Bolstered by a strong returning core, the field hockey team is looking to contend for its first-ever NESCAC title this season. The Jeffs, ranked 14th in the national preseason poll, bring back all three of their All-Region selections, and will look to build off last season’s 12-4 record.
The field hockey program has improved its record every year since 2005; after posting a 5-9 mark (.357) that year, the Jeffs have gone 8-8 (.500), 8-7 (.533), 10-5 (.667), 12-5 (.706) and 12-4 (.750) last year.
After a strong regular season last year, the volleyball team comes back this fall primed to translate their impressive record to postseason success. Eclipsing the achievements of last year’s squad will prove a tall order.
As any English professor will tell you, clichés are the bane of the language. They offer little-to-no descriptive value, relying on overly familiar and uninspiring usages of diction and syntax. Like a soggy bed of iceberg lettuce, they are thoroughly disappointing and do little to satisfy a healthy appetite for excitement and energy.
Naturally, clichés thrive in the language of the sports world.
Women
The Lady Jeffs come into the fall season on the heels of a successful 2010-2011 campaign. Currently ranked 14th in the nation, the team will be looking to improve on past successes with a host of experience at its disposal.
Women
The women’s cross country team will have four of last year’s top five runners, which promises great success for the program. Last year, the women’s team qualified for the NCAA meet by placing third behind Middlebury and Williams at the NCAA District Championship meet. The team’s eighth place NCAA finish was the program’s best result since it won the division title in 2007, and the third top-10 finish in the last five years.
Following the perfect season of 2009, 2010 brought the Lord Jeffs a respectable 6-2 finish. The dawn of 2011, however, leaves the Jeffs without several veterans and with a lot of question marks.
Will senior quarterback Brian McMahon be able to fill the shoes of the record-breaking Alex Vetras ’11? Will the defense step up and prevent teams like Tufts from scoring nearly 50 points? Can the Jeffs avenge their only two losses in the last two seasons? Most important, will this gridiron gang maintain the program’s winning ways, and could they reach that elusive 8-0 mark?
