In fall 2020, Emily Gianunzio of Darien, Conn., was about to start her senior year at �ֲ���ý and her final year of Bobcat field hockey.

Then came the pandemic, which shut down NESCAC athletics. So Emily Gianunzio did what others have done in the conference, deciding to take a year off from school in order to return in this fall and play for the Bobcats. 

At the time, she was already renting a house with friends from �ֲ���ý, so she stayed in town. There was just one thing she needed: a job.

Luckily, Saint Dominic Academy in Auburn needed an assistant coach for its season and �ֲ���ý head coach Dani Kogut connected Emily with the Saints.

One Saints player was especially eager to have Gianunzio come aboard: senior captain Anna Cote of Auburn, whose older sister Paige was already a Bobcat.

“I knew (Emily) was such a talented player and would bring such a good skill set to the team,” said Cote, who had her own sights set on attending �ֲ���ý, like her sister. “I was really excited for her to come coach.”

Gianunzio and the Saints learned a lot from each other.

“It was really nice to have Emily there as an extra explainer,” Saints head coach Abi Bowie said. “It was great to have a younger person there with me that the girls can connect with and also talk about college because she’s in it.”

Gianunzio learned that coaches go through a lot more than what you see on the field each day.

“Having to navigate team culture stuff, not being a player, I recognize is harder, because I had the experience of dealing with that last year,” Gianunzio said. “I really gained an appreciation for what coaches do behind the scenes.”

This fall, Cote enrolled at �ֲ���ý with the Class of 2025, and Gianunzio returned to �ֲ���ý for her senior year, going from Cote’s coach to her teammate.

“When she was my coach, I was looking up to her so much, helping to make our team a lot better and grow,” Cote said. “And this year it was about playing together and putting our minds together to make plays out there on the field.”

They made plenty of plays, with Gianunzio finishing second on the team in points and Cote being voted the program’s MVP among the first-years and sophomores by her teammates.

Gianunzio’s senior thesis in psychology focuses on the correlation between athletic performance and the ability to pay attention. She is considering going into coaching after she graduates this spring, and her current coach is all for it.

“I think that’s a really great field for her, it gets her to pair two passions of hers, both athletics and psychology,” Kogut said. “Whether she’s coaching or not she’ll definitely use that.”

Perhaps the feelings of fall varsity athletes can be summed up by the words on a whiteboard in Alumni Gym, where new head coach Emily Hayes leads the �ֲ���ý volleyball program.

Under the header “Practice 1” on Wednesday, it read, “Thankful.”

“You will hear the same thing from everyone,” said field hockey forward Emily Gianunzio ’22 of Darien, Conn. “This is amazing. To be together on the field has been great.”

The �ֲ���ý fall sports teams haven’t played an actual intercollegiate game since 2019. Last year, they practiced, but with masks.

The first practices of the year were Wednesday. First up was men’s soccer, which took to the Garcelon Field turf at 7 a.m., the first time without masks in two years.

Head coach Tyler Sheikh was ready to put his team to the test, with a challenging conditioning session to start the morning off right.

“It’s time to kick their butts a little bit,” said Sheikh.

�ֲ���ý men’s soccer was the first of four practices for fall sports on Wednesday, as the Bobcats get ready for what promises to be a fun .

We were on-hand to capture all the excitement of men’s soccer, field hockey, women’s soccer, and volleyball’s return to action.

Good things happen in threes. So do great things, especially for Bobcat sports this past week. Take a look:

1. Women’s rowing captures Head of the Charles title

Guided by senior coxswain Hanna De Bruyn of Old Lyme, Conn., the �ֲ���ý women’s varsity eight set a course record on Oct. 22 to win the women’s collegiate eights at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta.

De Bruyn and her crew navigated the serpentine 4,800-meter course on the Charles River in 16:01.182, outpacing last year’s Head of the Charles winner Wesleyan by 16.863 seconds.

