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(09/24/15 12:55am)
Middlebury women’s soccer came away from its first doubleheader of the season with mixed results. After conceding a 2-1 defeat in the final 15 seconds of the game against Amherst on Saturday, Sept. 19, the Panthers bounced back with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Hamilton on Sunday, Sept. 20. The team also traveled to play local rival, Plattsburgh, on Tuesday, Sept. 22 (RESULT).
When Amherst played host to Middlebury’s second in-conference game last Saturday, the opening half proved to be a hard-fought affair. Both teams became entrenched, unable to score any of the combined nine total shots on goal. Despite this back-and-forth action, the half was highlighted by just two main attempts, one from each side.
Amherst’s chance emerged when Megan Kim fed the ball to Rubii Tamen, whose shot to the right corner forced Middlebury’s keeper Kate Reinmuth ’17 to make a diving save. Middlebury’s best opportunity came with just a minute left in the half, after Emma Shumway ’18 made contact with the ball in a scuffle in the Amherst box, sending her shot just wide.
The Lord Jeffs broke the deadlock in the 58th minute off of a corner kick. Emily Hester collected the ball off the corner and passed to Guzzi at the top of the box, who sent it rocking into the back of the Panther net.
The Panthers were unable to respond for another 20 minutes, after the rebound from Katherine Hobbs ’17’s shot found the feet of Shumway, who drilled it into the back of the net.
With the game heading into overtime, the Panthers were caught sleeping in the final minute of the game. After Amherst sent the ball down the right sideline, Hester clinched a narrow victory for the Lord Jefferys by beating Reinmuth with her shot from just inside the box. Amherst held the advantage in both shots (15-9) and corner kicks (8-5).
Despite losing in such disappointing fashion, Head Coach Peter Kim was quick to derive positives from the game.
“We had some lapses in the Amherst game, but at many times we were the better team and it could have been either team’s game,” Kim said. “They preserved and caught us unaware at the very end of the game, but there were positives to take out of it. So even though it stung a lot, I feel like we’re right there with a lot of the teams in the conference.”
Kim said that at the final whistle of the Amherst game, the team already knew that it had to learn from its mistakes and move on to prepare to play Hamilton the next day.
Middlebury found its rhythm early, and was patient in building play around the midfield. A few early chances came for Middlebury’s offense including a shot skewed high and wide by Adrianna Gildner ’17, after Day Robins ’17 had faked out a defender and found Gildner in the box.
Panther fatigue was evident, however, as Hamilton looked dangerous only when capitalizing on Middlebury’s mistakes in its own half.
The first goal came for Middlebury in the 21st minute after earning a free kick when a Hamilton defender illegally sat on the ball. Grace Woroch ’17 quickly touched the ball to Jamie Soroka ’16 who coolly placed the ball into the upper right side of the net.
Soroka continued to wreak havoc on the Hamilton defense, scoring again just three minutes later. After the ball was lofted into the box, it found the head of Alissa Huntington ’18, who nodded the ball towards goal. Soroka had the killer touch, heading the ball into the Continental net.
Hamilton was sluggish to respond, and the Panther’s third goal came with ten minutes left, after Amanda Hotvedt ’17 found herself with time and space on the edge of the box and scored from 18 yards out.
The Continentals came back with heightened urgency, and looked certain to score with six minutes left in the half. After outrunning the Middlebury defense, Ali Clarke sent a ball towards goal, but Amanda Dafonte ’19 dove and put her body on the line to stop the shot. Hannah Withiam’s follow-up was then deflected away. Hamilton was finally rewarded in the 42nd minute after Reinmuth could only palm away Clarke’s effort. Reinmuth reflected the ball into the path of Darbe Philbrick, who forcefully placed it into the back of the net.
Hamilton started the second half the better team, playing slick passes behind the Panther defense to its quick strikers. Reinmuth had to race out to make a diving save three minutes in from an oncoming Hamilton player. Just minutes later, a Continental shot just hit the outside of the net. Middlebury was also lucky to escape a penalty after Reinmuth came intertwined with a striker that had sidestepped her in the box.
After a slight lapse in play, Middlebury got on the scoresheet for the fourth and final time. Shumway played Hotvedt at the top of the box, who capitalized on a keeper out of position, and one-touched into the top-left corner of the net.
Play quieted down in the final quarter of the game, with the ball bouncing back and forth between the teams. Middlebury started to play to the corners to neutralize any Hamilton threat.
The Continentals ended the game the stronger team with a 13-12 shots advantage.
Despit a slightly sloppy effort by the Middlebury Panthers, their firepower was put on display against Hamilton.
“Our goal scoring was very excellent [against Hamilton],” Kim said. “As a team, we didn’t play the game we like to play; it was something we had to dig out in these brutal doubleheader conference weekends. It’s a lot to ask the players, so even if it wasn’t the prettiest, full marks to those two for some great goals and some nice set-ups as well.”
On Tuesday Sept. 22, the Panthers fell in double-overtime to Plattsburgh State, conceding a 2-1 defeat.
Middlebury took a 1-0 lead just 7:46 into the game as Robinson scored her second goal of the year. In captain made goal, Hobbs fed Robinson, who then took one touch before firing the ball into the left side of the net.
The Panthers continued to be the better team until well into the second half when they conceded a Cardinals goal to even up the game. Anissa Hartmann calmly slotted a penalty kick after a Middlebury foul in the box.
Hartmann finally broke the deadlock four minutes into the second overtime to give the Cardinals the win. Hartmann latched on to the ball from a corner kick and blasted it into the net.
Plattsburgh held a 15-11 shot advantage and 5-1 advantage in corner kicks.
The Panthers will next travel to Maine to take on Bowdoin on Saturday, Sept. 26.
(09/24/15 12:53am)
Despite a strong effort by the ladies of Middlebury volleyball in their first home game of the season, an efficient Bowdoin squad ultimately proved too much this past Friday as the Polar Bears wore down the Panthers over four sets (25-21, 25-22, 23-25, 25-18).
In a match that saw almost too many lead changes to count, Middlebury proved itself capable of competing against quality NESCAC competition, but untimely errors seemed to derail the squad’s momentum late in sets when they found themselves neck-and-neck with a Bowdoin team that more than doubled them in hitting percentage (.210 to .099).
Coach Sarah Raunecker felt that her Panthers gave Bowdoin too much freedom to dictate the flow of the game, “even though the set scores were close, we seemed to be playing catch-up most of the time,” Raunecker said. “They’d get ahead by a few points, and then we’d tie it up, only to go down a couple points again. I felt like they were controlling the action more than we were, and we’d like to change that.”
In the first set, neither side led by more than three points until the very end. The lead was traded back and forth until the teams finding themselves knotted at 19-19, the Polar Bears took control late and separated themselves to the tune of a 6-2 closing run. The second set went similarly, but with the score tied at 17, the Panthers failed once again and fell behind 2-0 in sets.
However, Middlebury showed some mettle with a hard-fought win in the third set. Strong play from Melanie English ’17 and Eliana Schaefer ’18 helped keep the Panthers within striking distance. After capitalizing on a pair of Bowdoin mistakes to take a 23-21 lead, Middlebury went on to dispatch the Polar Bears with kills from Becca Raffel ’18 and Isabel Sessions ’19.
The Panthers found themselves once again playing from behind in the fourth set. Although they managed to overcome an early deficit to tie things up at 17-17, Bowdoin wasted no time in racing to a 25-18 victory to finish the match.
Outside hitter Alice Roberts ’18, who suffered an unlucky sprained ankle during Friday’s warm-ups, noted from the sidelines that the squad had room for improvement.
“We’re definitely still trying to find our chemistry … It’s very early in the season,” Roberts said. “We sort of had some, well, I don’t want to say easier competition early on, but this was the second game where we were really challenged, which we have to be expecting for the rest of NESCAC.”
Other notable contributors to Friday’s match were Captain Hannah Blackburn ’17, who set up 32 assists and led Middlebury with 9 digs, and Emily Kolodka ’18, who chipped in with 8 digs. Raffel paced the team with 11 kills and English contributed in a big way on defense with 8 blocks.
Middlebury straightened things out to take care of business in Saturday’s Tri-Match against Cortland St. (25-18, 25-16, 22-25, 22-25, 15-13) and Colby-Sawyer (25-10, 25-17, 25-14). Although the opposition wasn’t quite as strong as Friday’s, Raunecker was nevertheless pleased with her team’s adjustments.
“On Saturday, I think our serve receive was a little better, and our hitters were trying to make more shots and see the court … in addition to the teams not being as good as Bowdoin.”
As the season rolls on with games at Hamilton on Friday, Sept. 25 and the Skidmore classic on Saturday, Sept. 26, Raunecker had good things to say about the team’s future.
