held in Claremont, California. The Panthers are one of five Nescac teams in the NCAA tournament, along with Williams, Wesleyan, Amherst and Tufts. And Middlebury and Williams are on opposite sides of the bracket, meaning a rematch between the two squads would not come until the national championship.
Middlebury has demonstrated throughout the season it is one of the nation’s top teams, having defeated No. 5 Wesleyan (twice), No. 6 Tufts, No. 7 Pomona-Pitzer and No. 8 Amherst, while giving No. 2 Williams two of the biggest challenges the Ephs faced all spring. And it’s become increasingly clear how little separates Middlebury from Williams, and the other two teams ranked ahead of them, No. 3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and No. 1 Emory. CMS beat Middlebury 7–2 on March 30, but that feels like the distant past, given how well the Panthers played in the Nescac.
“I believe that the results in the final rounds will simply come down to who wants it more,” Puccinelli said.
Sunday’s loss stoked the Panthers’ fire even more.
“Each opponent we face from here on out will be determined and resilient, since a loss means the end of a season,” said Puccinelli. “We love the challenge and want the title more than we ever have.”
In 2003, Middlebury qualified for its first NCAA tournament. Two seasons later, the Panthers reached the semifinals of the tournament, but then did not return to that point for another 11 seasons, when they were one of the final four teams in 2016. Last season, Middlebury reached the semifinals again, where Williams beat the Panthers. The Ephs have now beaten the Panthers in four consecutive matches, while CMS has defeated Middlebury six straight times and Emory has knocked them out of the tournament three times since 2013.
To put it lightly, the Panthers want to beat these teams ranked above them. And they have shown they can compete with them. Is now the time for the Panthers to finally conquer the perennially dominant DIII teams?
(05/09/18 11:14pm)
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.
(05/09/18 11:10pm)
On Friday, May 4, Hamilton beat Amherst, handing the Mammoths their third loss in the Nescac and setting up the most important series of the Nescac West season. For Middlebury to make the Nescac baseball playoffs, they needed to win two out of three games on Saturday and Sunday, May 5 and 6. The Panthers came up just short, winning the first game but losing the last two, ending a comeback attempt that featured a 10-game winning streak to bring Middlebury within striking distance of first place.
But first the Panthers had to make up games against Union and Plattsburgh, which had to be rescheduled from earlier in the season due to inclement weather. In doing so, the Panthers extended their winning streak to eight and then nine games.
Against Union the Panthers cruised to an easy 6–3 victory. Colin Waters ’19 earned the win on the mound, as he managed to strike out six opponents while allowing only three hits over the course of seven innings of work.
Although neither team scored in the first four innings, Sebastian Sanchez ’18 put the Panthers on the board with a run in the fifth, and five more followed it up in the seventh inning — topped off with a grand slam homer by Alan Guild ’20.
The Panthers’ busy week continued with another make-up game on the road against Plattsburgh, which also ended in Middlebury’s favor and added one more onto their winning streak.
Justin Han ’20, Hayden Smith ’20 and Ryan Hanrahan ’21 all had doubles, while Sam Graf ’19 put up both a double and a triple.
Young Panther pitchers fared well and got more innings on the mound. Will Oppenheim ’21 and Jack Miller ’21 combined for nine strikeouts. Miller closed out the game and struck out all four hitters he faced — a confidence-booster heading into the winner-take-all showdown over the weekend with Amherst.
“When some of our key pitchers got injured, I felt the need to step up and fill that role in the bullpen,” Miller said.
“Pitching against Plattsburgh felt great,” Oppenheim said. “It proved that I could overcome a huge setback and get out of tough innings without the walks that plagued me earlier in the season. I had great control of my pitches and got a lot of swings and misses on my curveball. My confidence was completely brought back after pitching against Plattsburgh.”
Middlebury extended its winning streak even further on Saturday with a shutout victory in the first of their three-game set against the Mammoths, adding to the fanfare of a series already chock-full of storylines. That win was Middlebury’s 10th in a row, tying the program record for consecutive wins.
The first game of the Amherst series remained scoreless until the bottom of the third, when Brooks Carroll ’20 had a two-RBI single to get the Panthers on the board. A subsequent hit from Han drove home Henry Strmecki ’21 to increase the Panthers’ lead to two.
