Women's lacrosse
Appearing in their third Div. III National Championship game in the last five years and playing undefeated and top-ranked Middlebury College for the third time this season, the Jeffs staged a dramatic 11-9 victory to win the team's first ever National Championship. See accompanying story on page 24.
Following a disappointing loss in last year's Final Four, the Jeffs built up a five-game winning streak to start the season. Amherst's run was ended following a 16-5 loss to rival Middlebury College, the school responsible for Amherst's past national championship game losses. The only other real test the Jeffs faced in the regular season was against Williams College, but Amherst found itself on the right side of that 12-11 overtime decision.
Amherst defeated Williams one more time in the semifinal round of the NESCAC Tournament but was once again unable to get past Middlebury in the NESCAC Championship game. Middlebury's two wins over Amherst were the only two times the Jeffs tasted defeat all year and Amherst certainly had the last laugh.
Senior Abby Ouimet finished with 103 points on the season. Ouimet is believed to be the school's all-time leading scorer. Ouimet and Liz Martin '04, who combined for 121 goals on the season, represented the Jeffs on the First-Team All-NESCAC Team, while Allison Aldrich '04, Annie Jamieson '03 and co-captain Brooke Diamond '03 earned Second-Team honors.
Men's lacrosse
The men's lacrosse team got off to a quick start this season, winning six of its first seven games before cooling off a bit towards the end and finishing with a 10-5 (6-3) record. After winning their first three NESCAC games against Bates, Trinity and Colby, the Jeffs were well on their way to a great season.
A heartbreaking 11-10 overtime loss to Little III rival Wesleyan University on Apr. 12 killed the Jeffs' momentum heading into a big game against perennial national power, Middlebury College. The Jeffs gave the Panthers all they could handle in the contest, leading 4-3 at halftime before falling 9-7.
After rebounding with three straight NESCAC victories, the Jeffs headed to Williamstown to face the Ephs. Unfortunately, the Jeffs came out on the wrong end of very low scoring game, 8-6.
The Jeffs were able to get revenge on the Ephs the next afternoon in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament, knocking them out of the Tournament with a 12-9 win. Middlebury, the eventual conference champion, then ended the Jeffs season in the semifinals, 14-8.
Junior Mike Allison and first-year Andrew Wilcox were selected to the All-NESCAC First-Team, while Greg Donahue '05 and Chris Condlin '03 were named to the Second-Team. Donahue and Allison were also named Div. III All-Stars by the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association.
Baseball
The baseball team enjoyed one of the most successful seasons in recent memory, winning the NESCAC West Division before losing a heartbreaking doubleheader to Trinity College which cost them the NESCAC Championship.
The Jeffs began their season with four impressive victories during their Spring Break trip to Florida, though they ended the trip losing three of their last four. When they returned to New England to begin the NESCAC season, the Jeffs jumped all over their conference foes. They began by taking two of three from Wesleyan University before sweeping three games at Hamilton College. Amherst ended the regular season by taking two of three versus Williams and then sweeping three against Middlebury. With a 10-2 conference record, the Jeffs entered the NESCAC Tournament as the host and number-one seed.
In the NESCAC Tournament, the Jeffs showed why they were the number-one seed, winning their first two games against Tufts University and Trinity in the double-elimination tournament. Trinity emerged from the losers' bracket to face Amherst once more in the finals. The Jeffs needed only one victory in the two game series to take the title, but were unable to do so, losing the two games by scores of 11-6 and 5-3, respectively. Amherst finished the year with a 21-12 mark.
Pitcher Andy Kerns '04 had a terrific season on the mound for the Jeffs, finishing with a 6-0 record and a 2.55 ERA. Lefty Chris Vecsey '03 also pitched well, allowing only two earned runs in 14 relief appearances. At the plate, seven Jeffs starters batted over .300 on the season, led by second baseman Brandon Cody '04 (.385), Josh Santry '05 (.374) and co-captain John Schneider '04 (.364).