“I’m very optimistic and excited about this team moving forward,” she said. “I think we have a lot of growth potential, and as we get used to switching things up and getting comfortable with those changes, that will make us a stronger team. We’ll also continue to work on our mental toughness knowing that many matches will come down to the wire and be decided by only a couple of points, so being able to perform in the heat of the moment with confidence and composure will be a key for our success in NESCAC.”
(09/24/15 12:27am)
Before much of the campus was up and about Sunday morning, students had secured winning places in both the men’s and women’s divisions of the 18-mile TAM Trek race. The race began in Wright Park at 8 a.m. on a 18-mile loop on the Trail Around Middlebury (TAM).
In first place overall and in the men’s division was Jacob Volz ’18 (2:22:24). In the women’s division, Maddie Leopold ’17 (2:33:25) and Tabitha Mueller ’18 (2:45:35) came in first and second, respectively.
“This was awesome,” Mueller said, her face red and sweaty. It was a cool, overcast morning though, making it a good temperature for running.
When asked how she felt about completing the race, Mueller said, “There was a small part of myself that kept telling me that I couldn’t do this. It is awesome though to know that I can complete something like this. It’s not a marathon, but I’m really happy with how it turned out.”
“I’ve been training for this all summer, I don’t know what I’ll do now,” Mueller continued. She explained that though she has been training, the longest she had ever run before the TAM Trek is 13 miles. Her next running goal is to do the Middlebury Maple Run this spring.
Waiting at the finish line under several tents were trays of desserts, pizzas, chocolate milk, bananas, and of course, lots of water, a familiar sight to anyone who has run cross-country.
“It reminded me of running cross-country in high school… Just a lot longer,” Mueller said.
Ben Bruno ’06, a member of the Board of Trustees for the Middlebury Area Land Trust (MALT), explained that there were four other “aid stations” set up along the trail with water and nourishment if the runners wanted.
At the end, there were prizes for the top finishers, which were donated by the sponsors of the TAM Trek. Among the prize items on the table were medals for the winner donated by Danforth Pewter.
This was the 12th year of this annual race. One option for the race is to run the entire TAM, including the Gorge Loop, which is an 18 mile run. According to the trail descriptions, the loop “gains and loses over 1000 feet in elevation.” Carl Robinson, executive director of MALT, clarified that the TAM itself is, in fact, only 16 miles, but with the Gorge Loop, it is 18. For those runners who are not as crazy – but still quite ambitious – there was the option to do a 6 mile race. The 6 mile option was a loop, beginning and ending in Wright Park, and taking the Gorge Loop, like the 18 mile option. Both the 18 and six mile races were timed.
According to Bruno, this was the first year they timed the races in an effort to bring a bit of competition in the event and to attract people looking for opportunities to run long races.
Finally, for those who were looking to get outside and get some exercise in a less competitive way, there was the two mile Fun Run or Hike. With this range of options, the TAM Trek appealed to a wider audience.
“[The TAM Trek] is a chance to celebrate the TAM with the people who use it all the time, and don’t use it as much,” Bruno said. “Not only does the TAM Trek get people outside and using the trail, it also helps keep it maintained.”
According to the MALT website, the proceeds from the AM Trek will go towards maintenance of the TAM.
The 16 mile TAM is what most people know MALT for, but MALT does more than the one trail, known as “Middlebury’s Emerald Necklace,” according to its website.
MALT began as the Middlebury Land Trust in 1987. Before that time, the town of Middlebury had a tax abatement program for local farmland, but in 1987, the state began its own farmland tax abatement program.
However, Middlebury residents voted to keep paying, but had the money go towards a conservation fund – Middlebury Land Trust. In 1996, they expanded to include land in surrounding towns, hence the switch to the name Middlebury Area Land Trust. MALT now has over 20 miles of trail in Middlebury and surrounding towns, two bridges over Otter Creek, and a trail headed off toward Snake Mountain.
The land that makes up the TAM and other MALT trails has come from a variety of owners. MALT itself owns four properties. Some land is farmland or other private land where the landowners have given permission for the public trail to pass through. Another section of the TAM – perhaps the section most students are familiar with – is owned by the College. The Otter Creek Gorge preserve, which is now conservation land, was once a land trust held by Willard T. Jackson, Linda O. Johnson and Steven Rockefeller.
Along with providing miles of public access trails, MALT also offers guided hikes along the trails and summer camps for kids.
The next time you’re looking for motivation to go running, maybe it can be the prospect of running in the 18 mile TAM Trek next September – or at least the 2 mile fun run.
(09/18/15 12:47am)
The Middlebury women’s soccer team opened conference play with a 1-1 home draw against Connecticut College on Saturday, Sept. 13.
Despite an unusually short preseason and annual difficulty of forging a new team with lots of new faces, Head Coach Peter Kim went into the match positive of what his team could achieve.
“Our team’s strengths include its work rate, technical ability and tactical flexibility,” Kim said. “Our biggest challenge will be simply to come together as a relatively young team. We have lots of talent, and many of our players just need more game experience. In less than two weeks we’ve already shown excellent depth, leadership and team spirit.”
The two sides began the half with equal opportunities to score. The Camels opened scoring in the 13th minute after Annie Higgins sent a low cross into the box. Finding Nicole Medina, the striker needed only one touch to send the ball into the left side of the goal past Emily Eslinger ’18.
Refusing to back down, Middlebury kept up the pressure and answered with a goal of their own just four minutes later. Grace Woroch ’17 collected a loose ball close to the right sideline and sent it towards goal with Amy Martin ’17 on the receiving end. Martin had to think
quickly, shrugging off defenders to strike the ball into the upper-right corner.
The score remained at one goal apiece going into the intermission. With rain picking up, neither team could manage many shots on goals in the second half.
Middlebury’s greatest chance to move ahead was in the 58th minute, as Captain Hannah Robinson ’16 let rip a firecracker from 20 yards out, challenging Camels keeper Bryanna Montalvo into a fine save.
With six minutes to go in regular time, Conn. College almost secured an advantage. Higgins tried to knock down a skipping cross from the right, narrowly missing crossbar.
The deadlock continued into both overtimes. After the first overtime in which each team had just one shot, play opened up in the second extra session. In the 102nd minute, Montalvo came off her line to deny a sprinting Jamie Soroka ’16 from 25 yards out. Soroka continued to challenge, sending a free kick curling toward the left side of the goal that the Camels keeper needed to dive to save. Robinson joined the onslaught with a shot from the left just minutes after forcing a diving save from Montalvo.
Katherine Hobbs ’17 feels that her team’s performance was a positive start to the season.
“It was hard to swallow the tie since we know we could have come away with the win, but we fought a hard battle against the defending conference champs and saw lots of positives in our play,” she said.
The Panthers held a narrow 17-14 edge in shots, while the Camels had four corners to Middlebury’s three. Eslinger made two saves in the opening half, while Kate Reinmuth ’17 closed out the game making four saves. Soroka finished with five shots, a game high.
Kim’s goals for the rest of the season are simple.
“Our goal for the season is to enjoy every day that we have together. The team is focused on the process of preparing for each match and performing well one game at a time.”
Middlebury returns to NESCAC action on Saturday, Sept. 19 at Amherst.
(09/18/15 12:44am)
The men’s golf team began the fall season teeing off in Williamstown, Mass. at the Williams Fall Invitational at Taconic Golf Club last weekend, Sept. 12-13.
The Panthers shot 630 for the weekend and finished twelfth in the 20 team field, 29 shots back of Trinity, which carded a 601 en route to victory. Other NESCAC notables included place Williams (605), ninth place Hamilton (623), 10th place Amherst (625) and 13th place Tufts (632).
Joe Ko '18 shot a 156 and was the low scorer for the Panthers. He shot a 75 on Sunday, good for the seventh lowest score of the day, as he bounced back from shooting an 81 on Saturday. However, Graham Kenter ’17.5, Rodrigo Andrade ’17 and defending co-NESCAC champion Bennett Doherty ’18 all finished within three strokes of Ko’s team low. Kenter shot a 157, Andrade carded a 158 and Doherty carded a 159. Much like Ko, Doherty managed to recover from an 81 on Saturday with a round in the 70s Sunday. Trinity’s Will Rosenfield finished atop the leader board at one over with a 143.
The weekend posed many unique challenges to the Panthers. The team competed without Matt Marra ’17 and two-time defending NESCAC champion Fitz Bowen ’17, who are both abroad, and also played without its talented crop of first year students who were on their Middview trips.
The players who were able to make the trip to northwestern Massachusetts were greeted with inclement weather.