Middlebury picked the scoring back up in the next inning, driving in three runs for the second time and bringing the score to 6–0. A sac fly from Jake Dianno ’21 in the sixth inning pushed Han across the plate for the last run of the game.
Captain Colby Morris ’19 pitched a complete game for the Panthers, bringing his total career innings pitched to 183. For his efforts, he won Nescac Pitcher of the Week. With the regular season coming to a close, Morris finishes the season with the pitching triple crown for Nescac pitchers (including non-conference games). His overall ERA was 1.71, with 52 strikeouts and five victories. After his sensational junior season, Morris has big plans this offseason before his final round in the blue-and-white.
“I always have [wanted to play professionally], and now think I have a much more realistic shot at it after this season,” Morris said.
Luckily for the Panthers, working towards professional baseball won’t detract from Morris’ star contributions to the team.
“Fortunately, working towards this personal goal also will ultimately help the team,” Morris said. “I’m going to play this summer in the Northwoods League, one of the top summer ball leagues in the nation, and am going to be in Green Bay for that. After my contract is up with my team, I’m going to a training center in Seattle to work on velocity and then going home after before the fall to train and get stronger in preparation for the coming year. I’m hoping Coach can help me out a little bit with the end goal of playing after next year, but the better I do for Midd, the better shot I have, so it’s a win-win.”
With their win in the opener, the Panthers were only one win away from a playoff berth. The day ended with split results, however, as the Mammoths came back from their loss to pull off a 6–3 win over the Panthers in the second half of the twin bill.
Though Middlebury scored first in the second inning, Amherst answered with three runs in the third, putting them in the lead. The Mammoths went up by two more in the seventh inning and then by another in the top of the ninth. The Panthers tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth inning with a pair of runs fueled by a hit from Phil Bernstein ’19, but could not match their opponents.
And so the last game of the series, on Sunday, May 6, was for all the marbles.
Middlebury scored first when Carroll stole third and then scored when the ball got past the catcher and to the backstop. But Amherst quickly responded with three runs in the second, all with two outs, and then added two more in the third. The Panthers countered with another run from Carroll off a hit from Graf in their half of the inning to make it a 5–2 game after three.
Middlebury made another push in the seventh. Strmecki led off with a double down the left-field line, which Han followed up immediately with a single to score Strmecki. Han stole second and then induced a pickoff attempt that flew into centerfield, so he advanced to third. Then the Amherst pitcher hit Smith and threw a wild pitch, scoring Han and bringing the Panthers within one. On the wild pitch, Smith advanced to third, but injured his shoulder on the play and had to come out of the game. Carroll walked, then Graf flew out to shallow centerfield. Brendan Donahue ’18, Smith’s pinch-runner, tagged up but was tagged out at home, so Amherst’s one-run lead stayed intact heading into the eighth inning.
But let’s be clear. The game was decided in the bottom of the eighth, when the Panthers trailed by a run, 6–5, and had the bases loaded after Hennings reached on a double, Dianno singled and Sanchez moved them over to put runners on second and third. Strmecki lined out to third before Han was intentionally walked. Raj Palekar ’18 then had the biggest hit of the season for the Panthers, when he hit a single to drive in Hennings, but Dianno could not score from second, bringing up Carroll with the bases loaded and two outs. However, the ever-reliable Carroll could not capitalize this time, grounding out to the pitcher and being thrown out at first by a step.
Amherst added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth, and then brought in their closer, who struck out the side.
This loss was especially devastating for the Panthers, whose goal of winning a conference title was dashed a year after a resurgent season saw Middlebury make it all the way to the championship series before falling to Tufts. This season was supposed to be their redemption.
“Our reaction was just as you would expect — a crushing loss. Not only was it a physical defeat, but just is tough to swallow knowing we are the best team in the league,” said Morris.
Miller echoed Morris’ sentiment. It was Nescac champions or bust.
“We’re heartbroken by the outcome,” Miller said.
In spite of the raw talent Middlebury held this season, the team encountered many uncontrollable obstacles.
“We definitely had a tough-luck season, losing three guys to season-ending injuries, having others banged up all season, and needing to mature really quickly after the tough beginning of the season,” said Morris.
