Category: Sports

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Sports Track & Field Women

Women’s track takes third

By Katherine Harris
Writer

For the second consecutive year, the women’s track and field team placed third in the Colonial Relays last weekend in Williamsburg, Va. The Orange and Blue placed ahead of 24 other teams, trailing only Villanova and Delaware with 78 total points in the two-day event.

One of the highlights of the day was the impressive performances of the Bison in relays. The 4×200 relay broke a school record set in 2003 with a time of 1:41.40, taking third in the race. The distance medley also took third on the day, with a time of 11:45.88 breaking into second in the school record books.

“I saw a team that is really jelling,” head coach Kevin Donner said. “The Colonial Relays is a war of attrition over two days where many athletes need to compete in multiple events and rounds. It is a great preparation for the grueling two-day Patriot League Championship.”

Many individuals also had strong showings on the track over the two days. On Friday, Jennifer Zymet ’14 led the way with a fifth-place finish in the 400 meters with a time of 56.76 seconds. Teammates Stefanie Spanfeller ’14 and Stephanie Bryan ’14 came in one after the other in the 10,000 meters, grabbing third and fourth place with their times of 38:01.77 and 38:12.11 respectively.

Success on the track continued for the Orange and Blue on Saturday with Taylor Funk ’12 coming in eighth in the 100 meters with a time of 14.94 seconds. Bison teammates Alysha Hooper ’12 and Stephanie Fulmer ’12 also had strong showings in the 3,000 meters with their respective times of 10:12.51 and 10:14.58 earning them fourth and sixth on the day.

“As the season continues we will become more confident in our races. The training is already there so now it is just time to perform. Each week, having another race or two under our belts will allow us to continue to drop our times and further our marks,” Funk said.

The Bison had strong performances both days in the field events as well. On Friday, Kat Folger ’12 grabbed third in the javelin with a throw of 143’ 10’’. Emily Ando ’14 and Autumn Schellenberger ’14 tied for sixth in the pole vault, both clearing 10’ 8’’. Orange and Blue teammates also rounded out the top ten in the hammer throw, with Abby Monaghan ’13, Kathryn Wahls ’13 and Rebecca Misko ’12 taking spots eight through ten with marks of 143’ 4’’, 140’ 2’’ and 135’ 11’’ respectively.

Monaghan led the day for the Bison throwers on Saturday with her personal best 146’ 9’’ grabbing her a first-ever discus victory and moving her into seventh in school history. In the shot put, Sarah Bella ’12 placed third with a throw of 43’ 0.25’’. Laura Lutzker ’14 and Gabrielle Eckles-Shehadi ’15 also both cleared 5’ 1’’ in the high jump, taking the fourth and fifth positions in the field.

“I was very happy with my performance; it was my season opener and I had a good series of throws in competition,” Folger said. “We will continue to work hard and stay focused to prepare to defend our title as Outdoor Patriot League Champions.”

The Bison will compete next this upcoming weekend at their first home meet of the season. The Bison Outdoor Classic will be held at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium this Saturday and Sunday.

 

 

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Rowing Sports Women

Rowing excels at home

Alex Wagner
Assistant Sports Editor

The women’s rowing team picked up its first-ever regular season lightweight eight win over Princeton in the Bison’s only home event of the year last Saturday. The Bison varsity eight also won against Drexel.

The lightweight eight boat for the Orange and Blue is rowed by Caitlin Vogelsang ’12, Hannah Rozowski-Vogt ’12, Helena Craig ’15, Hilary Strong ’12, Anne Kirk ’12, Elizabeth Aigler ’13, Victoria Catharine ’14 and Jennifer Fish ’14, with Alexandra Higbee ’12 as coxswain.

They rowed to a 7:15.98 finish, more than three seconds ahead of Princeton. The victory did not come easily.

“It was a tough race, especially with Princeton closing our lead within the second half,” Vogelsang said. “Mentally and physically pushing through that was the key to ultimately pulling back out ahead.”

The day’s events also marked the first time the Bison have raced an Ivy League school at their home course.

The Bison’s openweight freshman eight raced against Princeton’s freshman lightweight eight and finished in 8:01.55, almost nine seconds ahead of their competitors. After only a short break, the same rowers lost to Drexel’s freshman eight.