“It rained off and on the whole round on Saturday, and Sunday was windy and threatening rain the whole round," Kenter said.
"We all struggled with the greens - Williams is the hardest and longest course we play all year and the conditions didn't help. Everyone’s excited about playing at home this weekend, and we’re also looking forward to returning to Williams in two weeks to play again in the NESCAC qualifier,” he added. Despite carding the lowest round for the Panthers, Ko may have been the most affected by the weather.
“Despite good ball-striking, my putting was a bit rusty,” Ko said. “For two days, I had a total of thirteen 3-putts.”
As the qualifier approaches Doherty says he wants to get better off the tee, while Ko aims to improve his putting. However, Doherty, Ko and Kenter all talked about one area in particular that the team is highly motivated to improve: consistency, which could be a challenge for a young team like the Panthers.
Doherty admits that the fall season will pose unique challenges.
“We only have five returning players in the fall and, therefore, we have much less overall experience than teams in the past,” Doherty said. “That being said, we are also very excited about the strong group of freshmen coming in and we are ready to work at it to play our best despite the lack of experience.” The goal for the fall season is “to play our best and work hard to put ourselves in position to win NESCAC’s,” Doherty said. This first tournament may have been a frustrating one for the men’s golf squad, but it is only the beginning of a long road to this spring’s NESCAC Tournament and the NCAAs.
“We have the same expectations as every year — we want to win the NESCAC’s and make it to the NCAA tournament, and then make the cut at Nationals,” Kenter said.
The Panthers will take to the Ralph Myhre Golf Course this weekend as they host the annual Duke Nelson Invitational, which tees off at 9 a.m.
(05/06/15 12:38pm)
The Middlebury Softball team concluded a successful season this weekend with a dramatic NESCAC playoff run, recording a win against a pair of losses in the conference tournament.
The Panthers opened the playoffs with a shutout loss to the eventual NESCAC champion Tufts on Friday, May 1. The Jumbos got on the board quickly, scoring a run in the bottom of the first. Middlebury threatened in the third inning, when Ali Della Volpe ’18 reached on error, followed by singles by Christina Bicks ’15 and Jackie Stearn ’16. Unfortunately for the Panthers, Tufts pitcher Allyson Formier navigated her way out of the jam to leave the bases loaded. The Panthers left runners on base in the fifth and sixth innings, and Tufts scored an insurance run in the sixth. Middlebury pitcher Neve Stearns ’16 took the loss.
The playoff tournament followed a double-elimination format, so the Panthers had another opportunity to continue their season. They rose to the occasion, defeating the Bowdoin Polar Bears 2-0 on Saturday, May 2.
The game remained scoreless until the fifth, when Kat Maehr ’16 walked and reached second on a fielder’s choice on a hit from Carlyn Vachow ’16. Later, Siobhan O’Sullivan ’17 doubled to drive in the first run. Bowdoin threatened in the top of the sixth inning, but Allison Quigley ’18 deftly survived the jam.
Stearn scored Middlebury’s second run in the bottom of the sixth through some smart base running. She walked, reached second on a ground out, and then scored on a Bowdoin error on a hit from Vachow. Quigley recorded the win and Stearns earned the save, combining for seven shutout innings.
Later in the day the Panthers faced Williams for their third game of the weekend. For the fourth time this season, Williams managed to overpower the Panthers.
The game remained scoreless until the fourth inning, when the Ephs scored three runs kicked off by a double from Taylor Donze. Williams followed up their three-run fourth inning with another three runs in the fifth, headlined by a two-run home run off of the bat of Lexi Curt.
Middlebury logged only one hit over the first five innings off of a single by Hye-Jin Kim ’17 in the third. The Panthers finally hit their offensive stride in the sixth inning. Della Volpe and Bicks led off the inning with back-to-back singles, and both advanced on a wild pitch. Vachow then drove them both in with a single, and Erin Giles ’17 later plated Vachow.
However, Williams pitcher Emma Harrington regained her footing and retired the next four batters to finish the game and end the season for the Panthers.
Middlebury finished its season with a 20-11 record, an improvement on last year’s 19-16 record. The team finished in the top four in the conference’s regular season and advanced to the postseason for the fifth consecutive year, continuing the longest streak of postseason appearances in the program’s relatively brief history.
The 2016 Panthers will have every opportunity to expand upon this recent string of successes, as the team will return many of their top-performing players from this year’s season.
Juniors Maehr and Vachow have established themselves among the conference’s most feared hitters this season — with both hitting over .300 and driving in 16-plus runs. Maehr has been particularly key for the Panthers, reaching base in exactly half of her plate appearances this season.
Sarah Freyre ’17 and O’Sullivan will similarly look to take on increased roles in the offense after breakout years at the plate in 2015.
On the mound, first-year Quigley solidified herself as the staff ace this year, holding opposing teams to less than two runs per game and striking out more than 100 batters as she racked up a 13-4 record on the season. With three more seasons left in Quigley’s career in Middlebury blue, the Panthers are nearly assured of continued success in the near future.
(05/06/15 12:38pm)
After exacting revenge against a sound Williams team in the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC tournament on Saturday, April 25, the Middlebury men’s lacrosse team was demolished by the Jumbos of perennial powerhouse and NESCAC rival Tufts University in the conference semifinals on Saturday, May 2.
Though Tufts was only the second seed in the tournament after an 8-2 regular season — considered a disappointment due to the high precedent their last few seasons have created — the reigning national champions took their play to a whole new level against the tenth-ranked Panthers, ultimately walking away with a 23-9 win.
Tufts came out of the box clearly ready to play, as four different Jumbos scored to open the contest following Connor Helfrich’s opening faceoff win and subsequent drive to the cage in the game’s first 11 seconds. Middlebury responded with a two goal run of its own, one each from workhorse Jon Broome ’16 and dynamic senior Joel Blockowicz ’15, to trim the early lead to two.
Though this trend of trading blows has worked in Middlebury’s favor in the past, Tufts was simply the better team on the day and refused to cede any more of the lead. In response, Tufts outdid their own incredible opening run by scoring the game’s next six goals.
Again tearing down trends that have dominated Middlebury’s entire season, Tufts refused to allow halftime adjustments to stop their relentless flow. After the two sides traded goals to open the third quarter, with one each coming from Tufts’ John Uppgren and Middlebury’s Henry Riehl ’18 in the first five minutes of the half, the Jumbos went on yet another back breaking run, this time to the tune of four straight.
Though Middlebury’s Kyle Soroka ’16 stopped the bleeding with a goal to end the third quarter, Tufts scored three more in the fourth. Due in large part to fantastic goalie play from Tufts’ Alex Salazar, who made 13 saves on the day, the Panthers were held to single digits for the first time since April 11 at Bates.
All in all Tufts was able to dominate Middlebury in every relevant statistical category. The Jumbos outshot the Panthers 57-46, controlled 19 of 35 faceoffs and held an 11-19 advantage in turnovers.
In other news, four Panthers earned All-NESCAC honors when the all-conference squads were announced on Thursday, April 30. Senior Cal Williams ’15 and sophomore Joey Zelkowitz ’17 were both first-team selections, while Broome and Blockowicz earned spots on the second team.
Despite the overwhelming loss to Tufts, the Panthers were one of four NESCAC teams selected to the upcoming NCAA tournament when the seeds were announced on Sunday, May 3. It is the program’s first national tournament bid since 2011, the year before the current senior class arrived on campus.
(04/29/15 6:35pm)
The third-seeded Middlebury men’s lacrosse team fended off a strong sixth-seeded Williams side in a NESCAC quarterfinal game on Youngman Field at Alumni Stadium on Saturday, April 25. Not only did the victory mean that the Panthers’ season would continue into the semi-final round — a matchup with second-seeded Tufts at Amherst on Saturday, May 2 — but it means the squad successfully exacted revenge on a Williams team that had handed them a loss to end the regular season only three days before.
After each side scored to open the game, Middlebury went on a four-goal run started by Cal Williams ’15, who, after losing defenders with quick cuts in the heart of the Williams defense, tossed in a backhanded shot at 7:47. Naturally, however, the Ephs refused to go down easily and ended the quarter with a two-goal run of their own, the second of which came from attackman Steven Kiesel — who would go on to score seven on the day for the visitors — with a mere 13 seconds left to play.
Middlebury answered right back to start the second quarter when Sean Carroll ’16 converted in a man-up situation at 9:32 — a trend that has not always held true for the Panthers — off a Joel Blockowitz ’15 pass. Yet again the Ephs, led by Kiesel and his first half hat trick, answered right back with two more to close the quarter and set the score line at 6-5 in favor of the Panthers at halftime.
Just as the game had started, the second half began with the two sides scoring one apiece until Middlebury began to pull away, this time to the tune of three unanswered goals.