And, according to scouting reports from the director of baseball operations and statistics, Jack Langerman ’19, the team was not blind to how these challenges could impact the Amherst matchup. “It was going to be a close series and would come down to a few plays,” reported Langerman.
The team plans to pick up right where they left off next season, however, taking advantage of the young talent on this year’s roster. “We have a bright future together as a team, and I am ecstatic to start it back up,” says Morris.
This optimism is exemplified across the team. “I think that we have all the pieces to win the Nescac next year. We’ll be working hard in the offseason and getting some key players back from injury,” explained a hopeful Miller.
Oppenheim agreed. “The future is bright for Middlebury baseball.”
(05/09/18 6:57pm)
I get really annoyed every time 10 o’clock Ross gets cancelled. Not because I go to 10 o’clock Ross, but because every email with the subject line “10 o’clock Ross Suspended” reminds me that our campus is too immature to deal with any sort of responsibility, especially when it involves respecting dining hall staff.
Usually it’s cancelled because people are leaving a mess or are bringing alcohol, but last week someone broke into a dairy-free cooler by brute force. It might seem like this is a criminal departure from the previous violations, but I think it fits right in. Whoever broke into that cooler felt entitled to whatever was inside of it. Anyone who leaves a mess of cereal and ice cream feels entitled to the time it takes for a dining staff member to clean up the congealed cereal bits and sticky ice cream residue in time for breakfast the next day.
Let me break this down. It’s true that Middlebury pays MCDS staff to clean up after students. But when dining staff are setting up breakfast, they shouldn’t have to clean anything. They clean the tables after dinner, so theoretically the tables should still be clean in the morning. The mess from 10 o’clock Ross interferes with this. Having to clean up after 10 o’clock Ross is an unnecessary burden on the dining staff, and our inability to clean up directly translates into extra work in their already full morning.
Our dining staff have to do more every morning for the same compensation. This amounts to material class exploitation. If you don’t believe that, take Intro to Sociology with Professor McCallum. Any labor that a worker performs in excess of what they need to survive is called surplus labor. In a fair society, every worker is compensated for all of their surplus labor. Exploitation occurs when the worker isn’t compensated for their surplus labor — instead, the benefits of that labor are appropriated by someone else.
Student-led cleanup was a part of the 10 o’clock Ross agreement from the very beginning. When we fail to clean up, we abdicate that responsibility and force the dining staff to do surplus work without being compensated. Anyone who doesn’t clean up after themselves is saying that they are entitled to an MCDS staff member’s surplus labor so that they can go to bed earlier, write an extra two sentences of essay or play 15 extra minutes of Fortnite.
It’s also a matter of basic decency. More often than not, the mess that we leave after a single meal is way more than it should be. It’s almost as if people are taking full advantage of the fact that they don’t have to clean up after themselves. From the student perspective, the food just magically disappears; we aren’t around to see the dining staff meticulously clean up every piece, making sure that our dining halls are a welcoming and clean place for us to eat every day. Perhaps if we saw them do this, we would act with the basic human decency we might use in our own houses, when our roommates and friends have to do the cleaning.
All of the dining staff here wake up way earlier than any of us students do. Some of them have to commute in from New York, waking up even earlier so they can get here in time to put breakfast on the table with the utmost efficiency. The dining staff also save us time and trouble by cleaning our dishes, something that I am grateful for every day. These wonderful people already do a whole lot to make our lives easier, and the least we can do is treat them with basic human decency by cleaning up after ourselves.
And what should we do about 10 o’clock Ross? The SGA is right to shut it down. We should do all we can to shut down exploitation at Middlebury. If we can take responsibility and clean up after ourselves, then by all means we should have 10 o’clock Ross. But if we can’t do 10 o’clock Ross without exploiting our dining staff, then the SGA should ban 10 o’clock Ross and spend more time organizing staff appreciation dinners like the one they hosted in Atwater two weeks ago.
(05/03/18 11:49pm)
The women’s tennis team continued to roll in their last match of the regular season, when they defeated No. 8 Amherst 6–3 on Saturday, April 28, for their eighth straight victory. Now they turn to the Nescac playoffs, which the Panthers enter as the second seed behind undefeated Williams.