In the second race after the break, the Bison’s second and third varsity eights competed against Drexel’s second varsity eight, finishing first and third respectively, with Drexel in second.

The day’s races finished up with the Orange and Blue varsity eight defeating Drexel’s varsity eight by almost 14 seconds.

Head coach Stephen Kish was pleased with his team’s performance.

“It was an exciting day for the team. Drexel University has a great rowing program and our boats did a great job putting together a strong race and defending our home course.  The Princeton lightweights finished second at the national championship last year, so finishing ahead of them definitely felt good and showed us that we can be competitive at the top level,” Kish said.

The next action for the Bison will be this weekend at the Knecht Cup on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J.

 

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Featured Lacrosse Sports Women

Athlete of the Week: Sophie Kleinert ’14

By Chris McCree

Sports Editor

 

Sophie Kleinert

Year: Sophomore

Position: Midfielder

Hometown: Greenwich, Conn.

Major: Political Science

 

Season Statistics:

 

GP-GS: 12-12

Goals: 11

Assists: 2

SOG %: .720

Ground Balls: 10

 

Despite being part of a 14-11 losing effort to Patriot League rival Lafayette, Sophie Kleinert ’14 put together an impressive offensive performance for the Orange and Blue on Saturday, leading the team with three goals and five shots on target. Starting at midfield for the Bison, Kleinert gave the team the early lead with her first goal of the day less than two minutes in. Later in the half, Kleinert came through with another big goal to preserve the team’s lead following a Leopard offensive rally in which the team tallied two goals within 15 seconds. Entering the second half with a one-goal lead, the Orange and Blue maintained the momentum after Kleinert scored her third goal. 

Along with her three goals, Kleinert also recorded a ground ball and draw control, raising her season totals to 10 and 11 respectively. She also showed off her accurate shooting abilities, as all five of her shots were on target.

Although the team has not had much success this season, Kleinert has certainly elevated her game from her rookie year. Just 12 games into this year, Kleinert has already nearly doubled the six goals she scored last year.

Currently, the Bison hold a 3-9 record and have five regular season games remaining on the schedule. Looking to earn their first league victory, Kleinert and the Orange and Blue will travel to Holy Cross this Saturday to take on the Crusaders at 1 p.m.

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Beyond the Bison Sports

Beyond the Bison: “Ain’t never gonna be what it was”

Julian Dorey

Columnist

The first pitch has hit the glove, and the 2012 MLB season is officially underway. 

Every year there are big storylines going into the season. Players have new homes (Albert Pujols), teams have new looks (the Miami Marlins), and legends are replaced (Tony LaRussa). But this year, one story is staying under the radar.

The Philadelphia Phillies—one of the game’s great forces for the last five years—could be on the wrong side of a high incline hill. Even with the game’s best pitching rotation (highlighted by Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels), the Phillies enter this season with much lower expectations. Perhaps some of it has to do with the free-agency splash the Miami Marlins made and the young players entering the Majors for the Nationals (both teams in the NL East with the Phils). But most of it has to do with the one power no man can fight: father time.

The Phillies once “young-gun” core isn’t so young anymore. Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Carlos Ruiz are all 33, Ryan Howard is 32 and recovering from one of the most devastating injuries in sports (ruptured Achilles) and Shane Victorino is 31. The staples of the 2008 World Series Championship team and the 2009 runners-up are “up there.”

None of them have the same pop they once had. Many of their stats have declined in the last three seasons. Utley has cartilage damage in both knees which will cost him the beginning portion of his season. Howard’s Achilles injury may never allow him to hit the ball like he once did. Aging is a sad thing in sports, but it’s a reality.

Maybe the Phils have another fight or two left in them. Whenever you have pitching like they do, you always have a shot. But the name of the game is runs, and the Phillies don’t have a lot of forces to help them in that department. This year, they will need to rely on last year’s trade deadline pick-up, Hunter Pence, heavily. Without Howard for the first few months of the season, Pence (a career 20-25 HR hitter) will need to provide a little more power than usual in the cleanup spot. Role players like John Mayberry Jr., Juan Pierre, Laynce Nix and Ty Wigginton will need to put up some inflated numbers as well.

