The Bowdoin Orient

Following criticism expressed on social media, as well as an email sent by concerned students, MacMillan House decided to change the theme of its Gender Bender campus-wide party that had been originally planned for tonight. The House also held a discussion yesterday about the event. 

Members of the House began planning the party before Thanksgiving vacation with the goal of creating discussion about gender identity outside of a typical setting. 

“One of the attractive things about hosting a campus-wide was that it engages a greater range of people and a more diverse group of individuals,” said Conor Belfield ’19, MacMillan House president. “There was never a time when we were just like, ‘This would be funny.’ There was always a clearly stated goal to bring greater conversation to the topic of gender identity.”

According to Belfield, many House members were initially skeptical of the idea, so they decided to consult Director of the Resource for Sexual and Gender Diversity Kate Stern for advice. Stern referred the House to Bowdoin Queer-Straight Alliance (BQSA).

Rose Etzel ’19, a member of BQSA and Gender Matters, a discussion group and supportive space for trans/genderqueer/non-binary-identified students with about seven active members, said that many students in BQSA were also not comfortable with the theme of the campus-wide. The group ultimately agreed to it on the condition that the House host a panel prior to the party to discuss the event. However, not enough people wanted to speak on the panel, and it was cancelled. Despite the panel’s cancellation, the House continued with the party idea. 

A Facebook event for the party was created on Tuesday, and posters featuring cross-dressed House members were hung up around campus the following day. 

Soon after, a number of students took to Facebook to express their frustrations and concerns about the event. While many recognized MacMillan’s good intentions, they found the setting of the event—a campus-wide party—to be problematic. 

“My concerns were that as a party theme, it’s not cognisant of the history of how trans people are perceived and how gender nonconformity is perceived,” said Paul Cheng ’17, a member of BQSA and Gender Matters. “Exhibiting those things in the setting of party, even if I know their goals were good, to create a discussion or create visibility for these things, makes it feel more insulting than anything honestly.” 

One other criticism of the event was that the House did not partner with Gender Matters. Belfield said that in hindsight, this was one of many major mistakes the House made.   

“I am very disappointed in us, as a House, that we were not able to find [Gender Matters] and communicate with them, because we wanted to. If we had [had] that conversation, we could’ve done something different,” Belfield said. “I was trying to be an ally and I think a lot of other people were. And we messed up.”

Members of Gender Matters and other concerned students sent an email to MacMillan House Wednesday night explaining their objections to the party and demanding that the theme be changed.

As a result of the backlash, the House planned a new event, “Continue the Discussion: Is the Gender Bender a Positive Event?” to listen to criticism of the event and create conversation in a public manner. However, there were mixed responses leading up to the event. 

“I’m very happy with the discussion that has been coming,” said Etzel. “At the heart of it, I don’t think [the party] should have happened in the first place, but [MacMillan] made the best of a sticky situation, and I’m very happy with how receptive they’ve been. I think that ultimately it’s good that this conversation is happening.” 

“Our plan for the most part is to shut up and listen to people, since we know we’ve hurt people,” said Belfield. “We also do recognize this discussion is inherently flawed. In Gender Matters’ letter to us, they said many of them will not be attending since they do not feel comfortable and do not want to be tokenized. That was never our intent. We have no desire to force people to come and talk about how they’re feeling. We just want to give the space to those who wanted it.” 

The meeting took place last night and roughly 30 students attended. MacMillan House started the event by issuing an apology before opening the space for discussion. Topics covered included the role of College Houses as safe spaces on campus and whether Facebook is an appropriate medium for this type of discussion. 

Shu-Shu Hsia ’19, who was first to post in the campus-wide Facebook event, believes that conversation through social media was a good way to discuss the issue. 

“I feel like talking about it online was a pretty effective way, which is why I don’t feel like [MacMillan House members] were being genuine when they say that wanted a discussion to take place,” Hsia said. “Immediately, when we started to say that we weren’t comfortable with the idea, they were trying to funnel the discussion into private emails. I don’t know why everyone is so against talking online. This is the most powerful communication tool we’ve ever had.” 

Moving forward, Etzel said that Gender Matters and BQSA are looking for ways to continue the conversation beyond this event. One idea they have is to create a poster series next semester that combats the conflation of gender identity, gender expression and gender performance.

The number of students participating in Bowdoin Advising Program to Support Academic Excellence (BASE) increased by 50 percent from last year, due to a change in the structure of the faculty stipends associated with the program. In 2015-2016, the program had 30 students, while this year’s class has 45.

BASE is an intensive advising program for first-year students who may experience more difficulties adjusting to the academic and social life at Bowdoin. According to Professor of Anthropology and Faculty Liaison for Advising Sara Dickey, the program targets students who come from under-resourced high schools or cultural environments that differ substantially from Bowdoin and New England, as well as first-generation students and students who have faced certain academic or personal challenges.

“[The challenges they might face] are not because of them,” said Interim Dean of First Year Students Melissa Quinby, who runs the program with Dickey. “We don’t think the students can’t do it, but we know the students may come from backgrounds where they’re not resourced the way some Bowdoin students were in high school.”This year, Dickey and Quinby invited 86 students in the class of 2020 to apply for the program. Of these students, 57 applied and 45 were accepted.

Unlike typical pre-major advisors who advise four students, BASE advisors only advise three, which historically has limited the program to 30 students. Last year, over 20 students who applied to the program were denied; this year, that number dropped to 12.

