Men's basketball
The men's basketball team made its third consecutive NCAA Tournament this year, finishing the regular season at 18-6 and 5-4 in the NESCAC. Wining the NESCAC Tournament and entering NCAAs with a first round bye, the Jeffs moved into the Division III NCAA "Sweet 16" for only the second time in school history.
The Jeffs found a feisty second round opponent in Western Connecticut State University, but pulled away in the second half of the game. With 6:19 left in the game, Adam Harper '04 hit a trifecta that broke a 69-69 tie. The Jeff lead was extended to six after Andrew Schiel '05 hit a three-pointer of his own. However, the Colonials would not give in and cut the deficit to 76-75 with just 2:35 to play. A Jeff turnover gave the Colonials their first lead since the 8:22 mark with just under 90 seconds to play.
Some late game heroics gave the Jeffs the win. Junior Steve Zieja's bucket reclaimed the lead for Amherst. Pat Fitzsimons '03 also had an important block and hit two free throws to give the Jeffs a three-point lead. Sophomore John Donovan's two free throws at the end of the game sealed the win for the Lord Jeffs.
The Jeffs' miracle season came to an end against the SUNY Brockport Golden Eagles. Up eight points with just under 3:30 to play, the Lord Jeffs seemed poised to advance to their first "Elite Eight" since the 1993-94 season. But a Brockport run and some stingy defense ended Amherst's season in a bittersweet fashion. The Jeffs ended the season on the losing end, dropping a close one 69-64.
The Jeffs' dynamic duo of Zieja and Fitzsimons were named All-NESCAC first team and second team, respectively.
Women's basketball
The women's basketball team showed flashes of superb play, but failed to play consistently in the 2001-2002 season. Ending the season at 11-12 (2-7), Amherst displayed hope for the future in two back-to-back wins against NESCAC rivals Wesleyan University and Bowdoin College.
After being on the road for four straight games, the game against the Little III rival Cardinals marked the return of the Jeffs to LeFrak. Amherst used a balanced attack to defeat Wesleyan. On offense, quad-captain Sarah Walker '03 scored 18 points to lead all scorers and Sarah Bergman '04 locked home a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. The Jeffs also held the Cardinals to just 19 percent shooting from the floor en route to the 51-39 win.
The next day, Amherst took on the lowly Connecticut College Camels, a team that entered the game at 1-16 with no wins in the conference. However the Jeffs did not underestimate the Camels, unleashing a 74-54 thrashing on the visitors from New London. The game marked senior day for Hallison Putnam '02, who did not disappoint the home fans with six points and a game-high five assists.
Men's hockey
Squeaking into the NESCAC Tournament as the seventh seed in the NESCAC, the men's hockey team drew a difficult first round opponent in the Bowdoin College Polar Bears, the number two team in the conference. The Jeffs felt they were better than their 6-13-5 (6-9-4) regular season record and used their first round game against the Polar Bears to make a statement. That statement was heard loud and clear.
The Jeffs fell 3-2 in arguably their best game of the season. Bowdoin had thrashed Amherst a week earlier, dominating in a six goal victory. On a penalty kill, NESCAC Men's Hockey Rookie of the Year and All-NESCAC second-team member Beau Kretzman '05 scored the first Jeff goal of the game in the second period to knot the score at one. Two straight Bowdoin goals gave the Polar Bears a 3-1 lead 12 minutes into the period. Undaunted, the Jeffs came roaring back with a goal from Mike Kreger '04, who bullied past a Bowdoin defender to cut the Bowdoin lead to one with just under eight minutes left in the game.
Though the Jeffs had chances to send the game into overtime, they failed to capitalize and ended up on the wrong side of a 3-2 decision.
Women's hockey
The 2001-2002 winter sports season found both hockey teams playing Bowdoin College in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament. In another parallel to their male counterparts, the women's hockey team found themselves sneaking into the playoffs as the seventh seed, leading to a matchup against the number two team in the NESCAC.
Unfortunately, Amherst's first postseason appearance in five years was a short one, as the Jeffs bowed out with a 4-0 loss to the Polar Bears on Feb. 23. However, the score was not indicative of what the Jeffs accomplished in that game.
