BYRD SOARS TO THE TOP
Last Thursday, men’s soccer star Drake Byrd ’21 was named to the All-American Second Team and the All-NESCAC First Team for Division III men’s soccer. En route to his honors, he had a stellar senior campaign, recording five goals and seven assists during the 2021 season.
If you are watching a football game at Whittier Field, you will likely see running back Andre Eden ’24 charging through a storm of defenders and bringing the crowd to its feet. In his first official season of college football, Eden provided a much-needed jolt of energy to the Polar Bears’ offense.
In Ben Raphelson’s first year as Head Coach of the men’s and women’s cross-country teams, he sent four athletes to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III National Championship in Louisville, Kentucky on November 20.
History repeats itself. On Sunday, November 21, the women’s rugby team completed its undefeated season by capturing its second consecutive National Intercollegiate Rugby League (NIRA) Division III championship. In West Point, New York, the Polar Bears defeated the University of New England (UNE) by a score of 31-12.
Discussion about and attention to mental health have increased significantly among college students in recent years. This uptick has created conversations at the College addressing unique mental health concerns for student-athletes who juggle practices and competitions in addition to their academic and social responsibilities.
Following a third place finish at the New England Championship qualifier, four members of the sailing team will conclude their fall season by competing at the Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) National Championship this weekend. The team, composed of Alden Grimes ’21, John Seider ’22, Meghan Gonzalez ’23 and Tbo Antonietti ’24, will travel to St.
RUNNING TO REGIONALS
The men’s and women’s cross-country teams will compete at the NCAA Division III East Regional at Suffolk University in Franklin Park, Massachusetts. Each team will bring eight athletes, seven competitors and one alternate.
Building off a dominant regular season resulting in a 22-4 overall record and top seed in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) tournament, the women’s volleyball team captured the NESCAC championship for the third time in the last seven years.
On November 6, the football team narrowly missed out on a victory over Bates in its last home game and second-to-last game of the season. Playing under the lights in the third night game in the history of Whittier Field, the Polar Bears fell short by a score of 25-24.
SERVING UP THE NESCAC
Tonight, the volleyball team’s hunt for a conference title will begin. After recording a 19-4 overall record and securing the first seed in the 2021 NESCAC Volleyball Championship, the Polar Bears earned the privilege of hosting all rounds of the championship in the Morrell Gymnasium.
Last Sunday, the men and women’s cross country teams competed in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) championship in Manchester, Connecticut, with both teams placing higher than their seeds and recording memorable individual performances.
Last Tuesday, Angelina Mayers ’23, the Athletic representative for the Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) and the Athletes of Color Coalition (AOCC) representative to the Bowdoin Student Athlete Advisory Committee (BSAAC), sent an email to the greater student body seeking opinions on the perceived student-athlete divide on campus.
WINTER SPORTS FLURRY
The winter athletic season will be in full swing soon. Competitions begin November 13, headlined by the women’s basketball team facing Nazareth College in the University of New England (UNE) Tip-Off Tournament in Biddeford and the men’s basketball team taking on Thomas College at home.
The women’s volleyball team currently sits in first place in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) with a 7-1 in-conference record and a 17-4 overall record. Heading into the playoffs, the team has won 13 of its last 14 matches—including the last five in a row—and is a contender to host the first game of the NESCAC tournament.
On Saturday and Sunday, October 23 and 24, the men’s and women’s rowing teams competed in the Head of the Charles Regatta (HOCR) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The annual HOCR is the largest rowing regatta in the world, drawing over 11,000 competitors.
After winning the Division III national championship in the 2019-2020 season, the women’s rugby team aims to continue its success through the last stretch of the regular season by continuing to split up their major goals into smaller, more immediately achievable parts.
This semester, the athletic department has engaged in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) education workshops with the Institute for Sport and Social Justice (ISSJ), a Florida-based educational company that couples a passion for athletics with a commitment to social justice.
Following the change in the College’s COVID-19 status level from Yellow to Green, Ashmead White Director of Athletics Tim Ryan announced in an email to all athletes a loosening of masking restrictions for athletes and coaches during indoor athletic events.
As the clock struck zero at Whittier Field this past Saturday, fans rushed from their seats and stormed the field to celebrate the football team’s first win since the fall of 2018. Although they were labeled as the underdogs against their New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) rival Amherst College, the Polar Bears led from start to finish, defeating the Mammoths by a score of 21-14.
Women’s lacrosse will see a familiar face on its coaching staff as it prepares for its 2022 season. On September 29, the Athletic Department announced that Kara Finnerty ’20 has been hired as an assistant coach for the team.
Following a forced 18-month hiatus from competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the women’s soccer team returned to the pitch this semester, much to the thrill of the players, coaches and fans alike.
Members of the team were excited to return to a competitive environment that encourages them to work together.