�ֲ���ý women’s rowing captured the women’s collegiate eights at the Head of the Charles on Oct. 22. (Photograph by Daniel D’Ottavio)

2. Men’s soccer qualifies for NESCACs with amazing goal vs. Colby

The �ֲ���ý men’s soccer team heads to the NESCAC championship tournament thanks to a miraculous goal scored in the final minute of the Bobcats’ regular-season finale at Colby on Wednesday afternoon.

Sophomore Beaufils Kimpolo-Pene of the Bronx, N.Y., knocked in the rebound of his initial saved shot with 24 seconds left in the second overtime period.

�ֲ���ý plays at top-seeded Tufts Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in the NESCAC quarterfinals.

3. Field hockey also beats Colby, in final seconds, to earn NESCAC bid

For the third straight year, the �ֲ���ý field hockey team beat Colby in the final game of the season to earn a spot in the NESCAC tournament. Here’s what it looked like:

With the win, �ֲ���ý earns the eighth seed in the NESCAC tournament and visits top seed and No. 2 nationally ranked Middlebury on Saturday. The NESCAC quarterfinal match is set for 12:00 p.m.

Taken at the unfinished Campus Avenue Field in mid-August, this image shows the concrete channel into which the edge of the GreenFields TX turf would be tucked and secured. At right is the TenCate Ecocept elastic layer, which is unique in North America — at least for now. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

In the new and improved Smith Hall showers, fancy metalwork decorates the drain troughs and a tiled barrier ensures that bathers don't have to stand in each others' runoff. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

A field hockey practice on the new GreenFields TX turf on Campus Avenue Field on Sept. 1, 2016 . (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Field hockey balls on the GreenFields TX turf on Sept. 1, 2016, the second day of practice on the new surface. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

There's no doubt whose this new turf this is. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

We’ve been together 18 months, but now our time’s running out.

Our hearts are heavy. It’s hard not to regret the places we never saw together, the experiences we never had, the pleasures left untried. The things we wanted to tell you about, but couldn’t.

Such as the conversion of Carnegie 225 from tiered to level seating. The new steam pipe between Chase Hall and the Muskie Archives. And the new windows on Chase — 100 new energy-efficient windows.

There’s no doubt whose this new turf this is. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Since March 2014, it has been our pleasure to give you the news of major facilities improvements at �ֲ���ý. But with the new Campus Avenue dorms open and the summer’s three remaining projects virtually complete, it’s time for Campus Construction Update to end this series and return to honest — er, other communications work.

Yet we still have a few intimacies to share with you before we pack up the 8-foot ladder, leave our hard hat and orange safety vest rolled up and stashed behind your couch, and call it a day.

On Wednesday, Aug. 31, the �ֲ���ý field hockey team held its first practice on a newly resurfaced Campus Avenue Field. In fact, it was the first practice in North America for any team on this specific configuration of GreenFields TX turf.

While this acclaimed turf by the Dutch manufacturer GreenFields is in use elsewhere on the continent, �ֲ���ý’ Campus Avenue Field is the only installation employing the proprietary TenCate Ecocept elastic layer — the shock-absorbing layer that underlies the faux grass.

A mixture of recycled rubber and plastic bound with polyurethane, the Ecocept product imparts superior playing qualities and drainage to the turf, says field hockey coach Danielle Ryder.

A field hockey practice on the new GreenFields TX turf on Campus Avenue Field on Sept. 1, 2016 . (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

“It’s a very nice turf in terms of playability and bounce and speed,” she says. “And it’s a very fast turf. That’s going to be really useful when we go play on slower turfs, because we’ll be used to performing fast.”

The TX is also, simply, a consistent surface. It will enable the team to focus exclusively on playing without the distractions from the worn-out AstroTurf that it replaced.

The old turf’s irrigation system — field hockey is played on wet turf — left puddles that would stop the ball dead. There were frayed spots and other irregularities in the playing surface that sent balls flying wildly and tripped players. (The Bobcat emblem in the middle was a particular tripping hazard.)

Most important, Ryder explains, the GreenFields is “physically a lot more forgiving to the players’ bodies. The old turf was really hard to play on.”

The last major task at Campus Avenue Field was completed early this week: fastening the grassy layer in place. This was done by securing the edge of that carpet into a channel cut into a concrete anchor wall that surrounds the field and whose top is flush with ground level.