In previous years, one goal of the program was to train as many faculty as possible, with the intention that faculty who were trained as BASE advisors would become better advisors overall. Therefore, faculty who served as BASE advisors did so for one year, and each new school year, there would be ten new BASE advisors. Faculty members who are BASE advisors receive a stipend.

Interim Dean for Academic Affairs Jennifer Scanlon devised a new system to increase the number of advisors without significantly affecting the College’s budget. This year, advisors commit to the program for two to three non-sequential years, receive the standard stipend the first year, half of the stipend the second year and no payment thereafter.

First years in the program attend group meetings and respond to weekly journal prompts. They are also required to meet with their pre-major advisors, who have been trained to be BASE advisors, at least once every two weeks.

While many pre-major advisors meet with students to discuss a variety of topics, such as courses, studying strategies and career planning, Dickey said that BASE advisors also focus on helping students adjust to life at Bowdoin.

“Going into college, I was afraid of coming in and being like, ‘Now what? How do I orient myself? What do I do?’” said Saidou Camara ’19, who enrolled in the program last year. “This was a great way for me to come in and know that there are people who understand what my struggles might be coming to college and going through it with them step by step.

John Sledge ’18 participated in the BASE program during his first year, and now works as one of two student liaisons. He plans events, like dinners and study sessions, for its students in the program. The liaisons also spread news about upcoming events to BASE students and help schedule workshops.

“I really benefitted from the program because it taught me that it was OK to ask and receive help,” Sledge said. “The folks here at Bowdoin are committed to help you succeed if you just ask. It’s definitely shaped how I perform as a student and how I now approach my relationships with folks who are older than me.”

According to Dickey, tenure-track professors and long-term lecturers train to become pre-major advisors in the spring of their first year at the College. Any faculty member who has been a pre-major advisor for two years is eligible to become a BASE advisor. Faculty planning to mentor a BASE student undergo a two-day training workshop in the summer in order to prepare for the new role.

“We talk about the differences in ways first-generation students navigate college and the challenges that they face, and we talk about the challenges low-income students face across the country, especially students of color,” Dickey said. “We also talk about this very intentional form of advising. Instead of having a hands-off approach, you really push your advisees to let you know how they’re doing.”

With the increase in advisors and students this year, the program has added a second student liaison. Diamond Walker ’17 and Sledge work together to help first-year students.

“BASE my first year was a very strong advisory and mentorship program, but there was not really a lot of interaction between the students themselves,” Sledge said. “We were not a cohort, and that is something that both me and [Walker] have brought up. We want to make BASE a program that’s more than just advising. It’s also building a community of folks that you know, that you can get along with, that you can meet with regularly.”

For women on campus interested in playing soccer on a structured team but don’t want the time commitment of a varsity sport, Bowdoin’s new women’s junior varsity (JV) soccer team may be the answer. The team will join the men’s JV soccer team as the only two JV programs on campus.

A women’s JV soccer team existed at Bowdoin up until four years ago but disintegrated due to lack of interest. Sofia Trogu ’19 and Shinhee Kang ’18 decided to bring it back after realizing that Bowdoin’s intramural (IM) soccer program lacked the structure and commitment that they and many of their peers wanted.

“Last year, I did IM soccer in the fall,” said Trogu. “It was really fun, but I remember every single time having to rally five to six people just to have a game. It didn’t feel like the level of organization that I was used to. I missed that and I missed the team dynamic.”

“Both of us have played soccer our whole lives and played competitively in high school,” said Kang. “We both tried intramural sports but missed playing with a group of girls. Since we knew that there was a JV men’s soccer team and that a women’s team had existed in the past, we were determined to make it happen ourselves.”

At the end of last year, Trogu started to gauge interest in a potential team and immediately received lots of enthusiastic responses. Over the summer, she worked with both Student Activities and the Department of Athletics to figure out how to best go about creating the team.

While Trogu and Kang were initially planning on creating a club team, Director of Student Activities Nate Hintze suggested that they work with athletics to get the team going more quickly. Creating a club team would have required going through Bowdoin Student Government’s chartering process, which can take a lot of time. However, to join a JV team, students only have to get cleared, which includes up-to-date physicals and concussion testing before playing.

Trogu wants the team to provide students with the opportunity to play in a more organized environment.

“We’re going to have a roster, but we’re not going to have tryouts,” said Trogu. “It’s basically for anyone who likes to play soccer or wants to be able to play soccer at a very low commitment level, while still having structure, a coach and the support of the athletics department.”

According to Ashmead White Director of Athletics Tim Ryan, Bowdoin used to have a much larger number of JV teams that were feeder programs into the varsity programs. However, due to waning interest, many of these teams evolved into club or IM programs, which allow for more student ownership. JV programs on the other hand are supported by athletics, which provides old uniforms and equipment, as well as a coach.

“With the JV program, we identify a member of our staff that will work with the program and provide professional coaching and mentorship to the students who are involved,” said Ryan.

The team is coached by Women’s Varsity Lacrosse Coach Liz Grote, who also coached the previous JV soccer team.

According to Trogu, setting up matches has been difficult. Grote has already emailed 10-12 colleges and local academies to find potential teams to compete against, but the team has yet to hear back. However, the squad, which currently has about 25 students, is big enough to scrimmage among itself or against the men’s JV team.