After a Jack Rautiola ’16 goal, Jack Cleary ’16 shook the defense by dodging left, something he rarely does. After Carroll’s second on the day, the Panthers held a comfortable four-goal lead that would last for mere minutes. Williams answered with a trio of their own — marked by another from the unstoppable Kiesel at 4:44 after a sloppy Panther turnover in their own zone — and one more from the senior, this time a simple dump-in on the crease with 22 seconds left, to end the quarter at 10-9 Middlebury.
In almost expected fashion, the historic NESCAC rivals yet again traded goals to open the final stanza. Kyle Soroka ’16 put the home side up by two at 14:06 until the answer at 11:52, a feed from behind the net finished by Eph Eric Kelley cut the lead right back down to one.
Following the goal, the imposing John Jackson ’18 — who earned NESCAC Player of the Week honors after two stellar games against the Ephs — stepped up for the Panthers to win yet another faceoff and groundball. On the day Jackson set career highs in each category by winning 27 of 30 faces for a ridiculous 90 percent success rate and scooped up an equally phenomenal 20 ground balls.
After Jackson took it all the way to score, Middlebury followed with two more as Henry Riehl ’18 cooly cleaned up a rebound at 10:30 and defenseman Eric Rogers ’18 scored his first career goal, one that would prove to be the decisive mark, off of a Jon Broome ’16 feed with 7:01 left in the game.
Yet again, the stubborn visitors answered with a three-goal run highlighted by Kiesel’s seventh with 1:56 left to keep the game close at 14-13. In the final minute of the game it was goalie Will Ernst’s ’16 turn to step up as Williams sprung Kiesel open for a clear mid-range look off a set play. After Ernst made the crucial save with only 30 seconds left, the Panthers were finally able to kill the clock and advance to the semis.
Middlebury advances to play Tufts in the semifinal round of the conference tournament. The Panthers fell 17-10 to the Jumbos in their season opener way back on Feb. 28. Since then, the Tufts squad — after winning the national championship a year ago — has fallen slightly in the national rankings after losing to both Bates and top-seeded Amherst during the regular season. The Jumbos were 15-12 winners over seventh-seeded Hamilton in another quarterfinal matchup.
(04/29/15 6:31pm)
After a tough loss to Trinity last weekend, the Panthers came ready to fight on Wednesday, April 22 against Williams and Saturday, April 25 against Amherst.
On Wednesday, the team fought fiercely throughout the game with several lead changes. Bridget Instrum ’16 scored a career high six goals and Catherine Fowler ’15 earned a game-high six draws. These two efforts were assisted by several other contributions, which helped the Panthers to a 13-11 victory against Williams.
The win over Williams solidified the Panthers’ second seed in the NESCAC playoff tournament, setting them up for a quarterfinal matchup with the seventh-seeded Lord Jeffs of Amherst. The Panthers were 9-5 winners during the teams’ lone regular-season matchup back in March.
Saturday against Amherst was once again a blood battle for the Panthers. This NESCAC quarterfinal game, played on Kohn Field, concluded with a 9-8 victory for Middlebury. The game started out with a quick goal from Mary O’Connell ’17, giving the Panthers a 1-0 lead that was answered by a pair of goals by Amherst before Megan Griffin ’16 scored to make it a 2-2 tie. The half followed by two more goals from Amherst and 3 more from Middlebury by Laurel Pascal ’16, Katie Ritter ’15 and Hollis Perticone ’18. The Panthers went into the half leading 5-4.
Amherst, scoring four unanswered goals in the first 11 minutes, dominated the second half. The Lord Jeffs lead 8-5 with 19:10 left in the game.
At that point, Ritter scored an unassisted goal which was the catalyst to lockdown defense and fearless offense by the Panthers.
Alli Sciarretta ’16 followed with a score to bring the score to a one-point deficit. Perticone finished what Ritter had started with two goals to lead the Panthers to a 9-8 wins over Amherst.
Although the Panthers had fewer shots on goals, their draw controls were unmatched by Amherst, which helped send them to victory. Perticone led the team with three goals while Maddie Kinker ’16 once again played a stellar game with six saves in the net.
“Despite being down three goals with 15 minutes left to go, we found a way to refocus themselves and never let each other think we were going to lose the game,” Pascal said. “We did that by playing off each other’s energy and carrying that momentum into the next play when it counted.”
The Panthers head into the semifinals against Bowdoin this Saturday, May at Trinity.
“We played a great game against Bowdoin in the regular season but there were definitely a few things we wanted to work on after our first game against them,” Perticone said. “We know what type of team they are and what it takes to beat them.”
If they win, the Panthers will advance to play either top-ranked Trinity or fourth-ranked Tufts on Sunday at Trinity.
“This week we are really focusing on decision-making and how to play smart in certain situations,” Pascal said. “We are also trying to perfect our offensive plays and how to play to each other’s strengths.”
(04/29/15 5:50pm)
The Classics department received a significant donation that will endow a lecture series, professorship, and summer programming. The department will be renamed the Eve Adler Department of Classics.
Donations such as this are normally named in honor of the donor, as with the Albert A. Mead Professorship of Biology and the John G. McCullough Professorship of Chemistry. Since the donation was made anonymously, the department chose to remember Eve Adler, an influential figure in its history.
Eve Adler worked at the College for over 25 years, and is credited with revitalizing the department during three different College presidencies. Originally appointed in 1977 to develop new programs in Latin, Greek, and Classical Hebrew, Adler chaired the Classics department for 16 of those 25 years.
“Eve was definitely outside of the box in the way she approached everything and also in the way she approached this field,” Professor of Classics Marc Witkin said. “She was somebody who had a tremendous breadth of interests and abilities. She saw that courses on Classics in translation appealing to students in all disciplines at the College held the key to the survival of the Greek and Latin programs at Middlebury. In the decades since her chairmanship, the department has flourished by continuing to follow her curricular design.”
The donation has a framework for how much of the yearly income can be used for different purposes. So far, the department has established the Eve Adler Memorial Fund for Summer Study in Classics/Classical Studies and an annual Eve Adler Memorial Lectureship.
According to the Fund for Summer Study application, “The fund is intended primarily to support students who wish, during the summer, to study Greek and Latin language, literature, and art, or to participate in archaeological fieldwork at a Classical site.”
The site says that priority will be given to Classics/Classical Studies majors and minors, but that all students with interests related to Classics may apply. Five students have already received grant funding from the department for study this summer.
With the endowment funds, the Classics Department also hopes to bring at least one named lecturer a year to Middlebury. On April 13, Harvey Mansfield, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Government at Harvard University, delivered the first Eve Adler Memorial Lecture.
When asked about whom the Department will invite to give the Memorial Lecture, Witkin said the Lecture will make Classics accessible to many disciplines.
“We’re open to having people outside the Classics,” Witkin said, “but we’re going to try as much as possible within the field of Classics to bring speakers here who are well known and who can bring Classics to a lot of different people in a lot of different fields.”
In addition to summer funding and academic-year programming, the donation will secure a second endowed professorship for the Classics Department. While Witkin said that the department’s overall enrollments and the number of Classics and Classical Studies majors are stronger than ever, administration claims that the tendency of today’s students to “shy away from text-based materials” has led some professors to worry that Classics at the College might be dismantled or defunded in the name of irrelevance.
“[The donation] means that in the future it would be harder for some administration to say, ‘Can’t afford to have a classics department,’” Witkin said.
(04/29/15 5:40pm)
Recording of the Student Co-Chair of Community Council debate
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Recording of the SGA Presidential Candidate debate
[audio m4a="http://middleburycampus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/SGAPresDebate.m4a"][/audio]
Students crowded into Crossroads Café on Monday night to hear from the three candidates running for Student Co-Chair to the Community Council (SCOCC) and the four candidates running for Student Government Association (SGA) President in two rounds of debates. In a dramatic shift from last years’ uncontested elections, the debates brought to the forefront a variety of concerns that focused on calls for change and a stronger campus community.
Both races are attracting attention for what moderators Kyle Gerstenschlager ’15 and Naila Jahan ’15 called a divided “insiders and outsiders” status. In the race for SGA President, candidates Josh Berlowitz ’16 and Ilana Gratch ’16 are current members of the SGA. Caroline Walters ’16 and Stuart Warren ’17 entered the race without any prior experience on the SGA.
In the race for SCOCC, Durga Jayaraman ’16 currently sits on Community Council (CC), Tiff Chang ’17 was a member of CC last spring and Zak Fisher ’16 enters without prior experience on CC.