Even with Williams’ dominance this season and in the past, the Panthers firmly believe they can parlay the play that has led to their recent winning streak into the first Nescac championship in program history, avenging a loss to Williams in the process if necessary.
“We are very excited to have a potential Williams rematch,” said Katy Hughes ’20. “We lost in the regular season to Williams 4-5, so we are looking forward to this rematch. However, we are focusing on one match at a time. But if we do play Williams I am confident that we will win.”
Since its loss to Williams on April 7, Middlebury had won seven matches in a row leading up to the Amherst match last Saturday, playing its best tennis of the season to beat Quinnipiac, a DI opponent, No. 18 Skidmore, No. 14 Bowdoin and No. 5 Wesleyan.
Their match on Saturday provided the Panthers one more test before they enter the highly anticipated postseason. Amherst’s 10–6 record this spring was deceiving because the Mammoths had lost their matches to the other six teams ranked in the nation’s top seven besides Middlebury. Their No. 8 ranking spoke to how Amherst stuck with many of the nation’s top teams even though the matches ended up as losses. They lost to No. 1 Emory, No. 2 Williams and No. 3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 6–3, and No. 6 Tufts and No. 7 Pomona Pitzer 5–4.
The Mammoths leapt ahead of Middlebury on Saturday by taking two of the three doubles matches. Actually, Middlebury’s pair of Heather Boehm ’20 and Ann Martin Skelly ’21 swarmed Amherst’s No. 3 pair to win the first match of the day 8–2. After Skelly stepped into Christina Puccinelli ’19’s doubles spot in the middle of the season, she and Boehm are a perfect 6–0 in doubles.
“Although losing Puccinelli is definitely hard, Skelly has really stepped up to the task,” Boehm said. “As a first-year she shows no signs of nerves and plays all out. We are definitely now really comfortable with each other’s games and are confident going into the weekend with good results, despite the more recent switch.”
But Amherst’s first two doubles teams outlasted Middlebury’s top two pairs by scores of 8–6 and 8–5 to give the hosts their lead.
The Panthers know they cannot afford to come out flat in the postseason, when it is crucial to be sound up and down the lineup.
“We came out not as strong as would have liked to in doubles,” said Hughes. “This week we are going to focus a lot on our doubles play so we can have a stronger start.”
To win against the Nescac schools and the nation’s best teams, Middlebury must be prepared to pounce on opportunities at any doubles or singles spot.
On Saturday, that happened across the board in singles, where Middlebury took the match over. Maddi Stow ’20 finished first by dominating Avery Wagman 6–2, 6–1 in the sixth slot. Catherine Blazye ’20 followed up her teammate with an equally convincing 6–0, 6–2 win at No. 4, and Skylar Schossberger completed the sweep of the bottom half of the ladder by winning in straight sets, 6–1, 7–6 (7–4).
Ahead 4–2, Boehm clinched the match with her second win of the day in a 6–2, 6–4 victory in the third slot.
These four Panthers have not lost since Middlebury’s last loss, at Williams on Saturday, April 7, combining to go 21–0 in singles since that point to fuel the team’s winning streak.
“We have worked so hard this entire season and are thrilled to see that our efforts are paying off,” said Puccinelli.
Katy Hughes ’20 added one more straight-sets victory, winning 6–2, 6–4 like Boehm, at No. 2 for the Panthers’ fifth singles win on Saturday, before Puccinelli fell at No. 1.
Middlebury is very confident entering Nescacs, and rightfully so, given their play on Saturday and over the last month.
“While we’re still working on individual projects and improving our game on a day-to-day basis, we are all very comfortable with our level of play at this point in the year,” Puccinelli said.
That comfort level has become increasingly apparent over Middlebury’s latest run in Nescac play, which the Panthers attribute to their commitment since last season ended.
“After months of training and perfecting our fitness, we are now just enjoying the level of play that we get to see at practice every day,” said Puccinelli.
Middlebury’s comfort in their play on the court and confidence in themselves emerge in their words. But Hughes is also quick to point out the Panthers must take one match at a time, continuing to practice the way that brought them to this point.
“I believe that all of us are going to work very hard this week on and off the court,” Hughes said. “So we can go into Nescacs feeling confident.”