Trogu and Kang hope to have practices Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons in addition to scrimmages on Fridays. They plan on organizing optional workouts on other days as well.

Moving forward, Trogu hopes that the team continues to grow and that more people get involved.

“[My goals] are to have a solid roster and be able to see the growth of people who may have just started soccer and maybe even have a game or two,” Trogu said. “Hopefully by next year, we’ll keep getting incoming [first years] so that we don’t lose the size of the team.”

The sailing team concluded its fall season with a pair of Atlantic Coast Championship regattas on November 14-15 after having qualified for them two weeks earlier. Seven Polar Bears competed in the Coed Atlantic Coast Championships hosted by Old Dominion University in Virginia for the first time in program history, and seven raced in the Women’s Atlantic Coast Championships (ACC’s) at St. Mary’s College in Maryland.On October 31, the team competed in the Coed New England Championship at MIT, which serves as a qualifier for the ACC’s. The team finished seventh out of 18 teams and earned the final berth to the ACC’s.On the same day, seven other Polar Bears raced in the Urn Trophy at Harvard, which is the qualifier for the Women’s ACC’s. The women finished the race strong, earning a third place finish out of 15 teams competing.

Jack McGuire ’17, Nora Cullen ’18, Dana Bloch ’17, Harrison Hawk ’18, Jade Willey ’17, Matt Lyons ’17 and Emily Salitan ’16 raced at Old Dominion for coed ACC’s. Strong winds allowed eight races to take place in each division on the first day of competition, while only four races were completed on Sunday due to a slow sea breeze. Bowdoin finished 12th out of the 18-team field.

“The team had a bit of a slow start but were able to improve throughout the event with better starts and smarter tactics,” wrote Head Coach Frank Pizzo in an email to the Orient.

At the Women’s ACC’s, Erin Mullins ’16, Ellis Price ’18, Olivia Diserio ’16, Mimi Paz ’17, Julia Rew ’16, Courtney Koos ’16 and Sydney Jacques ’18 raced for the Polar Bears. Strong winds prevailed most of Saturday, allowing ten races to be completed in each division, while Sunday’s racing took place in lighter conditions. Once again, the Polar Bears had strong races. Bowdoin finished third out of 18 teams, the best finish at the Women’s ACC’s in program history.

Koos believes mental toughness was key to the team’s success.

“I think that championship events are a much more mental hurdle than a physical or ability one,” Koos said. “It’s mentally preparing for the conditions and then doing the best that we can do, which is something I think we’ve gotten a lot better at in recent years.”

With the ACC’s marking the end of the fall competition season, the team will now shift its focus onto the spring. The fall season is different from the spring in that the team is most focused on integrating the first year class. This year’s incoming class has 10 sailors, bringing the team roster total to 32, the largest it’s been in recent years.

“We’ve been making a lot of new records for Bowdoin this fall, and I think moving forward, we want to build upon that and continue to play at that really high level and get new people on the team integrated into those high-level regattas,” Koos said. “We have a really deep team now, so we can send any one of four people to a regatta, and you won’t be able to tell the difference based off the results.”

In preparation for the spring competition season, the team has already begun workouts this week. The athletes will participate in lifts, speed training and team meetings to discuss tactics.

According to Koos, the spring is also a more fast-paced season, as there are only six weeks of racing, compared to nine in the fall. The three big conference championships this spring will take place at the Coast Guard Academy, Dartmouth and Yale. Dartmouth is hosting the coed qualifier for Nationals, and Yale is hosting the women’s qualifier for Nationals.

Last year, both Bowdoin teams qualified for Nationals. The women’s team finished 17th out of 18 teams in the final round, while the coed team finished 16th in the finals.

“Integrating [the first years] and giving people opportunities to get better, and also when it comes to championship season, really pushing and making it to Nationals are our goals,” Koos said.

Depending on the weather, the Polar Bears will likely begin their spring campaign on March 5 at Brown.

The women’s rugby team won its fourth consecutive New England Small College Rugby Conference (NESCRC) Championship on Saturday, cruising to a 88-0 win against Tufts. With the win, Bowdoin’s record improves to 7-0. This is the third straight season Bowdoin has defeated Tufts in the NESCRC championship. In 2012, Bowdoin beat Middlebury to claim the crown in the inaugural NESCRC championship.

In their annual meeting the next day, Head Coach MaryBeth Mathews and the other NESCRC coaches agreed to move Bowdoin out of the conference. Starting next fall, Bowdoin will play an independent schedule.

With the victory, the Polar Bears earned the rights to host the first round of the American Collegiate Rugby Association/USA Rugby Division II Championship tomorrow against the University of Maine.

Paige Pfannenstiel ’17 scored first, fielding a Tufts kick and returning the ball to give Bowdoin a 5-0 lead. Pfannenstiel added two more tries later in the game. Anna Piotti ’16 and Satya Kent ’19 each had a try, and Le’Shauna Phinazee ’16, Georgia Bolduc ’17 and Addison Carvajal ’16 all scored hat tricks to round out the scoring. Carvajal also added five conversion kicks for Bowdoin.

“This was the first time we played as a cohesive unit,” captain Emily King ’16 said. “We were able to connect with each other well out in the backline. The forwards had a really good read of the game and connected well with each other.”

One highlight was Carvajal’s drop goal, a play that’s considered very rare in rugby. 

“People were trying new things,” captain Cristina Lima ’17 said. “We had our first drop goal of women’s rugby at Bowdoin history. That was successful. People really started playing to our full potential.”

