Club Sports Beat Rugby, Cycling and Crew

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No Panther team this fall has even been able to approach the level of dominance displayed by the men's rugby team. The squad, which has established itself as a national power over the past several seasons, asserted its dominion over the state of Vermont with an overwhelming victory over close rival St. Michael's before unleashing its wrath upon dangerous Bryant College last weekend.

Middlebury was expecting a stern test from their in-state adversary, who the year before had pushed the Panthers to a tight 19-10 victory. What they got was a team hobbled by injuries to several key players. The Panthers took advantage of St. Mike's weakness, running away with a score of 46-5 despite an injury scare of their own. "They'd had some injuries, thus they were not as competitive as we'd thought they'd be," said Dave Wisner '04 of the opponent. "We were surprised to win so easily, because we lost scrum-half Luke Hammock '06 right at the beginning of the game." In his place went fellow sophomore Jeffrey McCormick, who had never before started in that position but still managed to score a try as he and his fellow teammates hammered home the win.

Middlebury did not let up in their final regular season match, butchering a big, brawny Bryant College team 47-12. Despite bringing in three new starters - McCormick, Calvin Garner '06, and Chris Straub '07 - the Panthers had more than enough experience to handle their tough opponents. "They were massive dudes, they were really big guys," said Wisner. "They kept coming at us the whole time and they gave us a real test because of their physical size." Bryant's heft was no match for Middlebury's offensive pyrotechnics, and the Panthers left the field with a third consecutive undefeated regular season. The group now turns to Yale for its first postseason match-up. Middlebury has shut out its august rival several times in recent years. "They are definitely looking to get back at us," said Wisner.





In a few short seasons the Middlebury cycling club has gone from a small- time affair to a bustling and competitive team looking to make an impact on the national scene. The fall mountain biking season drew to a close last weekend with a number of promising signs for the rising program, when the team garnered second place overall in the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference. Racing every weekend in different spots around the East Coast, the team has been buoyed by first place finishes from a number of Panther cyclists. Andrea LaRosa '06 and Peter Hall '06 earned headlines at in-state rival UVM's race on Sept. 20 with a pair of victories - LaRosa's in short track cross country and Hall's in the downhill discipline. The next week at the Eastern Championships two other Panthers took their place in the limelight, with James Rogers '06 and senior Ben Christensen earning first places in downhill and short track respectively. All-American road cyclist Ted King '05.5, the team's leader and most consistent performer, qualified for Nationals after finishing second in each of the team's last two races. At the tournament he proceeded to finish 16th in the short track race and a strong 9th in cross country.

The team's strong showing is the result of a new emphasis on team racing rather than individual performance. We're a growing team with a lot of promise," said King. "In the past the people who were running it were more concerned with individual racing, but now the focus is on putting together a team." The Panthers have already demonstrated their presence in the Eastern conference with their strong mountain biking season and now look ahead to road racing in the spring. King has set high expectations for himself following his third place finish in Nationals last spring. His brother won the championship last year for Colorado College, and King is looking to follow in his tracks and bring a first place finish back to Vermont.





No team at Middlebury is more reliant on first time participants than crew. Most men and women rowers have little experience pulling an oar when they first decide to give up their mornings to join the squad and must learn the difficult technical skills demanded by the sport in the midst of competition. That's why it has been remarkable that Middlebury's two youthful teams have defied conventional expectations by putting together strong performances this season.

This past weekend saw only the women in action, as they traveled down to Cambridge, Mass., for the world-renowned Head of the Charles regatta and carved out a 32nd place finish out of the 51 teams from the farthest rowing reaches of the globe. "It was the most charged rowing atmophere I've ever seen," said co-Captain Betsy Sullivan '04. "We thought we had a great race and it was very exciting to race with teams from around the world. We used it as an opportunity to see where we stood against all different kinds of teams."

Both squads will travel to Saratoga Springs this weekend for the annual Head of the Fish Regatta, where they will seek to cap off their fall seasons with another characteristic display of verve and alacrity. The teams have much to be happy about this autumn in the wake of strong pulls at the Textile River Regatta and the New Hampshire Championships. "We've had a lot of boats medal this fall, and we're very excited with our performances," said Sullivan. "This is the most successful fall team I've ever been on. We've never had a team that's been able to work so well together - no personality issues at all. We're one big happy family."

Faced with the challenge of integrating a number of new rowers into their eight man boat crews, the men's squad was prepared at the beginning of the year to rebuild with an eye to the future. The group underestimated its own resiliency, however. "We are definitely doing better than most of us thought we would, we're very satisfied," said senior rower Luke Mueller. "We're definately surpassing our expectations. We thought this would be a development season. It's hard when new rowers are on the team. It's hard when you don't have a lot of experience. The new guys have made humongous leaps." Both crews will be looking to maintain their momentum both for the Head of the Fish and for next semester's league action. "We've really had a successful season, I know everyone is already really excited for spring season and winter training," said Sullivan.