Middlebury’s confidence is not unfounded: it comes from their success thus far this season, their dedication to improving in practice and in every match, and their trust that a relentless work ethic will pay off.
“Even though we played great tennis this past weekend, we know that our best tennis is still ahead of us,” said Hughes.
Middlebury have a bye through the first round of the Nescac playoffs, which Amherst is hosting this season, and will play the winner of third-seeded Wesleyan and sixth-seeded Bowdoin on Saturday, May 5.
If the bracket holds, the Panthers will play Wesleyan on Saturday, whom they beat 6–3 in the regular season.
“After playing them two weekends ago, this is definitely not a team to lose sight of,” Boehm said. “They are loud and have strong games. We trust our singles but went down in doubles last time so we definitely have been working on that this week.”
If they win on Saturday, the Panthers will play for the conference championship on Sunday, May 6 at 9 a.m.
In the past two seasons, the Panthers lost to Williams in the Nescac championship. In 2016, Williams won 5–0, and in 2017, 5–4. Here’s to another rematch this season.
(05/03/18 11:48pm)
On April 28, two members of the men’s golf team traveled south to the Indian Hills Country Club in Connecticut for the 2018 Nescac Championship. The women’s squad headed to the Taconic Country Club in Massachusetts for the Williams Spring Invitational. The invitational was their final competition of the season.
Representing Middlebury at the men’s championship were Jeffrey Giguere ’20 and senior Bennet Doherty ’18. Both competed individually and placed sixth and 21st, respectively. Giguere shot a 73 in the first round and a 77 in the second, which combined for a two-round total of 150. Doherty carded respective rounds of 83 and 80 for a two-day total of 163.
Trinity won the tournament as whole, thanks to Bantams like Will Rosenfeld and Kole Kelly, who tied for first on the individual leaderboard. Amherst placed second, with three golfers tying for fourth individually. Williams finished third, while Tufts came in fourth.
“I hit [the] ball really, really well,” said Giguere. “It was just a continuation of last week, and fortunately there was very little wind, so I felt like I could hit the ball however I wanted.”
Giguere managed to hit 27 out of 36 greens but unfortunately wasn’t able to execute with his putting.
“The only thing I was frustrated about was my putting,” said Giguere. “I couldn’t make a birdie in the second round. My lag putting was so bad — I left myself with very long, hard putts.”
“I’m not really disappointed though with the way I’m hitting it — I thought it was a positive. But of course, I was disappointed that I didn’t get it done.”
In Williamstown, the women’s squad finished in third in an eight-team field that saw Williams win the tournament.
Chloe Levins ’20 paced the Panthers, shooting an 80 in the first round before carding a 77 on day two and a tournament total of 157, which was good for sixth place. Senior captain Katharine Fortin ’18 tied for 13th with a total of 161, while Hope Matthews ’18, also a senior captain, shot a 162. She placed 17th. Other Panthers included Helen Dailey ’19, who tied for 28th, and Erika Nakagawa ’21, who tied for 35th.
Williams won the tournament on the backs of Cordelia Chan and Elizabeth Gudas, who finished first and second with respective scores of 147 and 148. Carnegie Mellon finished second and was led by Summer Kilhara and Charlotte Simpson, who placed fourth and fifth, respectively. Middlebury was followed by Amherst, SUNY Cortland, Hamilton, Suffolk, and LIU Post.
“I was numb going into the weekend, feeling as if it were just another Williams tournament and not being quite able to comprehend that it was the last,” said Fortin about her emotions heading into the tournament. “We have the same routine every time we play in Williamstown, and it is always my favorite weekend. I hoped to have two stellar rounds, as one would in the last match of their career, but I also know that having a busy spring and coming out of a minimal-golf winter meant my expectations should be low.”
“It was definitely a lot of mixed feelings,” said Matthews, echoing Fortin’s sentiment. “I wanted to play well since I knew it was my last time ever playing golf as a Panther, so I was feeling a lot of pressure from myself.”
“I put all of my emotions into those final rounds,” said Fortin. “With the support of friends and family who came to watch, I felt extremely fortunate that I’ve been playing on this team for four years and [have] shared the ups and downs of each season with all of them. I can’t believe it’s over, but with four amazing years, a couple team titles, and three individual wins, I am feeling happy and proud.”