This was the second time Bowdoin has faced Tufts this season. In their season opener, the Polar Bears beat the Jumbos 80-5. While the first score was lopsided, Bowdoin did not expect the second matchup to be as straightforward.

“We knew that they were improving a lot,” King said. “We just went in with the expectation that it’d be a tougher game than we’d played before, and that we were going to take it as a challenge. We really worked on amping up our intensity and our physicality to bring a good game to them, and they brought a good game to us. They got better, but so did we.”

Mathews pointed to the players’ dedication in discussing the team’s continued success.“It’s the students that choose to play rugby,” Mathews said. “They have exceedingly great character and commitment to the program and to each other, and it’s the history of captains and leaders on the team that annually commit to our culture of inclusiveness, support, teamwork, friendship, good sportsmanship and fun.”

Bowdoin’s move out of the NESCRC comes after two seasons in which the Polar Bears have not been challenged in conference play. This fall, the team has outscored its NESCRC opponents 332-10. Last season, the team was 7-0 against conference opponents, outscoring teams 486-5 during that period.

The idea of a move out of the conference was first floated last year. Bowdoin’s independent schedule next fall aims for a greater diversity of opponents. Mathews hopes that the team will continue to play against some NESCRC rivals like Colby and Tufts, but also compete against more competitive teams.

“I think [the players] are very eager for it. This season has been a challenge,” Mathews said. “Last season, they handled it very well because it was the first year we had much weaker opponents. To have to do it mentally, second year in a row, is a challenge. I think the team is very much up for it.”

With the conference championship win, the Polar Bears will host the first round of the Division II playoffs against the University of Maine tomorrow at 1 p.m. Bowdoin previously beat the Black Bears 36-0 earlier this season. As with Tufts, though, the team is wary of depending on its past results going forward.

“Our motto for the whole season has been focused around what we can control,” Lima said. “So we can’t control our competition. But we can control our attitude and effort. Attitude meaning staying in the game mentally, whether it’s a really tough team or a not so tough team. And effort—always bringing 110 percent no matter who it is.”

Although classes finish by the middle of May, the campus is by no means quiet during the summer months. In addition to the 277 Bowdoin students who stayed in campus housing over the summer, hundreds of other people, both from the Brunswick community and from outside it, can be found on campus on any given day. 

Bowdoin is home to over 30 programs that take place over the summer. These programs range from athletic camps to music festivals and academic events. 

The Bowdoin International Music Festival, one of the longest-standing summer programs at the College, welcomes approximately 250 performers from all over the world to participate in music and composition studies. 

The Maine State Music Theatre, also one of the longest running programs, performs musicals in Pickard Theater. Both programs have been on campus for over 50 years. 

In addition, this past summer also featured many new programs. The largest of the new events was the College Horizons Program. The admissions staff was heavily involved in the program, which brought approximately 100 students to Bowdoin.

When considering which new programs to host on campus, the Office of Events and Summer Programs looks at both the logistical factors, such as scheduling and facilities available, and also whether the new program incorporates educational aspects.

“Often times, we’ll try to pick programs that fit the big picture mission,” said Director of Events and Summer Programs Tony Sprague.

“Many of our programs have some educational aspect,” said Sprague. “If it’s something that has some academic nature to it, we’ll often try to get an idea from [The Office of the Dean for Academic Affairs] to see whether it would make sense for it to be here on campus.” 

A large number of summer programs consist of athletic camps. Although these camps are traditionally run by Bowdoin coaches, they are not official College camps. 

Many of the summer camps, including athletic camps and camps that involve other activities, are residential camps, which means the College provides dining, facilities and rooming to those involved. 

Additionally, the College also hosts two major summer camps for children. 

The Bowdoin Summer Art Camp, which takes place in The Robert H. and Blythe Bickel Edwards Center for Art and Dance, and the Bowdoin Summer Day Camp, which takes place in the William Farley Field House and attracts 250-300 campers each week. 

“The camps, in large part, are an opportunity to benefit the community in terms of a place where kids can have fun things to do,” Sprague said. “They’re an opportunity for the families of faculty and staff here.”

A large advantage of these programs is that they create lots of activity that draws a variety of people to campus during a season when classes are not in session.

“There’s a lot of admissions visitors and a large number of students who are on campus,” Sprague said. “Our partnership with a number of these programs provides people the chance to see the campus and see some activity and it’s also a good opportunity for our current students to be exposed to some different things.”

The programs not only draw people to campus but also allow the College to contribute to the arts and entertainment scene of Brunswick. 

“Certainly with the festival and the theater, they provide meaningful contribution to the arts and entertainment culture of Brunswick in the summer and create an active campus and active community,” said Director of Finance and Campus Services Del Wilson, who also formerly served as director of summer events and summer programs. 

Sprague hopes students who stay on campus in the summer will attend more events in the future. 

“For students who are here in the summertime, we hope they take advantage of some of the opportunities that they have, like going to concerts or being able to see some of the shows,” Sprague said.

The women’s sailing team qualified for Nationals with a strong showing at last weekend’s Jerry Reed Trophy, hosted by Boston College. The co-ed team also competed in the Admiral’s Cup at Kings Point in New York, finishing eleventh out of 20 teams. 