It’s a lot to ask of a team that simply lacks the edge it once had. Frankly, it’s sad that Philadelphia and America may have to say goodbye to a truly exciting team that gave the league a great thrill ride year in and year out.

But this is the reality of sports.

Everything comes to an end.

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Featured Men Sports Tennis

The Dominant Duo

Alex Wagner

Assistant Sports Editor

 

The Bison’s top men’s tennis doubles team of Gregg Cohenca ’12 and Evan Zimmer ’13 is currently ranked No. 51 in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. 

The two, who began playing together in the fall of 2011, quickly found that they were able to work together well, helping them climb to a position among the elite doubles teams in the nation.

“We played all the fall tournaments together and have meshed since,” Cohenca said.

A key to their success this year has been their ability to stick to the basics.

“Sticking to our fundamentals and tactics [has] brought us our success thus far. We stay positive for every single point and focus on setting up points to end in our favor. Trying to stay completely relaxed and confident out there has propelled us to beat many teams, such as Penn State,” Zimmer said.

In fact, the Feb. 11 victory over Penn State’s Jason Lee and Russell Bader, who are currently ranked No. 25 in the nation, proved early in the season that Cohenca and Zimmer deserve national recognition.

But the hard work to get to the top began for the two of them long before they started seeing themselves in the national rankings this year. Their career records are a testament to their patient approach. Cohenca is currently ranked fourth for the Bison in terms of all-time doubles victories, with a record of 64-46. Zimmer is not far behind in a tie for 12th with a 48-24 record.

In addition to their constant focus on the fundamentals, the teammates also cite their unity off the court as a strong point of their play.

“Off the court, we are good friends, which helps during those crucial moments in the match,” Zimmer said.

As the season progresses, they hope to continue the short-term thinking that has gotten them to where they are today.

“Our goal on the court this season is to play one point at a time. Once that point is over, win or loss, we move on to the next point,” Cohenca said.

There is little doubt that if Cohenca and Zimmer stick to the principles that they have been employing, they will continue to do great things this season.

 

Categories
Golf Men Sports

Men’s golf battles wind, finishes eighth

By Scott Padula

Staff Writer

In its second tournament in as many weeks, the men’s golf team fought off 30-mile-per-hour winds and frigid temperatures en route to placing eighth out of 44 in the Wildcat Invitational in Malvern, Pa.

On Monday, the first day of action, the Bison battled the elements to shoot a team score of 320 in the first round. Captain Will Bachman ’12 led the Bison with a team-low of 78. Thomas Walter ’14 shot an 80 while Dan Bernard ’13 and Schuyler Stitzer ’14 both shot opening round 81s. Jon Hartman ’13 rounded out the Orange and Blue team with a score of 82 in his spring debut.

The Bison sharpened their game in the second round of the day, shooting a team score of 318. In the afternoon round, Stitzer broke Bachman’s team-low for the tournament by shooting a 76. Through 36 holes, Stitzer led the team with a score of 157. After his impressive 78 in the first round, Bachman followed up with a second-round score of 82. Other notable performances for the Bison came from Hartman and Bernard, who shot 79 and 81 respectively. After the second round of the tournament, the Orange and Blue sat in 11th place.

In the final round of the tournament on Tuesday, the Orange and Blue shot a team score of 307, allowing them to jump three places in the team standings. Hartman carded the best Bison score of the day with a three-over-par 74. Bernard and Stitzer recorded 77s, while Bachman and Walter tallied 79s. Stitzer led the team with four birdies. This final round was the first of the spring where all five Bison registered scores below 80.

“As long as we continue to practice with intensity and work on areas that need improvement, we will be prepared for Patriot Leagues. It is important to remember that golf is a strange sport where what happens one weekend in no way determines what will happen the next. All we can do as players is make the right decisions and continue to improve,” Stitzer said.

The Orange and Blue have a week off before they head to Farmville, Va. where they will compete in the Manor Intercollegiate on April 13 and 14.

Categories
Rowing Sports Women

Rowing places eight boats in top seven

By Lindsay Regruto

Senior Writer

The women’s rowing team had a strong showing at the Occoquan Sprints on Sunday in Fairfax, Va. with all three varsity eight boats placing in the top seven, another varsity eight boat taking fourth in its final and a novice eight boat taking first in its finals. 

