Around the Herd: Feb. 12 to Feb. 19 in Athletics

Women’s Swim and Dive

This week the women’s swim and dive team competed in the NESCAC Championships.

On Thursday, Feb. 13, the Mammoths began the first day of the four-day meet hosted by Colby College with a sweep in the diving category. Sydney Bluestein ’25 won first in the 1m and 3m events and Donna Zhang ’26 placed second and third. Bluestein was named NESCAC Diver of the Year for the second time as well as Career High Point Diver in her final NESCAC championship. Diving coach Kai Robinson ’09 was also honored as Diving Coach of the Year for the sixth time. Maeve Kelley ’27 placed second in the 200m butterfly and third in the 200m freestyle with times of 2:01.99 and 1:52.57, respectively. In the breaststroke, Ali Lacroix ’25 earned third place in the 100m with a performance of 1:03.23 and second place in the 200m with 2:16.13. The Mammoths placed third in the 800m freestyle relay event with swimmers Lucy Smith ’27, Paige Arnold ’27, Megan Lee ’25, and Kelley finishing in 7:30.05. Amherst entered the last event of the championship only one point above Colby for third place. Smith, Lee, Arnold, and Diane Koo ’26’s final performance of 3:26.12 in the 400m freestyle relay solidified the Mammoths’ place on the podium behind Williams and Tufts.

The divers will compete next on Feb. 28 at the NCAA Northeast/North Diving Regional at Springfield College while the swimmers’ next event is the NCAA Championships on March 19.

Women’s Track and Field

The women’s track and field team traveled to compete at the Hemery Valentine Invitational and Tufts Invitational this weekend.

On Saturday, Feb. 15, at the Hemery Valentine meet hosted by Boston University, Héloïse Hughes ’27 placed 14th in the 60m and fourth in the 200m; her performance in the latter of 24.90 seconds was a personal best. With a time of 2:14:62, Piper Lentz ’26 also recorded a personal best in the 800m.

The same day, the team also competed at the Tufts Invitational in Medford, Massachusetts. In the 5000m, Claire Callon ’25’s personal best time of 17:56.58 earned fourth overall. Another personal record came from Daniella Perez-Cartaya ’28’s sixth-place mile time of 5:17.34. Placing second overall in the 400m, Casie Eifrig ’25 ran a season-best time of 58.82 seconds. On the field side, a mark of 3.40m from Payton Sorensen ’25 earned the Mammoths a fourth-place tie in the pole vault.

Next Saturday, Feb. 22, the team will travel to Springfield to participate in the Triangle Classic.

Men’s Track and Field

This week, the men’s track and field team participated in both the Hemery Valentine Invitational and Tufts Invitational.

During the first day of the Hemery Valentine Invitational, on Friday, Feb. 14, Keason Ky ’28 scored 10th in the 60m hurdles with a personal record time of 8.50 seconds while Noah Kanahele Harris ’26 set a personal best with 8.55 seconds. Also setting personal bests, Ben Davis ’26 ran a 1:51.08 in the 800m, while Nick Edwards-Levin ’25 recorded an 8:21.98 in the 3000m. In the long jump category, Michael Abbey Jr. ’27 placed third overall and Matt Kasper ’28 placed ninth with jumps of  6.58m and 6.08m, respectively.

The next day, the Mammoths returned to action at the Tufts Invitational. Ky produced another 8.50-second performance in the 60m finals to earn third place. Also placing third overall, Harrison Dow ’27 ran a time of 15:03.72 in the 5000m. Amherst dominated in the 1000m claiming first, second, third, fourth, and fifth place. Jacob Connolly ’27 led the pack, recording a personal best time of 2:32.72. Aidan Gemme ’26, Harrison Talcott ’27, Gent Malushaga ’25, and Finn O’Hara ’28 followed closely behind to earn the subsequent places.

The team will return to the track on Saturday, Feb. 22 at the Triangle Classic.

Women’s Basketball

This past week, the women’s basketball team faced off against Middlebury College and Williams College.

Amherst’s match against Middlebury on Friday was a tight contest from start to end. Laura Mendell ’26 had six points in the first quarter, followed by Reagan Pahl ’27 with four points. Leading 14-12 at the second quarter’s start, the Mammoths began to extend their lead with an 11-point performance by Pahl. The rest of the game continued a back-and-forth battle between the two sides, with Amherst inching closer to victory. Pahl, Mendell, Macie Nugent ’27, and Sylvia Liddle ’26 were the highlight players in this match. Pahl, the NESCAC Player of the Week, had a team-high 22 points and seven rebounds. Mendell scored 17 points and dished four assists, and Nugent recorded 14 points. Liddle garnered four blocks, three steals, three assists, and six rebounds. The team’s consistent effort throughout the match earned them the win against Middlebury, 66-55.

