The Recap: All The Sports You Missed This Week
Men’s Squash The men’s squash team has rallied back from a disappointing start to the season by reeling off four straight wins and claiming victory at the Pioneer Valley Invitational tournament. Against no. 16 MIT on Jan. 24, the 22nd-ranked Mammoths faced their first and stiffest test of the tournament. The Mammoths jumped out to early leads thanks to Reginald Brewster ’21, Andrew Leung ’22 and Robert Parker ’21, and did not look back, cruising to a comfortable 6-3 victory. The following day saw the Mammoths face off against Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Hamilton. Both proved no match for Amherst, as the squad swept both matches on the day 9-0. Against Haverford on Sunday, the final day of the invitational, the Mammoths again rolled through their competition with ease, picking up yet another 9-0 victory.
Women’s Squash The women’s squash team similarly dominated at the Pioneer Valley Invitational, only losing one match en route to three straight victories. In the first match on Saturday, the Mammoths faced Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and dominated up and down the lineup to finish with a convincing 8-1 victory. Soon thereafter, the women’s squash squad faced off against Hamilton. In what was perhaps the Mammoths’ most complete conference performance to date, the Amherst women blanked the Continentals, registering a 9-0 victory. On Sunday, in what was their final matchup, the Mammoths continued their run of good form, beating Haverford College in straight games, 9-0.
Men’s Swim & Dive The men’s swim and dive team had an up and down winter break, finishing with both a closely-fought loss to Williams and a domineering victory over Connecticut. Against Williams, the Mammoths and the Ephs went back and forth throughout the entire meet. The Mammoths would take first place in seven of the 13 events, but Williams’ depth proved to be the deciding factor, as they snuck by the Amherst with a score of 129-114. The Mammoths broke five pool records on the day, with Scott Romeyn ’22 involved in two of them. His first victory of the day was in the 50-yard freestyle event, where he finsihed in a time of 20.50 seconds, good enough to make the NCAA Championship B cut standard. Romeyn would then set a pool record in the 100-yard freestyle, finishing with a mark of 45.38 seconds and breaking a record that had stood for seven years. Finally, Jack Koravos ’20, Tristan So ’21, Romeyn, and Eric Wong ’20 edged out their previous pool record in the 400-yard freestyle relay, bettering their time by almost a full half of a second.
Women’s Swim & Dive Women’s swim and dive struggled against Williams in its first meet of winter break, but came back to dominante Connecticut and earn a fifth win on the season. Standout performances on the day came from the junior trio of Nina Fitzgerald ’21, Lindsey Ruderman ’21 and Julia Ruggiero ’21. Fitzgerald would set the tone in the 200-yard medley relay, where her squad finished over a second clear of the rest of the field. Fitzgerald would go on to win both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke events. Ruggiero was next into the pool; in the first meet of the year where the mile event was held, Ruggiero set the pace early, finishing well ahead of the rest of the field with a time of 17:59.19. Ruderman again dominated the diving events, notching victories in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions.
Men’s Track & Field Men’s track and field notched a historic victory on January 11, as the team finished first at the annual Little III Championships for the first time in over 30 years. Williams had a 31-year winning streak in the event which was ended by the Mammoths.
Women’s Track & Field The women’s track and field team had a successful Upstate Challenge at Cornell University, with eight different team members setting personal bests over the course of the two day meet. However, the most notable performance came from Ella Rossa ’21, who not only finished third in her first-ever pentathalon, but broke the school record in the 60-meter hurdles, clocking a time of 8.88 seconds.
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