Panels of the GreenFields TX turf were still being placed on Aug. 17, 2016. Slathered with glue, this tape was used to hold the panels together. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Other than that, the finishing touches were cosmetic — touchups to markings on and around the field. Ryder points out an interesting distinction among the markings: Curved lines, like the shooting circle, are painted on, and straight-line markings are inset and glued into the surface.

That’s because curved seams don’t hold up as well as straight seams.

The renewed field is a tremendous morale boost. “It’s a huge advantage to have a brand-new facility,” Ryder says. “And it’s definitely a vote of confidence.”

The Bobcats make their competitive debut on the new turf in a game vs. Worcester State at 5 p.m. Sept. 6.

“It’s a cathedral,” says rowing coach Peter Steenstra: The boat storage area in the boathouse. The wood on the floor was recovered from �ֲ���ý’ old boathouse for decorative use in the new facility. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Focused on racks: �ֲ���ý’ new boathouse will be the last of the college’s big summer facility projects to cross the finish line.

Rowing coach Peter Steenstra reports that the all-important boat storage racks will be installed during the week of Sept. 12. That date falls two days after the teams’ first practice, and a few weeks past the original installation schedule.

Sideboards from the old boathouse were saved, planed, and resized for reuse in the new boathouse team room, shown here, and in a connecting corridor. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

But the delay is a good thing. The racks are being custom-made for �ֲ���ý and their designer-fabricator, Focus Rack Systems of Nashville, Mich., is taking the time it needs to get them right.

The racks are distinctive in one way, and probably unique in a second way. As noted in previous updates, the first distinction lies in a drawer-like action in the supporting arms that allows the boats to slide out and in for easy storage.

The unique feature? Each rack has three arms that support boats: bow, center, and stern. But the Focus rack’s center arm can be moved along the boat’s length. That’s to accommodate different arrangements of the so-called outriggers, gunwale-mounted fittings that support the oarlocks.

Because outrigger placement varies from boat to boat and the boats are racked upside-down, the movable arm will simplify boat storage in tight quarters and reduce the risk of damaging the delicate craft.

“That’s something they’ve never done, so they’re kind of excited about it,” says Steenstra, who worked with Focus proprietor Paul Smith on the innovation. “It’s the first of its kind.”

We dropped by the boathouse site, by the Androscoggin River in the town of Greene, on Aug. 30. Project management firm Consigli Construction still had a field office there, but the construction fence was gone and the landscaping done: paving stones placed in the parking area, trees and bushes planted, grass seed under a blanket of straw panting for rain.

Painters were finishing up the exterior of �ֲ���ý’ new boathouse on Aug. 30, 2016. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

It was gratifying to see that something of the old boathouse lives in the new one: The rustic wainscoting and ceiling trim fabricated from the sideboards of the old boathouse, which was torn down a month ago.

Wainscoting and all, the new boathouse is beautiful, says Steenstra. “Particularly the inside, with the main boat bays,” he says, adding with a laugh, “It’s a cathedral.”

To passers-by, the structure sets the right tone. Set in a rolling field a few hundred yards from a working farm, the boathouse fits its rural setting. “When you’re driving by, you’re going to see what looks to be a very large barn,” Steenstra says. “But get a little closer and you start to realize what it is.”

A grand opening for the boathouse is scheduled for Oct. 29.

The foosball table is ready for action in a Smith Hall Lounge. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Notes from a basement: Back on the sunny shores of Lake Andrews, the first student residents of post-renovation Smith and Wentworth Adams halls have settled in.

Smith will remain mostly empty until the majority of the student body returns to campus this weekend. But 50 or so first-years moved into Adams on Opening Day, Aug. 29, arriving among the 499 members of �ֲ���ý’ Class of 2020.

When it’s complete, this sectional lounging unit in Smith Hall’s basement will have counter seating along the backs of each sofa unit. Imagine the fun to be had with spitballs and popcorn during a binge-viewing session of films by Ingmar Bergman! (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Opening Day came a week after another milestone for the dorms’ renovation: the issuance of the certificate of substantial completion for Smith and Adams by �ֲ���ý, general contractor Langford & Low, and architect Harriman Associates.