At the Jerry Reed Trophy, where the top eight of the 16 teams competing qualify for Nationals, the Polar Bears finished in seventh place overall. Erin Mullins ’16, Dana Bloch ’17 and Julia Rew ’16 took seventh place in the A Division. Courtney Koos ’16 and Sydney Jacques ’18 finished ninth in the B Division. 

“We sailed a pretty smart event,” Head Coach Frank Pizzo said. “We didn’t have any major mistakes. There were no fouls and no starting issues, which can eat into your score line.”

Team chemistry and a strong practice mentality have been instrumental in both the women’s and co-ed teams’ success throughout the season.

“We’ve done a really good job supporting each other,” Charlotte Williamson ’15 said. “We also do a good job in practice of simulating our competitions. In practice, people act and sail the way they would on the weekends and I think that’s really important.” 

Brown University and Salve Regina will host Nationals in Newport, R.I. May 25th through 28 in Newport, Rhode Island. In preparation, the women’s team will practice in conditions they may encounter at the championship. 

“We’re going to try to get into conditions that are similar to what there can be at Newport, so getting into open water and getting into breezier conditions will be important,” Pizzo said.

Looking forward, he said that nerves will play a key factor in the big race. 

“This time of year, we’re focused on executing what we need to do given the pressures of the championship,” Pizzo said. “We’re trying to stay loose, have fun, not worry about how we’re going to do and just focus on the skill sets and the things we can control.”

The qualifying event for the co-ed team will take place this weekend at the New England Dinghy Championships at Salve Regina. 

In this past weekend’s Admiral Cup, Jack McGuire ’17 and Williamson placed fifteenth in the A Division. Michael Croteau ’15 and Mimi Paz ’17 finished ninth in the B Division. Matt Lyons ’17 rounded out the scoring with an eleventh place finish in the C Division. 

To prepare for this upcoming weekend’s regatta, the co-ed team is looking to sail more consistently and improve on what it’s been practicing on all season.

“At this point, we know how to do well,” Williamson said. “This week is about keeping everything relatively consistent and working on the little things we can do to get that much faster, but we’re not really learning anything new. We’re just fine-tuning at this point of the season.” 

The top eight of the 18 teams competing at the New England Dinghy Championships will qualify for Nationals. The co-ed team islooking to qualify for the championship for the second consecutive year.

“We want to start the event with good starts and good boat speeds and put ourselves in the position on Sunday to potentially qualify,” Pizzo said. “We want to put ourselves in the hunt and not stress out. A lot of it is focusing on what really matters. We’re going to focus on our conditions and what’s going to be important for those conditions and not necessarily how we’re finishing in those races right away.”

The men’s tennis won two of their three conference matches last week, improving to 10-3 (4-2 NESCAC). The Polar Bears beat Hamilton (7-8, 0-3 NESCAC) 8-1 but the following day lost to No. 5 Amherst (15-4, 4-0 NESCAC) 8-1. In a mid-week match against Colby, the Polar Bears won 6-3. 

On Saturday, the team resoundingly beat Hamilton. The Polar Bears took a 3-0 lead in doubles play after Luke Trinka ’16 and Luke Tercek ’18 won the No. 1 match, Kyle Wolstencroft ’15 and Gil Roddy ’18 won the No. 2 match and Kyle Wolfe ’18 and Chase Savage ’16 won the No. 3 match. Luke Trinka ’16, Wolfe, Luke Tercek ’16, Roddy and Hugh Mo ’17 all cruised to straight-set singles victories for the win.

The following day, Bowdoin could not recover from a 3-0 doubles deficit against Amherst in a battle of top-ten teams. In No. 1 doubles, Trinka and Tercek had the closest doubles match of the day with a 9-7 loss. Roddy had the lone singles win for Bowdoin. 

“We lost a bunch of tight matches against Bates and Amherst that could have gone either way,” Wolfe said. “Credit to those teams for pulling them out, but based on the resilience we showed in California, I am confident that those matches will come back our way.”

Against Colby, the team made it out of doubles play with a 2-1 match lead. Although the Trinka-Tereck combo was bageled in first singles, Wolstencroft and Roddy won their match easily and Wolfe and Bragg won their match in a tiebreak.

The singles matches faired similarly to the doubles matches, with Colby taking first and second singles and Bowdoin taking the other four. 

According to Head Coach Conor Smith, doubles play has been a weak spot for Bowdoin so far this season. 

“We’ve shown plenty of times that we’re more than capable of playing very good doubles with anyone in the country, but we’ve unfortunately shown a capability of getting down a lot in doubles,” he said. “If we’re capable of getting consistent production from our doubles, we’ll be in good shape.”

Looking forward, the team hopes to finish strong in NESCAC play. The Polar Bears still have to play Middlebury, Tufts and Williams. 

“I think our goal is to ultimately be the best in the NESCAC,” Smith said. “At the same time, [the NESCAC] is so loaded with the men’s tennis teams from a national scene, it’s a lot easier said than done.”

“We have some really tough matches coming up, and we are excited for the opportunity to continue the success we’ve had this season,” said Wolfe. 

Bowdoin will return to the courts against Middlebury this Saturday at 2 p.m.

The baseball team split its doubleheader against Bates College last weekend at Franklin Pierce University, winning the first game 15-3 and dropping the second 9-5. The team currently stands at 7-11 (2-3 NESCAC). 

After losing two games in its three-game series against Tufts the previous weekend, the Polar Bears were looking for more consistent play. 

