Williams Swimmer a 'Face in the Crowd'

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Williams College senior captain and standout swimmer Sarah Thompson has been named to Sports Illustrated magazine's "Faces in the Crowd" in the March 16 issue (page 32).
 
Thompson was named to "Faces in the Crowd" for leading Williams to a second consecutive record-breaking team score and championship at the 2015 NCESCAC Championships and winning her second consecutive Swimmer of the Meet Award. In her four years in the Purple Valley Thompson won nine NESCAC freestyle championship races, including all four of the 200-yard races.
 
At the 2015 NESCAC Championships Thompson repeated as the individual champion in the 200, 500 and 1,650-yard freestyle events. This year she set the NESCAC meet record in the 1,650 freestyle (16:53.55). 
 
Additionally, she swam the anchor leg of the winning 400-yard freestyle and medley relays that set meet and pool records, and was a member of the winning 200 and 800-yard freestyle relays.
 
At her last NESCAC Championships Thompson was also recognized as the Four-Year High Point Swimmer.
 
She closed out her NESCAC career as a four-time champion in the 200-yard freestyle, a three-time champion in the 1,650-yard freestyle and two-time champion in the 500-yard freestyle.
 
Thompson's Eph swimming career will end at the 2015 NCAA Championships being held in Shenandoah, Texas, March 18-21. Thompson is a three-time NCAA champion having won the 200 and 1,650 free races at the 2013 championships and last year she took home the 500 free title.
 
Thompson is the 39th Eph to appear in "Faces in the Crowd" since August of 1989. To date 32 Eph athletes have been recognized by Sports Illustrated, as have seven coaches.
 
Women's swimming and diving leads all Eph teams with five athletes and two coaches being recognized by being named to Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" section.
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WCMA: 'Cracking the Code on Numerology'

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) opens a new exhibition, "Cracking the Cosmic Code: Numerology in Medieval Art."
 
The exhibit opened on March 22.
 
According to a press release: 
 
The idea that numbers emanate sacred significance, and connect the past with the future, is prehistoric and global. Rooted in the Babylonian science of astrology, medieval Christian numerology taught that God created a well-ordered universe. Deciphering the universe's numerical patterns would reveal the Creator's grand plan for humanity, including individual fates. 
 
This unquestioned concept deeply pervaded European cultures through centuries. Theologians and lay people alike fervently interpreted the Bible literally and figuratively via number theory, because as King Solomon told God, "Thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight" (Wisdom 11:22). 
 
"Cracking the Cosmic Code" explores medieval relationships among numbers, events, and works of art. The medieval and Renaissance art on display in this exhibition from the 5th to 17th centuries—including a 15th-century birth platter by Lippo d'Andrea from Florence; a 14th-century panel fragment with courtly scenes from Palace Curiel de los Ajos, Valladolid, Spain; and a 12th-century wall capital from the Monastery at Moutiers-Saint-Jean—reveal numerical patterns as they relate to architecture, literature, gender, and timekeeping. 
 
"There was no realm of thought that was not influenced by the all-consuming belief that all things were celestially ordered, from human life to stones, herbs, and metals," said WCMA Assistant Curator Elizabeth Sandoval, who curated the exhibition. "As Vincent Foster Hopper expounds, numbers were 'fundamental realities, alive with memories and eloquent with meaning.' These artworks tease out numerical patterns and their multiple possible meanings, in relation to gender, literature, and the celestial sphere. 
 
"The exhibition looks back while moving forward: It relies on the collection's strengths in Western medieval Christianity, but points to the future with goals of acquiring works from the global Middle Ages. It also nods to the history of the gallery as a medieval period room at this pivotal time in WCMA's history before the momentous move to a new building," Sandoval said.
 
Cracking the Cosmic Code runs through Dec. 22.
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