As we’ve previously written, the practical effect of substantial completion is that �ֲ���ý assumes authority over the buildings from the general contractor. But as we’ve seen with the Campus Avenue residences, substantial completion and even student occupancy don’t signal the end of work.

At Smith and Adams as at 55 and 65 Campus Ave., workers continue to make tweaks, repairs, and replacements revealed by the punch-list inspection process.

On Aug. 24, when Campus Construction Update stopped by for a look-see, the new lakeside entrance to Wentworth Adams Hall was all but complete, with access-system work to be done and the ceilings awaiting their full complement of tiles.

Completed tasks at Adams included the creation of a first-year study center in the basement; the upgrade of a first-floor suite now occupied by the residence director; and paint and light fixtures that bring new brilliance to the main corridors of the ground-level and street-level floors.

A new study lounge in the renovated basement of Smith Hall. Banquette seating is a design theme in the lounge spaces �ֲ���ý has created this year. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Next door, the transformation of Smith — especially its basement — was striking. The wall colors were on, most furniture in place, and the residence coordinator was already ensconced in her sunny basement abode.

The basement kitchen-lounge was ready for action. The furniture was a mix of formats including mid-sized tables, four-person high-tops with unusual shovel-shaped stools, and, across the aisle in a television lounge, a giant sectional with both sofa and counter seating. It was an elaborate system for lounging.

Down the corridor a large, well-lit study lounge straddled the aisle and, again, was furnished to accommodate all manner of seating preferences — from long banquettes to six-person tables, from paired soft chairs perfect for tête-à-têtes to tall loungers for solo thinkers.

Upstairs in the residential zone, Farnsworth showed off the new shower drains that, for the first time in this venerable building, limit one’s run-off to one’s own stall. (Previously, two stalls shared a drain.)

The individualized shower drains, which required some time to perfect, comprise a trough in each stall equipped with a decorative patterned-metal cover. The stalls are separated by a tiled berm. Hygiene and elegance too.

In the new and improved Smith Hall showers, fancy metalwork decorates the drain troughs and a tiled barrier ensures that bathers don’t have to stand in each others’ runoff. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Looking at the overall project, Farnsworth had nothing but praise for Langford & Low, calling the Portland-based contractor “awesome.” Deadlines were tight: It was key to get the buildings to the point where the city could issue the certificates of occupancy (a precursor to substantial completion), because otherwise �ֲ���ý couldn’t use the buildings.

“They understood the goal of having this work done in time for the return of the students — there was no other place for the students to go.”

“We got everything done that needed to be done in time.”

Hey, that’s no way to say goodbye: Campus Construction Update welcomes your questions and comments about current, past, future, desirable, and imaginary construction at �ֲ���ý. Write to dhubley@bates.edu, putting “Campus Construction” or “Thanks for the memories” in the subject line. Or use the 21st-century commenting system below.

Mixed pavers cover the boathouse parking area. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Topped with worn blue padding, the wooden boat racks were still in place in �ֲ���ý' 1988 boathouse on July 19, 2016, about a week before its scheduled demolition. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Carpenters for R.S. Egenstafer Construction of Littleton, Maine, dismantling the old �ֲ���ý boathouse on July 19, 2016. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

The new �ֲ���ý boathouse seen through the wall framing of its 1988 predecessor. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

The �ֲ���ý boathouse on July 19, 2016. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

A padded cradle once used for storing �ֲ���ý racing shells lies discarded in the old boathouse. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

As �ֲ���ý’ new varsity rowing boathouse comes closer and closer to completion, the old boathouse comes closer and closer to vanishing. When we visited on July 19, the barn-like space was all but empty, with just a few wooden boat racks remaining and barely enough debris on the ground to catch our interest. The boats are stored on campus in Underhill Arena and the rowing teams’ other gear is stashed in a storage unit on the construction site.