“My hopes were for us to put together a complete day,” said Head Coach Mike Connolly in a phone interview with the Orient. “I honestly believe that when we play really well and when our team is at its best level, typically we’re going to win our games. It’s just a matter of us trying to put together 16 innings of high-level baseball.”

The Polar Bears dominated the first game. Bowdoin jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning and tacked on runs in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings to secure the win. Two Polar Bears were perfect at the plate: Chad Martin ’16 went 4-4 with four runs scored, and Sean Mullaney ’17 went 3-3 with three RBIs. Chris Cameron ’15 and Nick Sadler ’18 each had a pair of RBIs for Bowdoin as well. 

“From an offensive standpoint, we established that we were going to battle every at bat and make the pitcher pay for any mistakes,” Martin said. “We strung four or five hits together at one point in the first inning, and we got to a point where the next man up couldn’t wait to step up to the plate and keep the rally going.”

Captain Henry Van Zant ’15 pitched six innings, striking out three batters and allowing only one earned run. 

In the second contest, Bates (6-8, 1-1 NESCAC) struck first, scoring in the first inning. The Bobcats extended their lead to 7-2 with runs scored in each of the next four innings. Despite scoring two runs in the eighth inning, the Polar Bears could not complete the comeback.

Offensively, captain Sam Canales ’15, Buddy Shea ’15, Martin and Mullaney led the Polar Bears with two hits each. Bowdoin struggled defensively, committing four errors. Captain Erik Jacobsen ’15, who started the game, pitched three innings, giving up four earned runs.

“We all considered game two to be a must-win game, but I think our intensity died down a little after the blowout in game one,” Martin said. “Collectively, we felt that some pressure was taken off of us because we already had one game in the bag, so we didn’t necessarily grind out at bats. We started to press at the plate once Bates started to pull away, and once that happens, your whole plate approach changes and you put yourself in a hole.”

Looking forward, the team hopes to be a contender for the NESCAC post season tournament. In order for that to happen, Connolly believes that the team will have to play more consistently. 

“We’re trying to accomplish the ability to play every pitch the same,” Connolly said. “There’s a level that we’ve been able to get to at certain times of the year, and we’re trying to stretch out the period of really high-level play. If we do that, our long term goals are to get to the point when we are winning conference weekends.”

The Polar Bears travel to Wesleyan University for a doubleheader tomorrow.  

The women’s tennis team began its spring season with a trip to California over Spring Break, returning to Brunswick with a 6-2 record. 

On the first day of play, the Polar Bears beat the Trinity University Tigers 7-2. The following day, Bowdoin beat Wesleyan by the same score. The Polar Bears entered singles play against the Cardinals after Kyra Silitch ’17 and Emma Chow ’15 won the No. 2 doubles match and Pilar Giffenig ’17 and Tiffany Cheng ’16 won the No. 3 doubles match. Cheng, Giffenig, Silitch, Samantha Stalder ’17 and Tess Trinka ’18 all won their singles matches to secure the victory. 

The Polar Bears recorded their third win against Washington University in St. Louis in a battle of top-ten teams. 

Trinka clinched the match at No. 3 singles to give Bowdoin the close 5-4 victory.Bowdoin faced its first defeat of the season against Emory University, last year’s NCAA national champions. After falling behind 3-0 after doubles play, the Polar Bears got wins from Joulia Likhanskaia ’17, Trinka and Silitch, but it wasn’t enough to pull off the comeback. 

“The Emory loss was actually a pretty encouraging loss,” said Chow. “Even though the score was 6-3, there were a lot of three-set matches, and our doubles matches were tight. We definitely feel encouraged and are excited to hopefully play them again.”

In another top-ten matchup, the Polar Bears fell to Pomona-Pitzer 5-4. Giffenig and Cheng were the only Bowdoin doubles team to win its match. Likhanskaia, Cheng and Stalder each earned singles victories, but the comeback fell short in a three-set battle at No. 6 singles. 

“The Pomona loss was much more frustrating because we lost 5-4 in the third set,” Chow said. “Every year, we want to beat them, and we should beat them. We beat Wash U, who often beats them.”

The Polar Bears rebounded by beating Whitman College and the University of Redlands by scores of 9-0 and 7-2 respectively over the next two days. 

On its final day of play, Bowdoin beat Trinity 8-1 in a conference match. The Polar Bears jumped out to a 3-0 lead after doubles play. Likhanskaia, Cheng, Giffenig, Stalder, and Silitch all won in straight sets during singles play to give Bowdoin the win. 

The Polar Bears experimented with changing its doubles lineup, which contributed to the team’s strong finish in the trip. 

“Especially on Spring Break, it’s about experimenting with teams and trying them out,” Chow said. “Ideally, we’ll have our doubles lineup set when we get back. Those teams can just get better together, so by the time we get to May—the peak of our season—we’re at our best.”

Looking forward, the team hopes to continue its successful record and play competitively at the NESCAC and NCAA tournaments. 

Bowdoin will return to action at home against MIT on April 4. 

The women’s squash team fell to Amherst in the C Division finals of the College Squash Association National Tournament at Harvard last weekend. The Polar Bears were competing in the Walker Cup, which consists of teams ranked from 17 to 24 in the country. Bowdoin concluded its season with a 10-12 record.

Going into Nationals, the team was focused on improving on its performance at the NESCAC Championships, where it placed seventh.