Experience, typically considered an asset, was challenged in both debates in light of rising student apathy towards both the SGA and CC. In the SGA debate, the first question after opening statements [SGA 2:06] addressed this apathy [SGA 4:44]. Gratch, Walters and Warren spoke to the importance of recognizing issues that students care about and making changes.
Gratch referenced her platform, which proposes a weekly dinner with the SGA President and six student leaders on campus; Walters called for more transparency and a restructuring of the SGA; Warren applauded various social justice organizations on campus and encouraged the SGA’s “power to combat oppression.”
Berlowitz dissented and defended the accomplishments of the SGA this past year.
“Even activists see the SGA as a conduit for change… People go to the SGA when they want to make a change,” he claimed.
The SGA debate then moved to the issue of inclusivity in terms of marginalized identity and fostering a stronger campus community [SGA 1:10.55]. After a bill passed by the SGA, funding was allocated to hire a new counselor for the Health and Wellness staff, passed a resolution on sexual respect and created the Director of Sexual and Relationship Respect position. However, all four candidates still pointed to a lack of support for marginalized groups in many areas of the College.
Warren spoke first and called upon the candidates to re-evaluate their use of the words diversity and inclusivity: “Too often inclusivity and diversity are used as empty euphemisms,” he said. He referred to his platform, which outlines a plan to make the campus more accessible for students who are not able-bodied, creating a community of sexual respect and making mental health issues a community concern. Warren’s desire to combat oppression and marginalization remained the backbone of his arguments throughout the debate.
Berlowitz spoke next and outlined a number of concrete plans for combatting a lack of inclusivity. He proposed a more financially accessible study abroad program, a student-run pub night, and a renovation of McCullough.
“I’m running on community. Fostering community and forging connections with each and every Middlebury student,” he said.
In her response, Gratch promoted the community support section of her proposal, which includes creating cultural competency resources on campus. She also maintained that the “SGA can be utilized as a microphone to give a voice to students who have been working tirelessly on
these issues.”
She added: “It’s not my job to co-opt the activism that’s been going on for years here, but I feel incredibly strongly that I can provide a microphone.”
Finally, Walters outlined a plan to engage more students.
“There are three priorities that we need to focus on,” she said.
Walters asserted the importance of supporting the first generation mentorship program, allocating more resources on campus for students in need of mental health support and the importance of following through with the SGA legislation made on sexual respect.
The next question asked the candidates to describe their top priority [SGA 17:55]. Gratch outlined more plans for community support including a peer counseling service, Walters called again for transparency, Warren reiterated his desire to combat oppression and Berlowitz emphasized ensuring that all of the College’s resources are available to every student.
The candidates also responded to more specific concerns about mental health issues on campus [SGA 22:53], their experiences as leaders [SGA 29:09], how they plan to branch out and reach a wide variety of students [SGA 34:20], what plans they have for addressing environmental issues [SGA 39:43], the student activities fee and finally [SGA 59:05], their position on the use of surveillance cameras [SGA 1:08.43].
The debate intensified in response to concerns about communication between the SGA, the administration and students [SGA 45:23]. Warren captured the attention of the candidates and the audience when he asked, “Why do so many students not want to listen to the SGA? I would suggest it’s because they believe that it doesn’t have the power to make the changes on issues that they actually care about, so they listen to other clubs and organizations that are more related to
their interests.”
He added later: “I think what we should actually do is try to make the SGA deal with issues that students value intrinsically and are not coerced to go talk about extrinsically.”
Gratch, Walters and Burlowitz echoed each other in their defenses against Warren’s claims that the SGA does not represent marginalized students and cannot garner diverse student opinions.
The SCOCC debates also addressed issues of inclusivity and communication. The SCOCC debate began with a discussion about the purpose of the CC [SCOCC 2:51], a group of faculty, staff and students that meet weekly to discuss non-academic issues on campus. All three candidates pointed to the importance of diversity on the board.
“In an ideal world, the committee would be able to get a whole opinion of the campus community by having people from cultural organizations and sports teams and NARPS and everything. The point of the committee is to let students weigh in on what they think would be good for Middlebury,”
Jayaraman said.
Later, Jayaraman spoke to the importance of inclusivity again [SCOCC 12:20].
“Sometimes what I’ve struggled with and what we struggle with in decision-making is not having all parties on this campus represented,” she said.
She continued: “I think if people are given a platform to voice their opinions, they will. Its just that people don’t know that platform exists now.”
Fisher agreed with Jayaraman and added: “I don’t think I need to remake the wheel, I just need to let people know that the wheel exists.”
Chang also spoke to inclusivity and outlined a cultural competency plan that includes competency training for faculty, mandating JusTalks and distribution requirement reforms including a new “dynamics and differences in power” requirement.
The SCOCC debate also addressed the issue of surveillance cameras [SCOCC 6:13]. Earlier on Monday, the CC had voted down a proposal to draft a guidelines document for the possible implementation of surveillance cameras in limited areas. Fisher rejected the idea of security cameras: ”We have a rock solid sense of community,” he said.
He added: “It’s important that we have a place where everyone is comfortable and everyone can trust each other.”
Jayaraman, who had voted yes to the proposal earlier that day, defended her position and claimed that the cameras could help limit the number of thefts on campus, some of which have been linked to people outside of the College who are not held to the same community standards as members of the College. She voted yes to “a more informed position,” she said.
Chang offered a mixed opinion. “In general, surveillance cameras erode a sense of trust, but really what it comes down to is a cost and benefit analysis,” she said. “What I asked them to do is bring in all of the stakeholders, I wanted them to bring in the people of color, the people who would be most affected by this particular cost of the cameras.”
The candidates also spoke about the benefits of being part of the CC [SCOCC 17:31], the AAL distribution requirement [SCOCC 22:03], the role of the CC in promoting staff needs [SCOCC 28:25] and how to make the CC a more effective tool for carrying out and implementing proposals [SCOCC 32:53].
Both of Monday’s debates garnered attention on social media, including YikYak. Posts during and after the debates confirmed the contentious nature of this year’s election and indicate that it will not go unnoticed.
Listen to an audio recording of the debate at middleburycampus.com
(04/22/15 10:40pm)
Loyal readers (Hi Mom!), before diving into this week’s column, I would like to give you a heads up. This campus’s very own bastion of automotive journalism (yours truly), has been in contact with the inspiration behind my incredibly complicated reviewing system, the Liebowitz-o-Meter. That’s right, Ron might just end his illustrious career on a high note, by letting a random sophomore drive him to McDonalds. But the Liebowitzmobile is another story for another column. This week features a T-Pain recovery drive. This is Broke College Students in Cars Getting McDonalds: Buy U a McFlurry edition.
The Car: Black, Automatic Transmission, 1996 Audi A6 Quattro Wagon
Car Name: Hans
The Owner: Otto Nagengast ’17
Styling: Mmm so much Germanic wildness here. Look how big the taillights are! It’s a styling revolution! Seriously, it feels like the only thing management told the designers of this car was to “make it look competent.” This ride is more Middlebury Bach Festival than it is MCAB presents T-Pain featuring 2000 sweaty college students with short-term memory loss and a dream. In all honesty the A6’s complete lack of risk-taking has resulted in a car that still looks handsome (and competent!) almost 20 years later.
Liebowitz-o-Meter: 4.5/5 Rons
Interior: Not one for surprises, the A6 delivers more competence on the inside too. For whatever reason the interior featured a slight hint of the distinct smell of old people (for real Otto, how old are you actually?) but it was kept clean and pristine. The front seats are comfortable and supportive and everything in front of the driver is very logically laid out. Unfortunately I, the world’s only road licensed baboon, was unable to figure out how to make the stereo work; the car would have none of that silly blasting music nonsense because operating a motor vehicle is a serious endeavor (big shout out to Mr. Guetti, my driver’s ed instructor, for making me remember this important fact. I wouldn’t be where I am today without you, sir). Our Bosnian back seat tester was unavailable for this drive so we had to make do with John the Wisconsin back seat tester (WBST.) The WBST gave good reviews, complimenting the abundance of space.
Liebowitz-o-Meter: 4.5/5 Rons
Handling and Performance: Imagine that you’re on a boat and it’s going fast and you’ve got a nautical themed pashmina afghan. Yeah, that’s a bit like what driving the A6 is like. The shocks were getting old so the A6 basically slowly wallowed over bumps, making me feel like I indeed was on a boat. The steering was a bit light for a car this size, but it got the job done. There was plenty of power to get us to McDonalds in a hurry, though the A6 is no speed demon.
