Around the Herd: Feb. 21 to Feb. 27 in Athletics

Hedi Skali '25 -

Men’s Basketball

The men’s basketball team lost to Williams College in the NESCAC tournament semifinal this Saturday, tragically ending their season. Although Charlie Randall ’26 was able to get Amherst on the board first, the No.1 seeded Ephs immediately hit two successive three pointers. Unfortunately for Amherst, the game never really wavered from this narrative, as the score was 31-21 by half time, and 57-43 at the end of regulation. No Mammoth was able to score double digits.

Men’s Ice Hockey

This past Saturday, the men’s ice hockey team ended their season in a loss to Hamilton College in the NESCAC tournament quarterfinal. The Continentals scored three unanswered goals in the first thirty minutes of the game, two scored off of power plays. Tyler Borque ’24 was able to get one back at the end of the second period, but by the beginning of the third Hamilton had reasserted their three goal lead. Over the last ten minutes however, the Mammoths outshot the Continentals 12-2. With their new found intensity they were able to score two goals within the ten minute time frame, but it was not enough as Hamilton will move on to the semifinal after their 4-3 win.

Women’s Ice Hockey

The 21-2-2 women’s ice hockey team continued their stellar form with a 2-0 win over Bowdoin in the NESCAC quarterfinal this past weekend. The team coasted because of the Maeve Reynolds ’26, Marie-Eve Marlea ’26 , Mary Thompson ’24 trio. The latter two assisted Reynolds for two goals, her fifth scoring game in a row. The team outshot Bowdoin by a significant 36-23 shots on goal. The Polar Bears were never really able to pressure Natalie Stott ’26 as she recorded her ninth shutout of the season.  

The women’s ice hockey team will face Hamilton in the semifinal this Friday.

Men’s Swim and Dive

The Amherst men’s swim team finished third at NESCAC Championships last weekend. Jeff Gerber ’24, Emmanuel Odim ’26, Jaden Olson ’25n ’25 and Ethan Van De Water ’26 set a new school record in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:29.50. Gerber also swam a 1:59.04 personal best in the 200-yard breaststroke; a time that ranks him the top 15 nationally for the DIII. In the 200-yard butterfly, Fynlan Nadel ’26 swam a 1:49.26, finishing fourth and notching himself a new personal best. This was the seventh consecutive top three finish for Amherst in the NESCAC Championships.

Qualifying swimmers will compete in the NCAA D-III Championships later in March.

Men’s Track and Field

With a third place finish this past weekend, the men’s track and field team clinched their second consecutive top three finish at the New England D-III championships, winning four events in the process. The 4x800m relay team secured their second victory in a row. This time composed of sophomore Ben Davis ’26, Will Nagy ’26, Kolya Markov-Riss ’24, and Parker Boyle ’27, the team finished with a time of 7:41.61. In their first win in the competition’s event since 2015, the distance medley team ran a time of 10:05.16. Boyle and Davis also led the 1000m running 2:27.22 and 2:28.06, respectively. With a 14.24m mark, Michael Abbey Jr. ’27 won the triple jump.

The team will compete in the NEICAAA championships this weekend.

Women’s Track and Field

The women’s track and field team won three events and scored 95 points to finish third in the New England D-III championships. Eliza Cardwell ’25 had an exceptional weekend, winning and setting a school record in the 60m hurdles in 8.64 seconds while also winning the long jump in 5.68m.  Ava Zielinski ’25, Bella Lozier ’26, Zoë Marcus ’27, and Piper Lentz ’26 broke both the previous meet record set by MIT and the Amherst school record by running 9:14.83. Marcus also finished second in the 1000m with a time of 2:57.81.

The Mammoths will compete in the NEICAAA championships this weekend.