Sports briefs

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MEN'S AND WOMEN'S CREW RIDING AN ENORMOUS WAVE OF SUCCESS

This past weekend, the Middlebury men's and women's crew teams traveled to two different regattas looking to continue their dominant performance from the preceding weekend. The men had taken down UMass Lowell, Bowdoin and Massachusetts Maritime Academy in their first meet of the season and hoped to continue their run of success against a plethora of stiff competition.

Neither the men nor women disappointed, with each team turning in excellent performances on the weekend. The first event - named the Big Three Regatta - took place on the Connecticut River in Hadley, Mass. and saw the Panthers compete against the crews from Amherst and Bowdoin. Avenging a crushing 4/10 of a second loss to Bowdoin the previous weekend, the women's varsity four of Laurel Wickberg '09, Hannah Dzimitrowicz '11, Meghan Blumstein '11 and Kalie Mix '11, along with coxswain Elise Cohen '11, gained a bit of redemption by defeating the Polar Bears this time around, although Amherst took home first place with a strong come-from-behind finish.

The men, however, gained even more satisfaction from the event, as their varsity four of Scott Robinson '09, Evan Doyle '11.5, Chris Rogers '09.5 and Nick Zhou '12 captured the Rimmele Cup for the first time in the trophy's history. As per tradition, the four winning crewmen tossed their coxswain Mathew Rojas '11 into the water. Robinson stated that this race was one of the most exciting ones he had ever participated in, describing how the team kept its composure and came back for the victory after Amherst had jumped out to an early lead.

The women's novice crew also displayed an excellent performance at the Big Three, as the team of Christina Azodi '12, Catherine Hayes '12, Joan Low '12 and Liya Gao '12 captured first place and, like the men, threw coxswain Devon Wright '12 into the frigid Connecticut water.

The following day, the team traveled back up to Vermont, where they participated in a regatta against UVM at the Catamounts' home course. Given that UVM has historically been one of the strongest crews in New England, the Panther team placed extra emphasis on this regatta, seeing a chance to capture a defining victory on the season. Undeterred by the brutal conditions of bitter cold and snow, the men's varsity squad indeed took home the signature win, and to cap off the euphoric taste of victory, got to take the shirts of the losing Catamount team.

According to Robinson, expectations have never been higher for the Middlebury crew team as a whole. "We have a new head coach who has already shown an amazing capacity to try new strategies and to lead our program to new heights," he said. "Our novice rowers are extremely fast and dedicated, and show huge promise for the weeks and years ahead."

- Jeff Klein, Sports Editor

BURBRIDGE CAPTURES POW HONORS FOR MIDD SOFTBALL

Sophomore Emily Burbridge '11 has been named NESCAC Player of the Week. In the team's three game stretch against Hamilton, Burbridge went 7-for-12 and accrued a .833 slugging percentage. She hit for three doubles and drove in seven runs on the weekend while also scoring four times herself.

Burbridge alternates between shortstop and second base defensively. She has been a major threat offensively this season as well. Through 21 games, she is batting .313 and leads the team with six doubles and is tied for the team lead in both RBIs and home runs. Her .448 slugging percentage tops the Panther squad.

- Kevin Carpenter, Sports Editor