Liebowitz-o-Meter: 3.5/5 Rons
Drive-through-ability: It’s got automatic windows, it’s got an automatic transmission, and it’s almost at ideal drive through window height. It’s got the convenience features you need to get your totally unnecessary meal with as little hassle as possible. The A6 does, however, feature one massive drawback: it only has two cupholders in the front, and those two are only can sized and covered by the armrest. This is a problem. The cupholder design is essentially an attempt (as I see it) by Audi to force drinking habits on you, the freedom loving ‘Murican. The Constitution explicitly states that I can purchase whatever sized drink I desire, and therefore these cupholders violate my Constitutional rights as an American. Big Gulp, Big Freedom – vote Ascher 2016.
Liebowitz-o-Meter: 4/5 Rons
Final Verdict: The Audi A6 is an incredibly competent ride. It is a vehicle capable of carrying you, your beloved bag of McDonalds, and some other people comfortably. It’s not the sportiest thing you’ll ever drive and the cupholders are anti-freedom, but all in all it’s a pretty great ride.
Liebowitz-o-Meter: 4.13/5 Rons
Essential Stats:
Carrying capacity of 5 adults or 6 college students.
Trunk space for approximately 58 30-racks of Natty Ice
McDonalds order: 2 M&M McFlurries, McChicken, McDouble, large Fries.
(04/22/15 9:42pm)
On April 13, Executive Director of Food Services and Operations Dan Detora attended Community Council in order to discuss council member Anna Jacobsen ’16’s proposal to substitute community service work for fines and fees when students violate student life policies.
As the former Director of Dining Services at Union College, Detora shared details about a similar program to Jacobsen’s proposal at Union in which the Dean of Students would contact his office about a student who had violated a policy. That student would then work in dining services, performing tasks such as washing dishes, wiping down tables and catering.
“The program worked fairly well…it made [the students] appreciate what we do in the dining halls,” said Detora.
In the program, students typically had two weeks to fulfill their service. They did have problems with students failing to show up, which resulted in a fine or an increase in the service time. Council members worried if the College implemented a similar program, it would interfere with the regular staff or place a burden on the deans who may be responsible for ensuring students complete their service.
“[The program] did not interfere with regular staff hours…if anything, they got extra help,” said Detora in reference to Union College’s program.
According to Detora, students performed tasks that were not “out in the open” where other students could see them. Some council members were uncomfortable with making a student’s infraction public by putting them in the open; however, other members thought that by not putting students in the open, students may not be discouraged from repeating the violation.
“We are either in or out…if we are going to go for it we don’t necessarily have to think about students only in the ‘backgrounds,’” said Community Council Co-Chair, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of the College Katy Smith Abbott.
The council passed the proposal, recommending to the administration that students who violate certain codes, such as fire safety violations, are subject to community service instead of fines.
On April 20, Community Council continued its conversation about security cameras with Associate Dean of the College and Director of Public Safety Lisa Burchard. Council member and Telecom Manager and Technology Support Specialist Solon Coburn pointed out that “for every college that has cameras—basically every college but ours—they have very specific guidelines.”
Coburn said the College would not implement cameras without guidelines specifying who could view footage and in what circumstances. Burchard said the cameras would be used “to deter crime and to help with the investigation in order to determine who did it.”
Cameras would be placed outside dining hall entrances where most thefts have been occurring. Jacobsen questioned the use of security cameras, wondering if the simpler solution would be to get rid of the backpacks that line up outside of the College’s dining halls.
“I have always been opposed to security cameras, granted I have never had my thesis material stolen…there should definitely be a forum to discuss it,” said Council member Durga Jayaraman ’16.
On April 21, Student Co-Chair of Community Council Ben Bogin ’15 sent an email to the College community announcing that a forum will be held this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in MBH 220 to discuss surveillance cameras. According to the email, there have been a total of 21 stolen backpacks worth approximately $12,000, 19 of which were stolen outside of dining halls during this calendar year.
(04/22/15 4:56pm)
The Middlebury Area Land Trust (MALT), the nonprofit organization dedicated to the maintenance of open land around Middlebury, initiated a conversation with the College about the continual preservation of the Sabourin Farm property. The 108 acres of land currently owned by the College contains a half-mile portion of the Trail Around Middlebury (TAM).
The Sabourin property is located along Route 7 near the southern end of the Battell Woods. MALT and Middlebury’s Parks and Recreation Department have discussed the potential purchase of the land to ensure the TAM’s longevity. MALT officials fear for the future of the public trail if the College should someday choose to put the property on the market and a private party decides to develop.
“MALT has had an interest in this property because of the Trail Around Middlebury. We believe that keeping that corridor open and undeveloped would be good for the town,” Carl Robinson, MALT’s executive director, told the Addison County Independent.
The Parks and Recreations Committee have also proposed the creation of new functional town spaces on the Sabourin land.
“The Parks & Recreation Committee is excited and anxious to realize new recreational opportunities while conserving an important piece of Middlebury’s open space in addition to more entrances and experiences of the Battell Woods,” Middlebury Parks and Recreation Director, Terri Arnold, and President of the Parks and Recreation Committee, Greg Boglioli, wrote to the Middlebury Select Board.
A popular proposal is the creation of a local dog park.
“This would allow an opportunity for all dogs to be off-leash, to run and play with no threat from cars,” town member Jane Steele told the Addison County Independent.
David Donahue, Special Assistant to President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz, wrote an email response to the Addison Independent about the Sabourin property.
“At this point, [Middlebury College] has had no formal proposal. We have had various groups approach us about this piece of land during the past year with a variety of ideas of what might be possible. When I was approached, I suggested they consult with the town planner as part of any process to develop a proposal. We are not looking to sell the land but we would consider serious proposals,” Donahue wrote.
The Sabourin acreage is not the first parcel of College-owned land MALT has shown interest in acquiring. In fact, on September 13, MALT purchased 103 acres in Weybridge from the College to protect the habitat of birds, bobcats, coyotes, deer, and other animals.
As a nonprofit, MALT relies heavily on donations and volunteers. Its main work is in the upkeep of the TAM.
“We have no paid maintenance staff, and our volunteers come from a broad spectrum. Many of them are Middlebury College students,” Katie Reylley, MALT office manager, told the Middlebury Campus in a previous interview.
The 16-mile TAM loop, which runs through the towns of Middlebury, Weybridge, Cornwall, and New Haven, provides a popular running route for students and town residents alike.
“I really enjoy running or walking on the TAM, because it’s an easy way to escape and get out in nature for a couple of hours. The TAM is an excellent resource for community members and college students, because it’s so convenient,” Emily Robinson ’18.5 said.
Born and raised in Weybridge, Robinson grew up running the TAM with her family. She supports the creation of new recreational opportunities for the town.
“I think it would be a really great incubator space for people with common interests to come together and conserve something that is very important to the community and town of Middlebury,” Robinson said.
(04/22/15 1:51pm)
The women’s golf team was in central Massachusetts last Saturday, April 18, where they finished tied with Williams for second in Amherst’s Jack Leaman Invitational. The NESCAC rivals finished with 325 strokes apiece, only one stroke behind the tournament champions, Ithaca College. Rounding out the top five were NYU and Mount Holyoke, finishing with 330 and 332 respectively. The host Lord Jeffs finished sixth with 335.
The men’s team, meanwhile, finished in a tie for fourth at the Wildcat Invitational, hosted by Johnson and Wales.
The highlight of the day for the Panther women was Jordan Glatt ’15. Glatt followed her strong outing at the Vassar two weeks ago by winning the individual competition at the Jack Leaman Invitational. She walked off of the 18th hole having registered an even par, 74 strokes, on the day, putting her team in position to finish in the top three. Glatt finished a stroke ahead of second-place Sophie Kitchen from Williams.
“Everything seemed to click this weekend,” Glatt said. “I was striking the ball solidly and had a lot of lucky breaks. This round will be a great memory to have going forward from my final season.”
The other key Panther contributors were Michelle Peng ’15, who tied for 10th with an 82, and Katharine Fortin ’18, who shot an 84 and tied for 20th. Monica Chow ’16 and Hope Matthews ’18 shot 85s and finished in a three-way tie for 26th with Williams’ Elizabeth Gudas. Theodora Yoch ’17 shot a 93 and Sarah Breckinridge ’18 shot a 96 as individuals.
After finishing fourth behind Williams, Ithaca and NYU in last weekend’s invitational at Vassar, the Panthers caught up with their competition Saturday. Their tie with Williams last Saturday is a mark of tremendous improvement following the Vassar Invite when they finished 44 strokes back of their rivals.
“The team performed well this weekend, and we are looking to work off of that going forward,” Glatt said. “We were confident coming into Saturday’s tournament as a result of a strong week of practice. We felt slightly more pressure this week because the tournament was only one day, but the team was able to remain focused and come out with a strong performance.”