“Our goals going into Nationals were trying to work on what we were doing in practice—things like serve and returns and being more confident in our abilities as a team as a whole and making sure we kept calm and focused,” said Alden Drake ’15.

On Friday, No. 19 Bowdoin beat No. 22 Wesleyan 8-1. Bowdoin had previously beaten Wesleyan in a tightly contested 5-4 match during the regular season. Drake, Torey Lee ’15, Tully Ross ’18, Diya Chopra ’18, Sara Wlodarczyk ’15, Chloe Polikoff ’17 and Emily Simonton ’15 all cruised to 3-0 victories. Alex Moreno ’18 won 3-1.

“Team dynamics were really good going in,” Chopra said. “We were really focused and we had practiced hard the week before.” 

“We were pumped about the weekend,” Drake said. “It really came out in that match. People were fighting really hard. They were going for every point and every ball. There was a different kind of energy that was present in that match. We couldn’t have been prouder of that performance.”

The following day, Bowdoin beat No. 18 Hamilton 6-3 in the semifinal. The Polar Bears lost to Hamilton 6-3 in a consolation round of this year’s NESCAC Championships.

“It was huge that we refocused and came together to figure out what we had done wrong and then to knock them out of the semifinals,” Drake said. “They were ranked above us, and we weren’t supposed to win that match, and we ended up winning. That invokes everything we had been trying to work on over the season.”

Sarah Nelson ’17 and Polikoff both won their respective matches in five games. Ross, Chopra and Simonton claimed 3-0 wins, and Wlodarczyk won 3-1.

Bowdoin lost to No. 17 Amherst 6-3 in the season in January but had hopes of an upset victory in the cup final. On Sunday, Lee and Chopra earned 3-0 victories, and Nelson won 3-2. However, no other Polar Bears were able to win and Bowdoin lost the contest 6-3.

“We really grew as a team,” Chopra said. “When we initially started, we played some really tough teams. When we started practicing a lot more, our goal was focusing on Nationals, and I think we did a really great job to reach the finals. Even though it didn’t work out in the finals, it was a good point to reach.”

The women’s hockey team played seven games during winter break, going 4-2-1. The team’s record is currently 8-3-3 (4-1-1 NESCAC). 

In the second day of the New Year, the Polar Bears traveled to Minnesota to take on the University of St. Thomas. Bowdoin defeated the Tommies 4-3 in overtime. One day later, Bowdoin beat Hamline University 4-1. 

According to Head Coach Marissa O’Neil, the team built important chemistry during their trip to the Midwest. 

“We played against two tough teams out there, but the bonding and chemistry we were looking for was really getting built,” O’Neil said. “It’s tough in the first semester when we have fall athletes joining us, and we have exams and reading period. That chemistry definitely contributed to our success while we were out there and since we’ve been back.”

That Friday, Bowdoin played Connecticut College in the first game of its doubleheader. The Polar Bears lost 2-1 but avenged the loss with a 3-1 win the next day. On January 13, Bowdoin lost 6-3 to the University of Southern Maine.

Last weekend, Bowdoin played back-to-back games at Wesleyan. In Friday’s game, the Polar Bears were able to strike first, when senior captain Schuyler Nardelli scored with three minutes left in the first period. The Cardinals tied the game in the second period and took the lead with fewer than four minutes left in regulation play. The Polar Bears were able to answer, with Julie Dachille ’18 scoring less than a minute later to push the game into overtime. Neither team was able to score during the five minute overtime period, leaving the final score at 2-2.

The next day, Bowdoin shut out Wesleyan in a 2-0 victory. O’Neil believes that seeing Wesleyan play in the first game helped the Polar Bears prepare for the second game.“Going into Saturday, we knew some areas where we could tighten our game and execute better,” said O’Neil. “Also, having seen them, we realized how we could best play to our strengths given what they were trying to accomplish out there.” 

Captain Chelsea MacNeil ’15 scored first for the Polar Bears in the first period. With fewer than four minutes left in the second period, Maddie Baird ’15 added another goal to extend the lead. Lan Crofton ’17 made 30 saves in net in her third shutout of the season. The Polar Bears will conclude their season with ten conference matchups. 

“Hopefully, we’ll be in contention to be in the NESCAC playoffs,” O’Neil said. “Our goal would be to host a quarterfinal game, which would mean we end up in the top four. That’s where we have our sights set now, but certainly nothing is decided just yet.”

In order to finish the season strong, O’Neil believes the team can be more consistent. “We’ve talked about being able to play for 60 minutes and not to start off slow or have a let down throughout the game,” O’Neil said. “If we can put together 60 minutes, teams are going to have a tough time beating us.”

Bowdoin returns to the ice tonight at 7 p.m., starting a weekend of back-to-back games against Middlebury. 

The men’s ice hockey team continued its strong start to the season, winning its last five games to remain undefeated and improve its overall record to 6-0-1.

In the annual Colby-Bowdoin showdown the Polar Bears rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the first period to win the contest 5-3 at Watson Arena. Daniel McMullan ’18 scored his first career goal right before the end of the first period to bring the score to 1-2. 

John McGinnis ’15 brought the Polar Bears back, scoring twice in the second period to give Bowdoin the lead. The Mules evened the score at 3-3 at the beginning of the third period but Matthew Lison ’18 and Connor Quinn ’15 each scored to secure the Bowdoin win.