Schneider, Santry, Kerns, Tom Sullivan '04 and Paul Whiting '04 all earned Second-Team All-NESCAC honors. Head Coach Bill Thurston named Santry as the team's MVP.
Softball
With a solid group of promising young players, the softball team should have a lot to look forward to in the upcoming years. Youth, however did not translate into success this season, as the Jeffs finished with a 12-15 (4-4) record.
Highlights for the Jeffs included NESCAC sweeps of Hamilton College and Wesleyan University.
First-year hurler Miya Warner had a great season on the mound for the Jeffs, finishing 12-12 with an outstanding 1.66 ERA. Warner was named First-Team All-NESCAC for her accomplishments. Classmate Laura Trigiero was the only other Jeff to earn postseason accolades, earning a place on the All-NESCAC Second-Team.
Four of the Jeffs top five batters were first-years, led by Trigiero and Kate Raddock, who both batted above .300. With such an excellent battery of underclassmen, the Jeffs will be looking for great success next season.
Tennis
Appearing in the Final Four is becoming a yearly occurrence for the women's tennis team. Playing at nationals for the fifth time in the last six years, the Jeffs were unfortunately upended by second ranked Washington and Lee University in the semifinals of the Div. III National Championships hosted by the University of Redlands in California. See accompanying story on page 24.
The Jeffs enjoyed a very successful season on the courts, finishing with a 13-3 regular season record with a very demanding schedule. The Jeffs were led by top singles players Kristen Raverta '06, Rachel Holt '05 and Tristan Hedrick '05. Hedrick and Raverta were named First-Team All-NESCAC, while Roopali Agarwal '03, Holt, Hadley Miller '06, Erin Murphy '05 and Wallis Molchen '04 were named to the Second-Team.
However, the men's tennis team had a very difficult spring season finishing with a 3-6 record. The Jeffs were without the services of fall number one player Danny Babkes, who took the season off, and Josh Rilla, who was suffering from a case of mononucleosis. The Jeffs had a disappointing ninth place finish at the NESCAC Tournament.
Golf
The women's golf team enjoyed another great season of tournament play, earning a grand total of two runner-up finishes, a third place finish and a fifth place showing. Senior captain Katie Gravel led the way on the links during her last year of collegiate golf, finishing every tournament as Amherst's leading scorer. Gravel won the Massachusetts State Individual Championships this year, shooting a 79 at The Orchards Golf Club. Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts with final exams, the Jeffs were unable to accept a bid to the National Championships, where they finished third as a team last year.
The men's team was not as successful as the women's team during its spring season. The Jeffs finished in eighth place, ninth place and eleventh place in their three tournaments in the spring. In addition, the Jeffs finished second to Williams in the annual Little III Championships. The Jeffs graduate two seniors, co-captains Todd Ballaban and Jude Volek, but will return four of their top six players.
Track and Field
While the small size of both the men's and women's track and field teams make it difficult for them to compete in team meets, the spring season did witness several impressive individual performances, especially by some younger members of the team, which bodes well for future years.
For the second year in a row, sophomore Carter Hamill stood out as the team's top performer. Running the 5000- and 10000-meter events, Hamill is the only Jeff to qualify for Nationals. See accompanying story on page 24.
Hamill took home a second-place finish in the 10k at the NESCAC Championships on April 26. The 4 x 800-meter team of senior tri-captains Kate Hamill and Laurel Kilgour and Aly Venti '04 and Ginger Polich '06 took home the team's only first-place finish of the meet in a time of 9:31.46.
Mike Page '05 ran a fabulous race in the 5k for the men which garnered him a third-place finish. Tri-captain Brian Hart '03, Janak Chandrasoma '04, Jay Wagstaff '05 and Nathaniel Mahlberg '05 matched Page's placing in the 4 x 100-meter race with a blistering time of 43.81 seconds.