The Amherst softball team heads into the upcoming season looking for its first playoff berth in six years after being shutout of the NESCAC tournament five times since 2006. With the return of its top four hitters and two best pitchers and the addition of a promising first-year class, the Jeffs are confident they can accomplish that goal.
In 2011, the Jeffs overcame a slow start and made their mark in NESCAC play, going 18-3 after returning from their Florida trip. Capturing the Little Three title and earning the top spot in the conference tournament, the Amherst team posted its highest overall win total since 1999. Still, postseason success proved elusive; two tough losses to Bowdoin quickly knocked the Jeffs out of contention for the NESCAC crown, and they did not receive a selection to compete in the Div. III National Championships.
The women’s lacrosse team opened their season with a hard-fought loss to Colby but followed it up with an overtime victory over Bates.
The team posted a 9-6 record last season and enter this year ranked 16th by the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association. They return eight of 11 starters and five of last season’s top six scorers. The Jeffs welcome nine first-years this season, which should add depth to the squad.
While the Amherst track and field program has enjoyed an enormously successful winter campaign, the spring season is fast approaching. As the focus shifts from the indoor to outdoor track, the Jeffs are looking to sustain the excellent performances that netted them three national qualifiers from the men’s side (Ben Scheetz ’12, Patrick Grimes ’13 and Matt Melton ’14) and a qualifying women’s team in the distance medley relay that consisted of Lauren Almeida ’13, Naomi Bates ’14, Melissa Sullivan ’12 and Kerri Lambert ’13.
After one of the best seasons in program history, the men’s lacrosse has begun its 2012 season with two hard-fought wins over Colby and Bates. Last year, the Jeffs won 13 games straight en route to their best-ever 15 wins and also went 8-1 in NESCAC play. Led by senior captain Evan Redwood at attack, the Jeffs will look to build upon their national quarterfinal appearance in their first-ever NCAA tournament last year.
The Age of Steroids is upon us.
Today, doping allegations seem to be at the forefront of every sport. From the Olympics to the Tour de France. From the NFL to the PGA tour. The question of athletes “juicing” has become unavoidable and, seemingly, universal in the world of sports.
Still, no sport has received the scrutiny that baseball has. And for good reason.
In the past decade, many of the sport’s best players have been linked to performance-enhancing drugs: Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, Roger Clemens, Manny Ramirez. The list goes on.
The men’s basketball team, riding a wave of momentum into the NCAA Tournament after winning the NESCAC Championship, continued to dominate LeFrak Gymnasium this weekend in their first national tournament game. With men’s ice hockey beating Williams before the basketball game, the atmosphere was electric in the Amherst student section, which competed against a full contingent from visiting New York Univ. The Violets brought fans and cheerleaders to LeFrak, hoping to catch some energy and pull off an upset of the heavily favored Jeffs.
