As the winter sports come in to full swing, Connecticut College closes a rich chapter of sports excitement. As a gesture towards the athletes that carried us through the fall semester, we’ve highlighted some of their accomplishments.
2014 sees the last season of soccer on Tempel green for Billy Hawkey ’14. The graduating captain adds NESCAC All-Star Team selection to an already illustrious college soccer career. Hawkey is also the first athlete from Conn to earn the NESCAC player of the year award. Leading the league with 23 points, 9 goals and 3 assists, the Men’s Soccer team will surely miss the long-haired all-star’s impeccable ability to turn a goal from the edge of the 18-yard box.
Tennis player Aneeka Kalia ’16 and Jack Griffin ’15 of Men’s Lacrosse represented Conn athletics at the NCAA leadership conference in Providence, R.I. The two continued the colleges longstanding involvement in discussing the process of positive sports leadership. “The forum was a refreshing reminder that as athletics professionals we have the platform to inspire the lives of student-athletes each and every day,” said Coach Liz Longley, the Women’s Lacrosse Coach, who accompanied the two to the conference.
This semester, 48 new athletes were honored on the NESCAC Fall All-Academic team. Balancing both schoolwork and intense commitments to their respective sports, all the athletes maintained GPA’s of 3.35 or higher. Among these were Michael LeDuc of Men’s Cross Country, Sarah Huckins and Heather Rochford of Women’s Cross Country, Max Nichols of Men’s Soccer, Aina Torres of Women’s Soccer, Cailyn Straubel of Women’s Volleyball, Laura Sanderson of Women’s Field Hockey, and Nick Dileo of Men’s Water Polo.
“We are very proud of the accomplishments of our student athletes, it was a successful season for our athletic programs” said Athletic Director Fran Shields.
Looking Forward
The past fall season aside, CC athletics have provided much to look forward to in the coming winter season. Basketball, Squash, Swimming & Diving, Ice Hockey and Indoor Track are all poised to carry the proverbial torch onward into the winter sports season.
This past week, forward Tara Gabelman ‘14 of the Women’s Basketball team was named NESCAC player of the week. Averaging 17 points in their past two games, Gabelman and the rest of basketball team promise an exciting season to come.
The relatively new Women’s Squash team posted its first win against Northeastern university. The meet saw several straight set wins from freshmen Anne Holley and Caroline Lipincott, as well as junior Kaleigh Tierney. The win turns a new leaf on the squash teams 0-2 season and welcomes the first victory of head coach Ted Childs.
On the ice, the Men’s Hockey Team will look to junior JC Cangelosi and senior goalie Mike Petchonka to turn an 0-6 start to the season. Cangelosi leads the team with 5 goals, while Petchonka stopped an impressive 32 out of 33 shots in two games this weekend.
In the pool, Connecticut College Swimming & Diving holds 19th place in the Division III national rankings, according to collegeswimming.com. With a 2-1 record, the team is optimistic of another good season in the NESCAC.
This weekend, Men’s basketball co-hosted the annual Citizens Bank basketball tournament. The Camels beat University of Maine-Presque Isle team on Saturday and the Coast Guard Academy on Sunday to win the tournament. Senior Matt Vadas made tournament MVP, while sophomore point guard Bo McKinley took home an all-tournament nomination for orchestrating excellent performances from the team
