Sports Briefs

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MIDDLEBURY FOOTBALL TEAM KEEPS THE ACCOLADES COMING

Post-season honors were awarded to three members of the 2009 Middlebury men's football team. Brendan Kelly '09 was named a third-team All-American and Andrew Matson '09 and Charles Holm '09 received All-ECAC honors.

Brendan Kelly lead the top offense in the NESCAC in the offensive line. The all-star protection provided by the All-East player lead to an offense that generated 34.4 points per game and 445.4 yards of total offense/game. Kelly started all eight games on the season and helped the Panthers finish 5-3.

Andrew Matson averaged 110.4 receiving yards/game with 883 total receiving yards on the season. The Academic All-American recorded eight touchdowns in the season with 52 catches, his longest tallying 65 yards. In addition to receiving yards, Matson accrued 920 all purpose yards, including rushes and punt returns.

Charles Holm, leading tight end for the Midd offense, was also selected as first-team All-NESCAC. Playing in six games, Holm racked up 27 receptions for 243 totally receiving yards. Averaging 40.5 yards/game, Holm had breakout performances against Amherst and Williams, in which he caught for 78 yards.

These post-season honors are in addition to eight All-NESCAC selections announced in November. The talented group helped lead the Panthers to third place in the NESCAC.

- Kevin Carpenter, Sports Editor

START OF SEASON ON HORIZON OF SKI TEAMS

The official start of the Middlebury alpine ski season is fast approaching with the team's first race Jan. 23 at the Bates Carnival. The team is coming off an impressive fifth place finish at NCAA Championships at Montana State in March of 2008. The 529 point score marked a school-best.

The Middlebury cross country ski team ran into some adverse weather in their recent trip to the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships in Anchorage, Alaska. Races were set to start on January 3 but temperatures of -15 F led to the cancellation of Saturday's classic sprints and a shortening of Monday's freestyle skate race. The men's race was cut from 15 km to 10 km as a result of the inclement weather.

The International Ski Federation dictates that a cross country ski race may not be commenced if the temperature is below -4 F.

Several races were postponed until Thursday Jan. 8. The Middlebury team had a fair showing as several skiers experienced the effects of such cold racing weather.

- Kevin Carpenter, Sports Editor

MOLLY VITT '09 GETS NESCAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Senior defensemen for the women's hockey team, Molly Vitt '09, has been named NESCAC Player of the Week for her outstanding performance this past weekend.

Vitt played a crucial role in the Panthers' two key road victories over Colby and Bowdoin. Overall, Vitt earned a total of six points for the weekend, including two goals and four assists.

Against Colby, Vitt was set up by Grace Waters and Anna McNally, and scored the game-winning goal in the Panthers' 2-1 triumph. The following day, Vitt exploded with a goal and four assists in Middlebury's 8-1 rout over Bowdoin.

Vitt's numbers speak for themselves: she currently leads the NESCAC in assists per game (1.33) and is second in the conference in overall points per game with 1.78.

- Jeff Klein, Sports Editor