Amherst hung tough in the first two periods of the game, only allowing Bowdoin a single goal heading into the third period. Heidi Alexander '03 bolstered a strong Amherst defense, making 10 saves in the first period.
A three goal flurry in the third period sealed the Polar Bear win. Jen Pelkey found the back of the net at 4:56, and then teammate Beth Muir scored at 6:42. Twelve seconds later, another Bowdoin goal squelched any hope of an Amherst comeback.
The Jeffs can take solace in their improvement versus their earlier meetings with the Polar Bears. Amherst allowed 37 shots in the game, a far cry from the 49 and 60 shots allowed in its first two meetings with Bowdoin.
Squash
The women's squash team had an impressive 2001-2002 season, finishing the season ranked 11th in the nation with a 13-8 record.
Ranked 10th in preseason polls, Amherst wanted to send a signal early in the season in their first match. They did just that with a 9-0 shellacking of unranked NESCAC rival Tufts University. Susanna Burke '03 was the highlight of the season winning a number of her matches in number one singles. Roopali Agarwal '03 was also impressive in the number two slot. Alexandra Gibbs '05 played solidly in the third slot.
The men's squash team had a more up-and-down season than the women, finishing the year at 7-10. Amherst was led by freshman phenom Mike Strong, who courageously played against Bowdoin in the first round of the NISRA Men's Squash Championships despite a sprained foot.
One of the bright spots of the season was Amherst's second place performance in the Little III Tournament. Co-captains Carlo Valdesolo '03 and John Holodnak '03, Gifford Sommerkamp '05 and Brian Lawrence '05 won their matches in three sets against Wesleyan.
Swimming and diving
The men's and women's swimming and diving teams had a phenomenal 2001-2002 season, with each team losing only once to Williams.
Rob Winograd '02 was a key reason the Lord Jeffs took second at the NESCAC Championships this year. Winograd won the 500-yard freestyle and in the process set a new pool, school and NESCAC record. He also won the 1,000-yard freestyle and placed second in the 200-yard butterfly.
The men's team was the pride of the NESCAC at NCAAs this year, finishing 11th overall, ahead of every other NESCAC team at the event. Ben Hopkins '03 earned All-American honors in both the 1m and 3m diving events, placing sixth and seventh, respectively. Mike Pohorylo '04 was the all-star of the Tournament, finishing in fourth in the 100 breaststroke in 57.03, breaking the College record which he had set three weekends earlier at NESCACs. Pohorylo then took third in the 200 breaststroke on the last day of the meet, in a school and NESCAC record-breaking time of 2:03.04.
The women's team's success this past season was reflected in their second place finish in the NESCAC Championships. The Jeffs, whose goal was to finish ahead of rival Middlebury College at NESCACs, did just that. Freshman phenom Rebecca Stein captured second place in the 50-yard freestyle and earned a trip to nationals with the effort. Fellow freshman Alexis Johnston turned in an incredible performance in the 1,000-yard freestyle to capture Amherst's second individual second place finish.
Morgan Bayer '03, the two-time defending national champion of the 200-yard butterfly added another striking accomplishment in the event, finishing third this year. Cathy Poor '02 was named an All-American for her eighth place in the 1m springboard diving event.
Indoor track
The main story of the indoor track season was the emergence of an Amherst superstar, Carter Hamill '05. In addition to being the first women's runner in the school's history to receive an individual Open New England title, Hamill won the 5000m event at the NCAA Indoor Track Championships. In just her first year at Amherst she now holds the records in the 1,500 meter, 3,000 meter and 5,000 meter events.
The women's team also won its second meet of the season on Jan. 19 at the Brandeis University Invitational. Laurel Kilgour '03 took first in the 800m run at Brandeis. The Jeffs also took fifth at the ECAC Championships, led by a win in the 1,000-meter run by Rebecca Woo '02.
The men's team also had a great showing at Brandeis, finishing third. John Stanton-Geddes '04 narrowly missed qualifying for Nationals setting an NCAA provisional time at ECACs in the 1,000. This came two weeks after he grabbed fourth in 1,500m at the New England Division III Championships. Janak Chandrasoma '04 was another vital component to the Jeffs' success this season. Chandrasoma took sixth in 200m run and second in the 400m at the Tufts Holiday Classic, Amherst's first meet of the season.