The coming weeks mark the transition from the end of the 2016-2017 Connecticut College winter sports season to the start of the 2017 spring sports season. For winter student athletes, the month of February is filled with tournaments and championships, whether they are NESCAC championships, final games, NCAA tournaments or nationals. All of the early mornings, late nights, double sessions and even the family time athletes sacrificed over break culminate in the final meets, matches and games they play in this month.
To shed light on the hard work of winter athletes in our community, several of Conn’s representatives in winter sports were asked how they feel going into this final stretch of the season considering the pressure of such a culmination. Through a series of interviews, they addressed their personal and team-wide attitudes as they face the positive and negative aspects of the winter season’s end.
Based on their responses, it is clear that these athletes have a great deal of respect for their sports, their teams, their school and themselves.
Anne Holly ‘17, a tri-captain of the women’s squash team, explained how she will lead her team in their final two weeks. According to Holly, “it’s important for us to stay focused during our final six practices. We have to keep up the high energy as we work on executing our shots in match play. We put in the work in practice and now it is time to tie it all together as our home match is the culmination of four years of hard work as a Connecticut College squash player and a Camel.” To this day, she believes that “every day, it is an honor and a privilege to put on the jersey, and by wearing it, we represent Connecticut College in every aspect and must act with the utmost sportsmanship.”
After four years playing for Conn, in addition to her time training in high school, Holly has only four matches left in her collegiate squash career. Reflecting on her time at Conn, Holly said: “having arrived at CC with three people on the team, to have risen to 28th in the nation with a key win over the 22nd team, it is important that we keep pushing for more. We never settle with our current performance. We have so much talent on this team and the results that we are able to achieve given the extremely limited resources available to us, is incredible. There’s no better time to support Camel Athletics, women in sports or squash. We plan to end the season with our best performance yet, with no regrets, the utmost sportsmanship and an improved ranking proving that this is just the start of a great future that you’ll want to support.” On Feb. 24-26 they will compete in the CSA National Championship.
Mason Evans ‘18 from the men’s hockey team, expressed similar respect for his team. Evans says, “it feels good knowing our seniors can end their careers on a good note; they’ve really earned it during their time here and the rest of our team owes it to them to make the most of the last weekend. I think we’ve really improved as a team this season regardless of wins and losses; hopefully that can translate into 2 wins to close out the season. The season has been a blur thus far just because of how much fun we’ve had, but at some point all of us need some time off to rest and regroup for next season.” On Feb. 18 the team will take on Bowdoin for the final match of the season.
Daniel Reisman ‘18 of the men’s squash team commented on how his team has prepared for the CSA National Championship, which will take place Feb. 17-19. He said: “it feels good knowing that all the work we have put in throughout the season will show at Nationals. Everyone on the team is eager to play well and use the past couple months of training to do so. Going into the last few weeks of practices, we all feel better than we have the entire season since we have been pushing extra hard to wrap things up.”
A conversation with these student athletes would demonstrate to anyone how seriously they take their commitments to their respective sports and to Conn. As the winter sports season comes to an end, we wish these athletes the best of luck. With hard work and perseverance, their efforts should come together in incredible athletic performances.
As Holly always says, “Go Camels!” •