The team has built momentum to make some noise next week when it heads to Williamstown for the Williams Invitational. After finishing a stroke back of Ithaca while playing to a tie with Williams last weekend, there will be extra focus placed in practice this week on emphasizing consistency and mental toughness in its preparation.
“Williams and Ithaca are always two of our strongest competitors, and the outcomes from the past two weekends have only made us more determined to improve next week and overtake them at the top of the leaderboard,” Glatt said.
Glatt and Peng, who are both senior captains, will be competing in the last tournament in their Panther golf careers this weekend.
“This week is going to be incredibly meaningful for me and Michelle,” Glatt said. “We have had four wonderful years on the golf team and are incredibly grateful for our teammates and coaches for making this an absolutely amazing experience.”
In men’s action, John Louie ’15 and Charlie Garcia ’15 paced the Panthers by finishing in a tie for 15th, each shooting a 13-over 155 over two days. After hanging with the leaders through one round by shooting a three-over 74, Louie’s 81 on day two pushed him back into the pack. Garcia was more even in his approach, shooting 77 and 78 on the two days of competition.
Fitz Bowen ’17 tied for 25th in 157, while Eric Laorr ’15 and Bennett Doherty ’18 rounded out the Panther scoring with scores of 158 and 161, respectively.
In the team scoring, the men tied with Salem State for fourth with an overall 622, 12 strokes behind winner Tufts and eight behind rival Williams. Manhattanville College took third to round out the top five teams.
The Panther women tee off on Saturday morning in Williamstown. You can catch the Panther men for the NESCAC championship tournament Saturday and Sunday, April 25 and 26 at Middlebury’s own Ralph Myhre Golf Course.
(04/22/15 1:50pm)
The Middlebury Panthers’ 11 game-winning streak was snapped by number-one Trinity on Saturday, April 18 on Trinity’s Sheppard Field. The 16-7 drubbing extended Trinity’s nation-leading winning streak to 13. It also gave the Bantams sole possession of first place in the NESCAC.
Trinity came out blazing with two quick goals. The Panthers fought back with goals from Mary O’Connell ’17 and Hollis Perticone ’18 to tie the game 2-2 with about 20 minutes to go in the first half. Trinity responded with a trio of unanswered goals to bring the score to 5-2. Bridget Instrum ’16 scored for Middlebury to cut the lead to two, but that was quickly countered by another Trinity goal. A goal from Laurel Pascal ’16 just before halftime made the lead 7-4 Trinity going into the break.
Trinity struck quickly after halftime with four goals to increase the lead to seven at 11-4 with 24:39 left in the game. A response from Middlebury’s Chrissy Ritter ’16 got the Panthers on the scoreboard in the half, but Middlebury could not rally on the defensive end to keep Trinity at bay. Another pair of Bantam goals increased the lead to eight at 13-5. The teams traded goals for the remaining minutes — with Katie Ritter ’15 and Pascal chipped in goals during garbage time — and, at the final whistle, the scoreboard read 16-7 in favor of Trinity.
“We are trying to turn the lopsided loss to Trinity into a learning experience,” Chrissy Ritter said. “We didn’t play to the best of our ability on Saturday and didn’t show Trinity what Middlebury lacrosse is all about. In such a high-intensity game, a lot of our players tried to beat Trinity by themselves.”
Despite the loss, the Panthers are looking forward to the upcoming games and believe that the team will approach the games stronger after the loss to Trinity. Jessie Yorke ’17 agreed with Ritter, saying that the team will need to improve in order to achieve their goals down the road.
“We strayed from playing as a unit,” Yorke said. “We are mentally focused on playing to our strengths. Hopefully the focus on the team game will result in the team bouncing back even stronger.”
Despite the loss, Middlebury is set up well for a playoff run in 2015. Still among the nation’s best teams, the Panthers will look to improve upon last year’s postseason, in which they were upset by Colby in the conference quarterfinals before falling in the NCAA round of 16 to Gettysburg.
“Today and tomorrow we will be working a lot on offensive sets, moving the ball quickly and efficiently as a team, instead of what we did against Trinity, which were a lot of desperate, individual efforts,” Chrissy Ritter said.
Next Saturday the second-ranked Panthers will play their first game of the playoffs at home, against an opponent yet to be determined.
“We are excited to have a home game because it is so nice to be able to play on our turf,” Chrissy Ritter said. “The home field advantage gives the team an advantage mentally just because of the support we feel when we are at home.”
(04/22/15 4:38am)
The College’s Board of Trustees has approved a tuition increase of 3.9 percent, or $2,293, to $47,418 for the 2015-2016 academic year. The full comprehensive fee for the College, including the increased cost of room and board to a total of $13,628, is now set at $61,046.
For the past five years, the College has used a formula known as the CPI+1 rule to limit how much tuition could increase year to year. Previously the administration had recommended the trustees move away from the policy; this year it has been abandoned altogether. Since its adoption in 2010, the CPI+1 rule capped a tuition increase at one percentage point above the previous year’s inflation as determined by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The College applied the same formula to room and board fees. Under this formula, the average annual increase in these past five years has been 3.2 percent.
Since its implementation, the CPI+1 rule has been successful at keeping tuition costs from rising exorbitantly, as Middlebury ranks below many of its peer schools for comprehensive fees, including Trinity College ($63,970), Williams College ($63,290), and Wesleyan University ($64,324).
“The so-called CPI+1 formula moved Middlebury College from the top to near the bottom of its peer list of most expensive liberal arts institutions,” President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz said in an email.
The 2013-2014 academic year marked the first year the College did not apply this rule to its room and board fees, when tuition rose by 4.5 percent.
The cost of tuition is determined in conjunction with an overall annual budget approach, a process in which the administration puts forth recommendations to the Board of Trustees. The rising tuition costs caused can be attributed to a number of different factors.
According to Vice President for Finance and Treasurer Patrick Norton, the College’s tuition cost will continue to rise by at least some amount due to increasing operating costs. In an email, he noted that the three main operating costs are compensation (which include salaries, wages, and employee benefits), financial aid, and facilities. In addition, an increase in tuition costs is related to performance of other primary revenue streams of the College, namely the endowment and annual fundraising. As of June 30, 2014, the endowment’s market value was approximately $1.082 billion, and approximately 18 percent of the budget is sourced from endowment earnings. Gifts from alumni, parents, and other benefactors make up 8 percent of the College’s operating budget.
Pressures to the College’s budget also include the higher percentage of the student body receiving financial aid, as Middlebury admits domestic students on a need-blind basis while also fully providing aid based on demonstrated need. The class of 2018 marked the highest percentage of students receiving some sort of financial aid in the College’s history.
In respect to operating costs, Norton said that the College pursues “a labor intensive business model.” As a global entity, the College also maintains a 9:1 student to faculty ratio, a residential campus in a rural community, and 2.5 million square feet of campus buildings. “These four items require a fair amount of faculty and staff to run and manage. Next year compensation is set to increase in the form of an annual salary and wage increase as well as employee benefit increases,” Norton said.
Norton also noted that the estimated cost of a Middlebury education is around $78,000 per year, the difference of $17,000 subsidized by the College’s endowment and annual fundraising.
“We are continuously looking at different ways to slow the growth in operating costs from the way we purchase our goods and services to refinancing some of our long-term debt,” Norton said.
(04/15/15 6:04pm)
Early this year, HBO released “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst,” a six-part documentary examining Robert Alan Durst, an alleged serial killer and person of interest in over four missing person cases. Recently it has been discovered that Durst is also connected to the College. Durst lived in Middlebury briefly and police are now labeling him as a person of interest in the 1971 case of a missing College student, Lynne Schulze.
The documentary delves into the complexities of Durst’s life as the son of New York City real estate tycoon Seymour Durst, his wife’s disappearance in the 1980s and his connection to a number of murders over the past half-century but does not mention the connection to Middlebury.
In 2012, the FBI contacted Middlebury Chief of Police Tom Hanley and for the first time, a link between Durst and Schulze was made. Schulze, a first-year at the College, was last seen at 2:15 p.m. on Dec. 10, 1971 at a bus stop in front of what is now the Dunkin Donuts in town. Schulze was supposed to take a final exam that afternoon, but never attended. Schulze, who was 18 when she went missing, has been presumed dead.
The building where Schulze was last seen sits directly across from 15 Court Street where Durst and his then-girlfriend but soon-to-be wife, Kathleen, owned a health foods store from 1971-1972 called All Good Things. The home where Durst lived was searched, but nothing notable was discovered.
“They were in the same approximate place at the same approximate time. We don’t know if they ever had any personal contact,” Middlebury Police Chief Tom Hanley said of Durst and Schulze. “(Durst) is a person that is very interesting to us.”