In the second game, held at Colby’s Alfond Rink, the Polar Bears once again found themselves trailing early, when the host team scored less than two minutes into the game. Brendan Conroy ’17 equalized for the Polar Bears with his first career goal minutes before the Mules scored again. Just 52 seconds before the end of the first period, Quinn scored to tie the game going into the first intermission. In the second period, Kendall Culbertson ’17 and Lison each scored once while Quinn had two more goals in the third period before Colby scored again, making the final score 6-3. 

“I believe that league experience in games where you’re down and come back was critical,” said Head Coach Terry Meagher. “The juniors and seniors have been through long seasons and they knew to stay steady and not to panic.” 

Two days before Thanksgiving, Bowdoin beat the University of New England 3-0. Alec Root ’15, Danny Palumbo ’15 and Quinn each scored for the Polar Bears. Goaltender Max Fenkell ’15 made 24 saves and earned his second shutout of the season. 

The Polar Bears then hosted Wentworth Institute of Technology on Saturday in the first day of the Bowdoin/Colby Face-Off Classic tournament, with Bowdoin winning 6-1. McGinnis, McMullan, Spencer Antunez ’18 and Mitch Barrington ’17 each scored to give Bowdoin a 4-0 lead at the end of the first period. Wentworth had a goal in the second period, but it was not enough. Palumbo and Quinn both scored  additional goals to seal the win. Three of Bowdoin’s goals came from power plays. 

“The confidence of the team is directly correlated to your special team’s play, and that’s a reason why we’re off to a good start,” Meagher said. “Our special teams play, man up and man down, has been excellent.”

The Polar Bears continued the impressive start to the season Sunday as the team cruised to an 8-0 win against Salve Regina. Lison scored twice, and Conroy, Matt Rubinoff ’16 and Cullen Geary ’18 each tallied goals in the first period. Tim Coffey ’15 and McMullan scored in the second period. Matt Sullivan ’17 rounded out the scoring with a goal in the third period. Fenkell recorded 27 saves. 

Meagher believes a combination of talent, preparation and leadership has been crucial for Bowdoin’s success. 

“They know the importance of a good start. What it’s coming down to is the quality of leadership, especially in the senior class,” said Meagher. “Their preparation in the summer and their preparation in the fall are as good as I’ve seen.”

To continue in its early season dominance, the Polar Bears hope to continue to innovate in practice as they prepare for the heart of the NESCAC schedule. 

“We want a team that has a degree of sophistication and is layered. We don’t want a team that’s linear in play, which means there’s a lot of different looks in how you connect it all,” Meagher said. 

“We need more support scoring,” he added. “It’s been skewed to two or three individuals. We had a little bit of it in the last game, but if you want to be successful, you need more support scoring.” 

The Polar Bears hope to extend their win streak when they return to the ice tonight at 7 p.m. for an away game against Connecticut College.

This past August, Nicky Pearson was selected to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Hall of Fame.

Pearson is one of three coaches selected this year. She will be inducted at the 2015 NFHCA Annual Convention in January.

For Pearson, the honor has less to do her own achievements and more to do with the success of the entire program.

“I see this award as collective recognition,” Pearson said. “When I had a couple moments just to reflect on what an honor it was, I automatically thought about the players I’ve coached and the assistant coaches that I’ve had. This award is really acknowledging what we’ve achieved together. I will accept it but on behalf of an awful lot of people.” 

In her 18 years as coach of the Polar Bears, Pearson has led the team to four DIII NCAA championships in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2013. 

Pearson credits the school with much of the success the field hockey team has had over the last two decades.

“At Bowdoin, I’m at a school that’s committed to supporting female student athletes. I believe that if we work hard, we can attract some very talented field hockey players,” Pearson said.Team camaraderie has also played an important role in the squad’s success.

“We focus a lot on leadership and creating a positive team culture where everyone feels that they can be who they are and be respected,” Pearson said. “That’s really important. We have a group that is incredibly passionate about the sport and believes that if they work hard every day, they can be successful.”

Pearson was introduced to field hockey at the age of ten. She played for her home town team of Hereford, England, before playing for St. Mary’s College. After graduation, Pearson took a year off to travel around the world, eventually finding herself in the United States. 

Anne Parmenter, then Head Coach of the Connecticut College field hockey team, offered Pearson an assistant coaching job, which she accepted. After one season, Pearson had to choose whether or not she wanted to continue coaching. 

“I had to make a decision if I wanted to stay in this country and continue to coach or if I wanted to go back to England,” Pearson said. “I really enjoyed the profession, and it was something I wanted to do, so I made the decision to stay in the U.S.”

When the coaching job at Bowdoin opened up Pearson, who also coached at Amherst College for a time, applied and the rest was history. 

Since then, Pearson’s team has never failed to make the postseason tournament, owning a 24-7 record in NCAA tournament play. But she doesn’t believe that those numbers are the most important part of coaching. 

“I think it’s more about having a positive impact on the women that go through my program,” Pearson said. “If I have had a positive impact on them and helped them and been a resource for navigating their four years at Bowdoin, then that is what I consider to be an accomplishment.”

This season, Pearson’s team has started with a 3-0 record. While many of the players have already reached milestones of success in their collegiate careers, Pearson believes there is still plenty of motivation on the team. 

“Every year, we start fresh. For this group of players, we’re all going to be together only once,” Pearson said. “We try to live in the present and reach our potential this year. We don’t look forward and don’t look back but take every season and make it unique and special and try to reach our potential.”