Each year as spring rolls around, sports fans are treated to the greatest month in sports. As the frozen tundra we call home becomes habitable, students across campus emerge from hibernation to play in or attend sporting events.
Men
The Amherst men’s swimming and diving team finished 11th at the 2014 NCAA Div. III Championships, which took place March 19-24 at IUPUI, wrapping up another solid season.
Senior captain Parker Moody kicked things off with a 14th place finish in the 500-yard freestyle. In the 200-yard medley relay, Matt Heise ’16, Greg Han ’17, Tyler Bulakul ’14 and Connor Sholtis ’15 earned 13th.
The Amherst men’s golf team traveled to North Carolina’s Pinehurst Golf Resort for spring break to train for the upcoming spring season. Although the players were excited to leave the frigid northeast, the team still braved 30-degree chills and rain while taking on the Trinity College men’s golf team. Although Trinity placed ahead of the Lord Jeffs in the NESCAC tournament this fall, the Jeffs defeated the Bantams by a score of 4-1.
Men
Over spring break, the men’s lacrosse team racked up three consecutive wins, including an important NESCAC victory over Hamilton.
Some are calling the matchup between No. 1 Wichita State Shockers and No. 8 Kentucky Wildcats from the Midwest Region the best game of the NCAA Tournament thus far. That’s lofty praise considering the first four days of the tournament provided much excitement, including five jaw-dropping overtime games — more OT games than the entirety of the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
Amherst women’s tennis won four of five on their California road trip, only dropping a 5-4 decision to Div. I Cal State Fullerton. The Jeffs entered the week ranked fourth in Div. III and picked up 6-3 wins over No. 5 Claremont Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer, and swept both Concordia and Whitman, 9-0. Seniors Gabby Devlin and Jordan Brewer won all five of their matches at the top of the doubles lineup.
The Amherst women’s basketball team’s quest for a 2014 NCAA Championship ended on Friday, March 14 in an overtime loss to Ithaca. Although the Jeffs beat Itacha in the regular season, Amherst fell just three points short in a hard fought battle.
Amherst controlled the game early, finding themselves up 25-13 in the middle of the first half. However, Ithaca battled back going on a 12-6 spurt and reduced the deficit to 31-25 with six minutes left in the first.