During his time in Middlebury, Durst was an unsuspicious part of the community. Students at the College often visited Durst’s store and its advertisements appeared in a number of issues of the Campus in 1971 and 1972.
Middlebury resident Tim Brown has been a part of the Middlebury community his entire life and recalls meeting Durst on a number of occasions. Brown’s father purchased the building at 13 Court Street, which Brown now owns, in the 1920s and opened an auto shop.
In 1971, when Durst opened All Good Things, Brown was returning from service to help his father in business. He recalls going into Durst’s store often because it had something he liked, “possibly some sort of nut,” he said.
“He was kind of a strange person. You could never really get close to him or talk to him. A minute or two and he was off doing something else,” Brown added of his interactions with Durst.
Brown also recalls seeing students in Durst’s store often. “It was very strange, that place,” he said.
Paula Israel, who owns the store Wild Mountain Thyme downtown with her husband, has a different memory of Durst. Her husband Allen was friendly with Durst and in 1976, she and her husband had dinner with Durst and his wife when they came back to Vermont for a visit.
“[Durst was] quirky, in a fun, sarcastic way. He was intelligent, in a New Yorker way… crabby too, in a funny way,” said Israel.
As new information about Durst is being released, his connection to Lynne Schulze seems to grow. However, in 1971, Durst seemed as innocent as Brown or Israel.
Schulze went missing on Dec. 10, 1971 and not until Jan. 28, 1972 was there a piece in The Campus about her whereabouts. In the bottom left corner of the first page, her photo was featured with a caption asking for information. Nothing about her disappearance appeared after that.
On the same day, the same picture of Schulze appeared in the Addison County Independent. However, a longer article and an editorial accompanied the photo. Mentions and inquiries about Schulze appeared in the Independent until mid-February and then there was nothing more said about the case, although the investigation has continued.
The editorial that accompanied the first mention of Schulze in the Independent was written as a personal account by Celine Slator, Associate Editor of the Independent. She claimed to have seen Schulze at a restaurant, therefore raising questions about the validity of claims that Schulze was killed. Slator maintains that Schulze seems to have run away.
“I am well aware that whenever a lost person story breaks, you have reports of sightings from dozens of different sources. Most of them are based on a fleeting glance. I had far more than a fleeting glance, and that is why I noted a startling resemblance,” she wrote.
Durst’s lawyers have maintained that he had no involvement in the disappearance of Schulze. However, on the season finale of “The Jinx”, Durst was recorded in the bathroom saying, “There it is. You’re caught…What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.”
Durst is currently being held at a Louisiana prison and for federal and state gun charges.
(04/15/15 4:07pm)
The most recent winning streak of the Middlebury men’s lacrosse team came to an end on the afternoon of Saturday, April 11 with a road loss to a hot Bates team, who improved to 8-4 overall and 5-4 in the NESCAC following the win. With the loss the Panthers fall to 10-3 overall and 6-2 in NESCAC play, yet remain in the national top ten with a current ranking at number nine.
Fresh off an unexpected 12-8 victory against then top-ranked Tufts on Tuesday, April 7, the Bobcats came out with intensity on both sides of the ball. The first quarter turned out to be a push as both sides dumped in two, with the Bobcats opening up the game with an Andrew Melvin goal from a Charlie Hildebrand assist at 8:41 to go along with an unassisted Charlie Fay score to end the quarter.Middlebury saw goals from Cedric Rhodes ’17 on a 4:48 man-up assist from Henry Riehl ’18 as well as an unassisted effort by Tim Giarrusso ’16.
As the second quarter began, however, it became increasingly clear that the day simply belonged to Bates. Their stifling defense allowed only one Middlebury goal in the entire quarter, which came on another unassisted effort by Giarrusso who seemed to be one of the few Panthers playing at his highest level. In the same quarter the Bobcats pumped in four as Fay, an unstoppable force for the Bates’ attack, had three of his own to put him at four on the day by halftime to go along with Jack Strain’s quarter-opener at 9:29. At the half the contest sat at 6-3 in favor of the home side.
Unfortunately for the Panthers, Bates refused to become complacent with the halftime lead and instead came out just as hungry as they had in the previous quarter. Yet again their defense was able to shut down the Middlebury attack unit, which could only manage to add two goals in the quarter, one coming off an unassisted effort by Jon Broome ’16 and a second in the same fashion by Kyle Soroka ’16, who attempted to salvage some positives from the quarter with just 12 seconds left. The opposition had by far the most prolific quarter of the day on the other side of the field as the Bobcats scored seven in the quarter. This time the attack was led by Melvin, who with a goal and an assist in the quarter moved to five points on the day, and Kyle Weber, who scored three in a row starting at 9:27.
Though the final quarter was the Panthers’ best, marked by two opening goals from Broome to give him a hat trick for the game and a third by Jack Cleary ’16, it simply was not enough to overcome the 13-5 lead the Bobcats had built by the end of the third quarter. With yet another Melvin goal at 4:20 and a garbage time score from Sean Carroll ’16 at 1:57, Bates ultimately took the game, their first win over Middlebury in 28 contests, by a score of 14-9.
The Panthers will look to rebound and get back to their winning ways on Saturday, April 18 with a big home NECAC game against 4-8 Trinity who will be seeking only their third league win of the year. Yet, with only two regular season games left for the Panthers, the squad knows this is a big one.
(04/15/15 4:02pm)
The track teams traveled to Williamstown, Mass., on Saturday, April 11, to compete in the Dick Farley Invitational hosted by Williams College on a blustery New England spring day. Though the meet was not scored, the Panthers raced against Williams for the second time in three weeks. Also participating were RPI, Southern Vermont, SUNY-Plattsburgh and SUNY-Oneonta. The women’s team won four events and the men came home with three event victories.
Rookie Natalie Cheung ’18 notched her first collegiate victory, winning the 200 meters with a time of 26.75, and was one of just two competitors to break the 27-second barrier. Teammate Alex Morris ’16 was third in the race with a quick time of 27.12.
Cheung’s Middlebury career has taken off since moving out of field houses and armories and on to outdoor tracks.
“It was difficult training for the indoor season because of the delay with the field house, and we could only practice at UVM once a week, limiting our amount of conditioning,” Cheung said. “Now that we have the indoor track, and finally some warm weather, the whole team has been improving. I definitely did not expect to be winning races as a freshman, so Saturday was really exciting for both my coach and me.”
Hannah Blackburn ’17 was a two-time victor on Saturday, winning the 100-meter hurdles by running a collegiate-best time of 15.21 and winning the long jump by leaping 5.18 meters. Jackie Kearney ’16 was second to Blackburn in the 100 hurdles by running 15.85.
The fourth victory came from Devon Player ’18, who won the javelin with a heave of 39.87 meters. Carly Andersen ’16 took second by throwing 37.86 meters. Like Cheung, the victory was the first of Player’s career as a Panther.
Other notable results included Halle Gustafson ’16 running personal bests in the 400 meters and 200 meters of 61.13 and 27.53 to finish second and sixth, respectively, Erzsie Nagy ’17 running 11:24.52 for third in her first attempt at the 3000-meter steeplechase, Lauren Bougioukas ’16 finishing second in the 800 meters in 2:21.42 and Paige Fernandez ’17 taking second in the 400-meter hurdles in 65.98.
On the men’s side, relays provided two of the three event victories. The 4x100-meter relay team of Sam Rives ’15, Jeremy Carter ’17, captain Fritz Parker ’15 and Will Bain ’15 cruised to victory with a time of 43.51. The 4x400-meter team closed out the day with a victorious time of 3:31.28.
Jake Fox ’15 was the lone individual winner of the day, finishing first in the 5000 meters in 15:17.14. Teammate Kevin Wood ’15 took second by running 15:21.34. Fox and Wood worked together for the entirety of the race, a smart tactic given the conditions.
“The race unraveled marvelously,” Fox said. “I had no time goals for the race, as the wind was fierce throughout the day. To my dismay and extreme pleasure, a kind Williams athlete with an evident propensity for altruism decided to break wind for Kevin Wood and me for approximately 9 laps. We passed him with 900m to go and accelerated into the last half mile. Kevin gave me the inside lane in the final 200m and utilizing the strength honed during my winter training with the vertical alpine gang (an up-and-coming trail-running/adventure team at Midd), I grunted like a feral pig and gunned it to the finish in 15:17. I couldn’t have done it without Kevin, as he pulled me through the last half mile.”
Jared Whitman ’17 jumped 4.27 meters in the pole vault — the same height as the winner — but took third place on misses. Ian Riley ’16 was second in the javelin with a toss of 50.30 meters.
The teams will be off to SUNY-Albany on Saturday, April 18 for their final meet before NESCAC Championships on April 25 back at Williams.
