Around the Herd: April 30 to May 5 in Athletics

Women’s Tennis

This week, the women’s tennis team competed in the NESCAC championships, facing Tufts and Middlebury on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

In the first round of the tournament, the No. 4-seeded Mammoths faced the No. 5-seeded Jumbos. Amherst started strong, winning the extra point with doubles match wins from pairs Lily Dounchis ’27 and Deliala Charles Friedman ’25, as well as Amy Cui ’25 and Katie Hart ’25. In singles play, Tina She ’28 delivered a dominant straight set win in the fifth spot. Friedman recovered from a second-set loss to earn a crucial win for Amherst at the third spot. With the score tied, Cui’s win at the second spot clinched the Mammoth’s 4-3 victory over Tufts, sending the team to the semifinals. In the next round, Amherst faced the No. 1-seeded Panthers and ultimately fell 4-1. Going 1-1 on the week, the Mammoths moved to a 13-7 overall season record, 8-4 against NESCAC teams.

The team will compete in the NCAA Tournament next, facing either Vassar College or Hunter College on Saturday, May 10.

Men’s Tennis

Over the weekend, the men’s tennis team played Wesleyan and Bowdoin in the conference championships.

On Friday, the No. 2-seeded Mammoths were at an early disadvantage against the No. 7-seeded Cardinals, who claimed the doubles point. Amherst responded quickly, however, winning the first three singles matches, including Andreas Sillaste ’27’s dominant two-set win at the first spot, during which he only dropped two games. After losing the first set, George Chaidemenos ’26 demonstrated resilience with a win at the sixth spot. Clinching the victory,  Sujit Chepuri ’25 won his fifth spot match in two sets, sending the Mammoths to the next round. Unfortunately, Amherst was bested by the No. 3-seeded Polar Bears 2-4 in the semifinal round. The team improves to an 8-4 NESCAC record and a 15-7 season record after going 1-1 on the week.

The team will continue their postseason in the NCAA Tournament, facing Oswego State on Friday, May 9.

Women’s Track & Field

On Friday and Saturday, the women’s track and field team competed in the New England Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

In New London, Connecticut, the Mammoths celebrated a dominant finish in the 4 x 800 meter relay from Julia Schor ’25, Sylvan Wold ’25, Zoë Marcus ’27, and Piper Lentz ’26. The team’s mark of 9:03 not only took gold in the meet, but also broke a program record (which had been set last weekend) as well as the New England Division III Outdoor Championship record previously set by Williams. Lentz also competed in the 400-meter, earning fifth overall with a time of 58.52. In the longest event, Nikki Chopra ’27 ran a time of 36:50 in the 10,000-meter, earning first runner up, while Nora Hart ’28 earned fifth place. On the field side, Emma Ramsingh ’27 took fourth place in the discus event, throwing a distance of 43.12 meters. Amherst tallied 43 points to earn sixth place out of 39 competitors at the meet.

The team will return to the track on Friday, May 9, for the NEICAAA Outdoor Championships and the Farley Inter-Region Extravaganza.

Men’s Track & Field

This week, the men’s track and field team participated in the New England Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday and Saturday.

The Mammoths only sent four team members to New London, Connecticut, to compete in the Outdoor Championships. One of those members was Gavin Schmidt ’28, who threw a distance of 50.95 meters in the discus event. This performance earned second place at the meet and also set a new program record. On the track, Finn O’Hara ’28 ran the 800-meter event in 1:55 to earn seventh place. Amherst ended with ten points, tying for 24th out of 34 competing schools.

The team will split competition between the NEICAAA Outdoor Championships and the Farley Inter-Region Extravaganza next Friday, May 9.

Baseball

The baseball team hosted Trinity College for the NESCAC Tournament’s Quarterfinals on Friday and Saturday.

After Trinity won the first of three games 5-4, the second game was a must-win for Amherst this past Saturday. It was a rough start for the Mammoths, as the Bantams took a 2-1 lead in the first inning and extended their lead by two runs in the top of the fourth inning. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Amherst started their comeback aspirations as J.J. Grimes ’28 doubled to center field, scoring Jack McDermott ’25 and Justin Orridge ’28. Grimes scored after Jack Boyle ’25 singled to center field, earning the game-tying run. Amherst took the lead after Boyle stole second, third, and home due to a throwing error by the Trinity pitcher. The Bandams scored in the fifth, sixth, and eighth innings, giving Trinity a three-run lead. Ryan McIntyre ’25 answered quickly in the bottom of the eighth inning with a home run. Leo Foust ’28 and Charlie LaFreniere ’27 then scored after Boyle stepped up to the plate and doubled to center field. With the game tied up, it went to overtime, and, in the 10th inning, Trinity scored a home run to take the lead. Amherst, unable to respond, lost the game and the playoff series against Trinity, ending their season. The game’s score was 9-8 in the Bantams’ favor.

Softball

The softball team traveled to Waterville, Maine, this past Saturday to compete in a series against Colby to close their regular season.

Amherst lost the first match to Colby 9-0, then looked to split at least one game in hopes of earning a better NESCAC Tournament seed. In the second game, America Rangel ’25 bunted and earned the game’s first run after a clumsy throwing error by Colby. The Mules responded in the bottom of the first inning, tying the game up. In the second inning, Colby walked Abby Kong ’26, May Mishima ’28, Olivia Aitkin ’26, and Rangel, scoring Kong. Unfortunately, the Mammoths couldn’t capitalize more on this attempt, and the inning ended with no new scores. Colby tied the game in the third inning, forcing Amherst to respond. The team did exactly that, scoring Abby Rebhan ’28 in the fifth inning as Emma Nordstrom ’27 doubled to left center. However, the game broke down in the seventh inning, with Colby scoring two runs to give themselves the win. The final score was 4-3 in the Mules’ favor.

The team will compete against Tufts University in the NESCAC Tournament Quarterfinals on Friday, May 9.

Head of the Herd: Gavin Schmidt

Earning NESCAC titles in the shot put and discus are significant accomplishments. Gavin Schmidt ’28’s 15.91-meter shot put performance not only won NESCAC top honors but also broke an 85-year-old program record set by Prescott Coan ’40. For his accomplishments, Schmidt is the well-deserving recipient of Head of the Herd.