After a hesitant start to its season, the Bowdoin volleyball team is hitting its stride at the right time. A sweep of Bates and Colby last weekend extended the team’s winning streak to 12 games and secured the third NESCAC tournament seed.
With packed trailers and full hearts, the Bowdoin crew team departed Friday morning for the Head of the Charles Regatta (HOCR) in Boston. The regatta, one of the largest and most prestigious in the world, marks the climax of the team’s fall racing season, which has thus far been defined by early-season success at both the novice and varsity levels.
BEARS, BEATS, BOBCAT-TLESTAR GALACTICA
The field hockey team held on to a 1-0 victory over Bates this past Wednesday, improving to 2-0 in NESCAC play. On a stormy afternoon, the Polar Bears dealt with poor conditions and sloshed through a rain-soaked turf field all game.
The women’s rugby team (4-1) will host its seventh annual Polar Bear 7s tournament tomorrow. Earlier this month, the team competed in the NEC 7s tournament where they defeated UNH (34-10), University of Maine (19-15) and Wesleyan (32-15).
After returning to New England from spring training in California with new players and skills, the fifth-ranked men’s tennis team (8-1, 2-0 NESCAC) defeated the seventh-ranked Wesleyan Cardinals (9-2, 2-1 NESCAC) 6-3 last weekend.
In California, the Polar Bears were able to compete against strong teams while solidifying their dynamics and individual roles, ultimately finishing with a 7-1 record and their first NESCAC win of the year against Trinity.
The men’s swimming and diving team placed fourth last weekend at the NESCAC Championship meet. Scoring a total 1,019.5 points, the team exceeded 1,000 points for the first time in more than 40 years.
Despite the team’s record-setting effort, Bowdoin was outpaced by rapidly-improving league competition.
The curling team ended its regular season in Utica last weekend, finishing third out of 24 competitors. Now, the top five members will continue to the national competition in Wayland, Massachusetts over spring break, where the team is seeded seventh.
Last weekend in a matchup against Colby in Morrell Gymnasium, Abby Kelly ’19 became the 15th person in Bowdoin women’s basketball history to reach 1,000 career points. The team celebrated this milestone along with its 72-59 win over the Mules for the program’s 17th consecutive win to begin the season.
Over Thanksgiving break, the Nordic ski team traveled to Forêt Montmorency in Canada to begin their training for the season. With exceptionally heavy snowfall this year, this location is an excellent place to kick off the team’s training each year, giving an opportunity to strengthen team spirit and practice skills for the upcoming season.
The Bowdoin cross country teams hosted the NCAA regional meet on Saturday. The men’s team placed seventh and women’s secured ninth overall, and men’s captain Sean MacDonald ’19, women’s captain Julia O’Rourke ’19 and rookie Delaney Bullock ’22 received at-large bids to compete in the national championship this weekend in Wisconsin.
In Rhode Island last weekend, three fencers competed in the fencing club’s first tournament of the year. Casey Edmonds-Estes ’22 finished in the top eight, beating two experienced fencers and earning a rank E.
In fencing, each competitor begins their career labelled U, meaning they are an unranked fencer.
Last weekend the women’s volleyball team (10-1, 3-0 NESCAC) experienced its first loss of the season to Johnson and Wales University (14-1). The Rhode Island team is currently ranked fourth in the country. Despite the loss, the team is still undefeated in the NESCAC.
For students who crave participation in a sport but lack the time to commit to varsity athletics, sophomores Lowell Ruck and Mackey O’Keefe started a new club for recreational Nordic skiers. The group received more than 50 sign ups at the student activities fair and is expected to become official by the beginning of October.
After beating Wesleyan (10-6, NESCAC 6-4) in a close 11-10 game at home on Saturday, the women’s lacrosse team (12-4, NESCAC 6-4) advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 2015. The Polar Bears will battle No.
The women’s rugby team won two out of three games at the Brown University Varsity 7’s Tournament to kick off their spring season. The team beat both Norwich and University of New England, but ultimately fell to undefeated Dartmouth.
The women’s tennis team (7-5-2) kicked off NESCAC play with a 8-1 win against Connecticut College on Saturday, and a 7-2 win against Babson College on the same day.
According to Tasha Christ ’20, the team was pleased with its performance this weekend.
The softball team is on a six-game winning streak after going 13-3 over Spring Break in Florida. The team is looking to continue this success going into its first NESCAC series against Tufts, who beat the Polar Bears in the series last year.
The alpine ski team is moving on to compete at the Eastern Regional Championships this weekend after the women’s team won and the men’s team came in second in the Reynolds Division, which is made up of Bowdoin, University of Maine at Farmington, University of Maine, Colby and Bates.
The Bowdoin nordic ski team is in the middle of an exceptional season this year, coming in sixth at the University of Vermont Carnival last weekend on a new course that was recently added to the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association circuit.
Men’s hockey (7-11-0, NESCAC 4-8-0) had a successful weekend, coming away with two conference wins over Williams (10-6-0, NESCAC 6-4-0) and Middlebury (4-12-0, NESCAC 2-8-0). The Polar Bears followed this with a 2-0 home victory against the University of Southern Maine on Tuesday.
Both the men’s and women’s swim teams performed well in their inaugural meet of the 2017-18 season on November 18, with outstanding individual performances, such as the one from Marshall Lowery ’20, named NESCAC swimmer of the week.
On Monday, the Bowdoin men’s soccer team (10-4-3, NESCAC 6-2-2) received the news that it was one of five NESCAC schools to earn an at-large bid to advance to the NCAA DIII tournament. After a 1-0 defeat by Middlebury in double overtime at the NESCAC semifinals, men’s soccer is looking forward to redemption at the tournament, as they go into their first game against Rutgers-Newark (20-2) this Saturday.
Through an interactive program facilitated by the Office of Gender Violence Prevention and Education, Bowdoin first years and sophomores have the opportunity to participate in a leadership training institute focused on the prevention of and education about sexual violence, dating violence and stalking on campus.
This past weekend, the Bowdoin women’s soccer team (4-2-1, NESCAC 1-2-1) had a big win against Middlebury (4-2-1, NESCAC 1-2-1) who knocked Bowdoin out of the NESCAC Championship last year. Despite several challenges, the Polar Bears’ hard work and dedication led them to victory on Saturday.
The women’s golf team had a strong start to its season, finishing in first place at the Bowdoin Invitational last weekend, while the men’s team is looking to improve after a disappointing ninth-place finish. Both teams are hoping to have a strong showing at the upcoming Maine State Championship this weekend.