NORTHAMPTON, Mass. -- The Williams College women's track and field team began its season Sunday at the Smith Winter Carnival.

 

Contesting against schools like Smith College, American International College, and Trinity College, the Ephs had a great opener to the season.

 

Although many of the distance runners are still recovering from their cross country season, Audrey Rustad ran strategically in her 3,000 meter race. She blew away the competition, winning by more than 30 seconds and finishing with a strong 10:20, a time that qualifies her for DIII New Englands.

 

In the short sprints, the Ephs finished with four of the eight top finishes in the 60 meter dash, with Kiara Tan winning the meet in 7.84 seconds.

 

Caity Ubl ran a strong 60 meter hurdles, finishing in 8.94 seconds, her first sub-9 second 60 meter hurdles race ever. Ubl anchored the 4x400 meter relay, also comprised of Collison, Ella Dunn, and Liza Jacoby. The Ephs defeated the other teams by almost 10 seconds, posting a great time of 4:04. They hope to better this time over the course of the season.

 

The Ephs also had a great opening day in the field events. Cailin Stollar won triple jump with a 10.63 meter jump. Ephs  shut out in the high jump, with Emma Egan and Kene Odenigbo  clinching the top two places. Egan flew to first with a height of 1.66 meters.

 

The Ephs pole vaulters had a great day. Kelsie Hao and Maggie Murphy took first and second place, respectively. Hao cleared 3.5 meters and Murphy 3.20 meters.

 

Mazie Alexander had an incredible meet in weight throw, throwing a long distance of 13.72 meters, tying for the first place spot.

 

Women's Hockey

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Annie Rush scored a pair of goals and set up a third to lead Williams to a 4-0 win over Wesleyan.

 

Brynn Puppe had a goal and an assist for the Ephs (4-2, 3-2 NESCAC), who avenged Saturday's shutout loss to the Cardinals.

 

Chloe Heiting earned the shutout in goal.

 

Williams hosts Castleton on Tuesday.

 

Women's Squash

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - On day three of a long but exciting weekend for the Ephs, they finally faced their first NESCAC opponent in the shape of the Tufts Jumbos, and the Ephs emerged victorious with an 8-1 win.. 

 

Using a three court system, senior captain Esther Baek (#3), freshman Kathryn Wright (#6), and sophomore Cassie Deshong (#9) led the charge for the Ephs in the first wave of play. Baek and Wright completely dominated the 'T', and by doing so, put their opponenets under an unsurmountable amount of pressure, allowing for comfortable three game victories. Deshong gave her opponent a good run, but was ultimately defeated in three games.

 

Sophomore Sarah Willwerth (#2), junior Melissa Swann (#5), and freshman Alex Pear (#8) continued the Ephs' charge with another trio of victories. All three of these matches were battles, but the Ephs were able to stay strong and pull out tight wins in all three positions. Notably, Swann defeated her Jumbos opponent 12-10 in the fifth game and Willwerth pulled out her final game 14-12 to give the Ephs a clear victory over Tufts.

 

Already having five wins on the board, the Ephs continued their triumphant charge and hunted for three more wins to finish the weekend on a strong note. Building off of the momentum ceated by the first two waves of play, Julia Ward (#1), Abby LeBlanc (#4), and Adrienne Conza (#7) all did just that and toppled their opponenets in three games. 

 

The Ephs go to Middlebury on January 5.

 

Men's Squash

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - The Williams men's squash team returned to the Simon Squash Center for another eventful day on Sunday.

 

Tufts, climbing up the national rankings to No. 23, came ready to play. The Ephs had the upper hand from the start,  capturing a 3-0 lead after the first round of matches. Anand Butler (#9), David Pincus (#6), and Wyatt Khosrowshahi (#3) controlled play and finished with solid 3-0 results. Krish Bhavnani (#8), A.J. Solecki (#5), and Jacob Bassil (#2) opened the second round of matches. Bhavnani continued his excellent play from Coumbia and Drexel, blanking his opponent in three games. Solecki faced a strong opponent and received an unlucky call at at the end of the fifth game, resulting in a 11-8 final game score. Bassil was tied at 1-1 with his opponent but had to stop mid way through the third game due to an injury, concluding the second round of matches with the Ephs up 4-2.

 

In the last round of matches, Ben Eisenberg (#7), William Means (#4), and John Fitzgerald (#1) shut out their opponents in convincing three-game victories.