“In the grand final, the varsity eight were in lanes one and two racing right next to each other just like every morning,” Christy Holodnik ’12 said. “Every morning the two boats push each other to be faster … and that is exactly what happened during the final.”

Two of the varsity eight boats with coxswains Jacqueline McKeone ’13 and Alexandra Higbee ’12 finished second and third respectively in the second heat of the competition while the third varsity eight boat with coxswain Katherine Anderson ’12 pulled out a first place finish in the third heat. McKeone’s and Anderson’s boats advanced to the final and took third and fourth respectively. The third varsity eight boat (cox: Higbee) advanced to the petite final taking first over Georgetown by almost five seconds to place seventh overall.

The second varsity eight boat took third in its heat and finished fourth in the final of its division. The Bison also had a strong showing in the novice eight with its boat taking first in its heat by seven seconds over Old Dominion. The novice eight boat continued to the final, beating out Delaware for first by about eight seconds.

“[We] had an exciting showing this past weekend,” Ally Cohen ’12 said. “All of our boats held their own against some tough competition.  We are looking forward to races to come and are excited to keep getting faster.”

The Bison will host Drexel and the Princeton Lightweights on Saturday at 8 a.m.

 

 

Categories
Sports Track & Field Women

Women’s track comes away with trio of golds

By Katherine Harris

Writer

After winning the indoor Patriot League title in the winter, the women’s track and field team started off its outdoor season strong last Saturday with many impressive performances at the Towson Invitational.

“After the layoff between the indoor and outdoor season, I was very pleased with the result,” head coach Kevin Donner said. “We looked at this first outdoor meet more as a rust-buster and did not worry too much about times and distances.”

Even with the team not as worried about individual times and distances, there were still many shining moments on the day in Towson, Md. The Bison ended the meet with three gold medals, including a time of 48.43 seconds in the 4 x 100 meter relay that missed breaking into the program top-10 list by one hundredth of a second.

Another of the victories for the Orange and the Blue came from Rebecca Misko ’12 with her throw of 41.44 meters in the discus. Her mark was closely contested by teammate Abby Monaghan ’13, whose second-place throw of 41.43 meters just barely missed Misko’s distance.

The Bison continued their success in throwing events as they took the second through fourth spots in the javelin. Tayler Siegrist ’13 led her teammates with a throw of 137’ 8’’, while Sarah Trahan ’12 threw 127’ 5’’ and Erin Norris ’15 came in at 125’ 8’’.

In the pole vault Yanelis Mestre ’15 earned sixth in the school records books with a career best 11’ 1.75’’. Mestre earned the fourth place spot in the meet, while Autumn Schellenberger ’14 grabbed fifth on the day.

The Orange and Blue also had strong performances on the track, with Hana Casalnova ’14 leading the way with her winning time of 4:38.19 in the 1500 meters. Casalnova was also followed in the event by teammates Emily Waksmunski ’14, placing fourth, and Stephanie Fulmer ’12, coming in at fifth.

“I thought that the team performed really well in the meet this weekend,” Beth Braunegg ’14 said. “We are ahead of where we were last year at this time so this is setting us up for a strong showing at the league meet in a few weeks.”

The Bison also had three members place in the 800 meters. Braunegg led the way with her time of 2:16:09, while Caroline Tolli ’13 came in close behind in third at 2:16:70. Rounding out the top five was Emily Liggett ’12, whose 2:18:29 earned her the fifth spot in the race.

“We just wanted to be competitive, which we were,” Donner said. “The times and distances will come as we get into mid-season form by mid-April. Next weekend … will give us a good gauge on where we are at as a team.”

The team will seek to continue to improve its marks this weekend at the Colonial Relays, taking place on Friday and Saturday at William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

Categories
Men Sports Track & Field

Barr ’12 anchors men with record performance

By Colin Fields

Writer

Tom Barr ’12 continued his dynamite senior season Saturday with yet another track and field program record in the shot put. Although the event was unscored for team play, 10 other Bison were victorious in Towson, Md. this weekend as the Bison opened up their title defense in this yearʼs outdoor season.