On Saturday, the team traveled to play Williams, with a slow start in the game’s beginning minutes. But with less than five minutes in the first quarter, the Mammoths started to find their stride. Mendell and Nugent both had five points, followed closely by Elizabeth Cain ’28, who had four points. Williams shot an embarrassing 9.1% from the field due to Amherst’s defensive effort, and eight of their 10 points came from free throws. The second quarter was closer in the scoreline, but Anna Tranum ’26 kept the game in Amherst’s favor with her three steals. The Mammoths retained control of the game through the third and fourth quarters, confidently putting the Ephs in their place. Mendell led the team with 20 points and four assists. Maya Cwalina ’25 had a team-high 11 rebounds, along with 10 points. The final score was 62-54 in Amherst’s favor.

The team is ranked fourth in the upcoming NESCAC Tournament, and they will host their quarterfinal match against Bates College on Feb. 22.

Men’s Basketball

The men’s basketball team battled against the Middlebury College Panthers and Williams College Ephs this past Friday and Saturday.

The team’s Friday game against Middlebury was a nail-biter. The Panthers led by halftime, the score 39-38. At the break, Marc Garraud ’27 led the team with 12 points, all coming from 3-pointers. The team’s overall efficiency was solid, at 40% from the field and 44.4% from the three. Going into the second half, Amherst knew that defense was key to their success against Middlebury. The Mammoths executed this perfectly, forcing the Panthers to shoot 25% from the field. Amherst was ahead by four points in the last minute of the game. Middlebury, in return, began to foul for a chance at a comeback. Will Scherer ’25, C.J. Mitchell ’25, and Elias Chin ’28, however, were perfect from the free throw line and solidified Amherst’s lead. Amherst took the win from Middlebury, scoring 75-67 and keeping their chance to make the NESCAC Tournament alive.

The team played their Senior Day game against Williams on Saturday: a must-win match to make the NESCAC Tournament. The game was highly anticipated, as an excited crowd assembled in LeFrak. Amherst got off to a hot start, scoring nine points to Williams’ two in the game’s first three minutes. Amherst maintained a consistent lead until the first half’s end, with the score 31-22. In the second half, the energy began to shift completely in Amherst’s favor. A dunk from Scherer, a Bobby Sommers ’25 3-pointer, and a nine-point performance from Mitchell got the Amherst crowd excited. Ryker Vance ’25, the NESCAC Player of the Week, sealed the game for Amherst with an electric contact dunk. Vance finished the game with 18 points, 10 rebounds, one block, and one steal. The team punched their ticket to the NESCAC Tournament with the dominant win, the score 75-51.

With the regular season over, the eighth-ranked Mammoths are heading to Middletown, CT, to take on Wesleyan University this Saturday in the first round of the conference tournament.

Women’s Hockey

This past weekend, the women’s hockey team played two games against Trinity College.

On Friday, the team traveled to Hartford to take on the Bantams. Early penalties against Amherst gave Trinity several power plays that generated six shots for the Bantams. The Mammoths’ defensive effort prevented any Trinity goals and eventually put Amherst on the offensive. Alyssa Xu ’25 completed a behind-the-back pass to Cara Mancini ’27, who then found Emily Hohmann ’26 for Amherst’s first goal. Seven minutes into the second period, Mancini generated another goal for the Mammoths, assisting NESCAC Player of the Week Gretchen Dann ’26. Amherst had six power plays this game compared to Trinity’s two. The Mammoths had 42 shot attempts, while the Bantams had 19. The game ended 2-0 in Amherst’s favor.

The next day, the team hosted Trinity in Orr Rink. While most of the first period was back-and-forth action, the last minute provided two goals for Amherst. Maeve Reynolds ’26 buried the puck into the back of the net for the first goal, and Bea Flynn ’28 earned the second goal 23 seconds later. Amherst didn’t get back on the scoreboard until late into the third period. Flynn scored again, assisted by Dann. Two minutes later, Ayla Abban ’28 got Amherst’s fourth goal in the match. In their dominant performance, Amherst earned a 4-1 win against Trinity.

The sixth-ranked team finishes the regular season with two matches against Hamilton College this Friday and Saturday. Their Senior Day game is the second of the two matches.

Men’s Hockey

This past weekend, the men’s hockey team competed against Connecticut College and Tufts University.

On Friday, the team played Conn College and went down two goals seven minutes into the first period. The Mammoths continued competing against the Camels, but their efforts amounted to little. With two minutes left in the match, Conn College got another goal against Amherst. Amherst outshot the Camels by 11, garnering 35 shot attempts to Conn College’s 24. The Camels won 40 faceoffs, while the Mammoths won 31. The final score was 3-0 in Conn College’s favor.

The team honored its seniors on Saturday in their match against Tufts. For Amherst’s first goal, Josh Burke ’26 scored off a pass from Ryan Corcoran ’26. Tufts found an equalizer in less than a minute later. In the second period, Ben Kuzma ’25 assisted Matt Vander Vort ’27. Bobby Luca ’25 scored next in the third quarter, and Zachary Murray ’26 scored twice to finish the five-goal fest for Amherst. The Mammoths earned the win against Tufts, the score 5-1.

The Mammoths travel to Middlebury and Williamstown, facing off against the Panthers and Ephs on Friday and Saturday, respectively.