FALL-ING INTO WINTER SPORTS
Following two weeks of informal, pre-season practices and training camps, winter sports teams will begin official practices with their coaches and full rosters today. Winter sports teams have not enjoyed a full, uninterrupted season of training and competition since the winter of 2018-2019.
On Saturday, September 26, the men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in their first home meet since the fall of 2019. The Polar Bears hosted the Bowdoin Invitational, recording both individual and team victories against Emmanuel College, Endicott College and Saint Joseph’s College.
Editor’s Note 10/1/21 at 11:08 a.m.: This article has been updated to reflect the correct author.
On Saturday, September 25, the football team returned to Whittier Field for its first home game of the season, taking on Trinity College.
WOMEN’S TENNIS PREPARES TO CAUSE A RACKET
This weekend, the women’s tennis team will host the Division III New England International Tennis Association (ITA) tournament at the Pickard Tennis Courts. This event marks the first competition of the season for the women’s team and the team’s first time playing in a tournament since the fall of 2019.
This past weekend, the men’s tennis team came back strong at the Division III International Tennis Association (ITA) tournament after two years without formal competition. For the first time in two decades, Bowdoin hosted the tournament, which gave the majority of the team its first chance to compete in collegiate-level matches.
Following a quiet 18 months, women’s volleyball made a striking comeback in its first home game of the season against Wesleyan University last Friday, defeating the Cardinals 3-1. Despite some adjustments due to COVID-19 protocols, the team was ecstatic to return to Morrell Gymnasium with an eventful comeback.
Following an 18-month pause of social and athletic activity on campus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the athletic department has noted an increase in the number of spectators at sporting events in comparison to past academic years as the College’s full student body inhabits the campus for the first time since February 2020.
In its second game of the season, the women’s rugby team dominated Colby-Sawyer by a score of 79-0 on September 17. The Polar Bears are the 2019 defending national champions, but with only two games under their belt and a team that hasn’t competed in-season in over a year, the Polar Bears are focusing on the small achievements.
History can be rewritten, as the men’s soccer team proved last weekend. On Saturday, the unranked Polar Bears defeated the second-ranked team in Division III, Amherst College, by a score of 1-0.
Led by a thrilling header from Charles Ward ’22, the Polar Bears beat Amherst in a men’s soccer competition for the first time in 13 years.
After winning 494 games—more than all other coaches in Bowdoin men’s basketball history combined—former men’s basketball Head Coach Tim Gilbride retired at the end of the 2020-2021 academic year after a 35 year career. To fill the void left by Gilbride, Alex Lloyd became the eighth head coach in the team’s history.
ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT PREPARES FOR INDOOR HOME COMPETITION
The College will be hosting its first indoor athletic events of the fall season this weekend as the volleyball team faces Wesleyan College today and Connecticut College tomorrow. The players will be allowed to use their discretion to decide whether they want to wear masks during the game or not, but most of them will likely err on the side of caution and keep the masks on.
The women’s soccer team brought energy and enthusiasm back to Farley Field for their first New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) game in 18 months. Coming off an 11-0 victory over the University of Maine at Farmington (UMF), the Polar Bears came up short against Amherst College, losing 3-0 on Saturday, September 11.
As a significant number of COVID-19 cases have emerged on campus in the past few weeks, the scope of health and safety procedures looks very different from the start of the semester. However, despite the additional safety measures across campus, the Athletic Department has stuck to their previously outlined protocols, relying mostly on campus status levels and guidance from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
After over ten years of partnering with Orthopedic Associates (OA) in Brunswick, the athletic department announced in an email on Monday that a new, on-campus physical therapy (PT) clinic serving all students is now open on the second floor of Farley Field House.
To quote Thin Lizzy’s hit song, the [Bears] are back in town. The successes of the College’s women’s basketball team are formidable: the team has posted a winning overall record since the 1990s, leads the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) in championship victories and has been in the finals of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III championship in the last two completed tournaments.
MEN’S SOCCER KICKS OFF SEASON
In their first game of the season and the College’s first fall athletic competition, the men’s soccer team defeated the University of New England (UNE) by a score of 3-0. Drake Byrd ’21 netted two goals, and Minseo Bae ’22 added the third.
Supported by a campus community that boasts a vaccination rate of 99% and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Bowdoin’s athletic department is preparing to return to an unabbreviated schedule of competition for the first time since the fall of 2019.
RETURN TO BUSY COMPETITION SCHEDULE
After an 18-month halt to athletic competition due to COVID-19 restrictions and protocols from the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the College will return to a jam-packed schedule beginning next week.
President Clayton Rose sent an email to the campus community on Thursday afternoon announcing that the College expects to welcome all students back to campus in the fall. Rose also outlined plans for commencement and summer on-campus activity.