Barr, who had already broken the Bison indoor shot put record earlier this year, continued his success by crushing his old outdoor record. Barr broke his previous outdoor best by two feet, launching a toss of 54’ 2.5’’. Barr broke the outdoor record previously held by Timothy “Big Tim” Medlock who threw for 53’ 5’’ in 2009. Barr finished second overall in the event but was not done after the shot put. In his next event, the hammer throw, Barr picked up a victory with a career best mark of 174’-8’’. Barrʼs performance in the hammer throw placed him in the top 10 in program history for yet another event. Barr then finished fifth in the discus, giving him three top-five spots at the Towson Invitational.

“I am happy to beat Timʼs record,” Barr said. “Records are meant to be broken, and as a former Bison Tim left his record as a challenge for someone to beat, and I am glad that I rose to the occasion. I feel confident moving forward into 2012 after my victories this weekend because every time we compete, it is a test of our technique and conditioning.”

Laddie Trees ’15 showed promise in the javelin, joining Barr with a solid performance in throws. Trees won the javelin in his first-ever outdoor meet, tossing a mark 208’ 7’’ and placing seventh on the all-time list. Teammate Stephen Koullias ’13 also performed well, placing fourth in the shot put with a throw of 51’ 11.25’’. His mark was only 2.75 feet shy of Barrʼs record and placed him in sixth overall in Bison history. Luke Webster ’13 kept the train rolling with a win of his own in the discus with a toss of 157’ 9’’.

On the track, Ray Holmes ’14 picked up two victories in both the triple jump and the long jump. Robert Arent ’12 and Dave Brown ’12 were also successful in their hurdles events. Arent picked up the victory in the 400 meter hurdles and second in the 110 meter hurdles while Brown grabbed another Orange and Blue victory in the 1500 meter hurdles. Justin Hicks ’13, who was the Outstanding Athlete of the Meet in the Patriot League Indoor Championships, won the 100 meters, and Dustin Horning ’13 won the 800 meters.

The Bison will look to continue their success in the upcoming Colonial Relays April 6-7 at William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

Categories
Softball Sports Women

Softball drops four of five

By Thomas Walter

Writer

The softball team opened Patriot League play this past weekend by losing four straight at home to Colgate, but rebounded with a split in a doubleheader against La Salle on Wednesday.

The Orange and Blue hit the ball well but left runners stranded in scoring position all weekend long. In the four games against the Raiders, the Bison recorded just four total runs off 15 hits.

“The most important thing for us to turn around is to get our bats moving so we can produce more offensively,” Cassie Greenhawk ’13 said.

On Saturday, the Orange and Blue kept it close in both of the day’s games, falling 4-3 and 2-0. Mary Horton ’13 went one-for-one with an RBI and three walks in game one, while Tori Robinson ’15 recorded the team’s only hit in game two.

Sunday’s games were much more lopsided as the Raiders were able to outscore the Bison 11-1 and 5-0.

“Even though the results weren’t that great, the team definitely took some positives out of this past weekend, the first being that even though there were a lot of runs scored against the team there was solid pitching effort all weekend long,” Courtney Conover ’14 said.

Going forward, the team knows that it must continue this trend of solid pitching if it wishes to succeed late in the season.

“I’d have to say that our pitching staff did a phenomenal job pitching during the Saturday double-header,” Greenhawk said. “They really held their own against Colgate as far as minimizing their opportunities to get runners in scoring position.”

After a disappointing weekend against Colgate, the team took to the field Wednesday against La Salle to get another warm up in before facing off against Lehigh. After dropping the first game 1-0, the Bison responded strongly with a 5-2 victory. Laura Sandford ’13 drove in the winning run in the second game in order for the team to get another win under its belt and get some confidence going into this weekend.

“The La Salle games definitely give us extra confidence going into Lehigh,” Conover said. “I think we let the first game get away from us, but we answered back in the second game and came back to win the game.”

The team travels to Lehigh this weekend to play its second Patriot League series of the season. The series is set to start on 1 p.m. this Saturday.

“The biggest thing we need to get done against Lehigh is hit when we have runners on, especially when they are in scoring position,” Conover said. “We have definitely been leaving too many runners on base and that’s definitely something we want to improve on this weekend.”