Carpenters for R.S. Egenstafer Construction of Littleton, Maine, dismantling the old �ֲ���ý boathouse on July 19, 2016. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

The roof looked more or less intact, but the walls have been reduced to bare framing. The planks that once covered them have been sent to East Coast Millwork of Boothbay, Maine, for resurfacing and sizing, after which they’ll be re-used to finish walls inside the new boathouse.

It’s nice to know that something of the 1988 boathouse will live on in the 2016 edition.

And on July 28, what’s left of the old house “will just get knocked down, chopped up, and hauled away,” explains project manager Henry Gillert.

Uphill from the old boathouse and a bit further from the Androscoggin River sits the new boathouse. Thanks to Hahnel Brothers Co., of Lewiston, the roof was finished the second week of July. Hahnel put asphalt shingles on the boathouse proper and a heavy rubber-like membrane on the adjoining annex, which will contain lockers, showers, and the team room — all amenities the old house lacked.

The �ֲ���ý boathouse on July 19, 2016. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Most windows are in place on both sections, including clustered units on the team room that face east toward the river and pointy ones up near the gables that cast a dramatic light into the boat-storage space.

The plywood walls have been coated with Typar breathable weather-protection membrane. (It’s a building product that, like the similar Tyvek, is likely named for a prominent figure in the Vulcan High Command. “May your building envelope live long and enable you to prosper.”)

And with the Typar in place, carpenters for R.S. Egenstafer Construction, based in the Aroostook County town of Littleton, Maine, will sheath the building with stained wooden shingles and garnet-painted clapboards.

Inside the boathouse, the installation of wallboard and insulation is well underway, accompanied by mechanical-electrical rough-ins — that is, the running of infrastructure like pipes and wires into a space without making final hookups. The walls can be closed up when those rough-ins have had their municipal inspection.

Topped with worn blue padding, the wooden boat racks were still in place in �ֲ���ý’ 1988 boathouse on July 19, 2016, about a week before its scheduled demolition. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

All in all, Gillert says, “it’s really progressing very smoothly.”

Also in early July, a representative from the specialty boat-rack builder Focus Rack Systems of Nashville, Mich., visited to measure the boat storage space.

“That’s a very, very big deal,” says Gillert. Proper boat storage is a focus of concern for the rowing coach Peter Steenstra and his teams, as the lightly built vessels are quite vulnerable to damage. Dings that puncture a boat’s skin can admit moisture that will cause the hull to deteriorate.

The old racks were essentially padded pieces of wood mounted perpendicular to the boathouse walls. (There were also some padded hook-like boat cradles that hung from the ceiling on ropes. Steenstra has pointed out that the old house ended up storing three times as many boats as it was designed for.)

The Focus racks, instead, will have telescoping arms that function like drawers, making boat handling easier on both vessels and rowers. As one of the final stages of the boathouse construction, Focus will install the racks during the third week of August.

In other news from the Androscoggin’s shady banks, the project team has decided the fate of the boulders that surprised everyone when they turned up during foundation work. The big rocks will be broken up and hauled away.

The 1988 �ֲ���ý boathouse, at left, and the new facility, pictured on July 11, 2016. The Androscoggin River is behind the trees. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Turf’s up: The summer’s other major athletics construction project, the replacement of artificial turf at Campus Avenue Field, was on hiatus earlier this week.

Workers finished grading the stone base for the new state-of-of-art GreenFields TX turf in mid-July. But the placement of the shock-absorbing TenCate Ecocept layer, which will underlie the grassy-looking playing surface, was delayed until specialized equipment could be delivered here from a job in Texas.

That gear has arrived and work was expected to begin today, July 22.

A Crooker Construction excavator handles rolls of AstroTurf that have been removed from Campus Avenue Field. GreenFields TX will replace the 16-year-old AstroTurf. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Nevertheless, the renovation of the �ֲ���ý field hockey team’s home field is expected to be complete by Aug. 3.

Like a giant pizza cutter, the circular blade on this front-end loader is slicing the Campus Avenue Field AstroTurf on July 6, 2016, prior to rolling it up for removal. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

A team from Crooker Construction of Topsham, Maine, had cut up and removed the old AstroTurf at the Campus Avenue Field early in the month. �ֲ���ý was hoping to give reusable surface portions of the old turf, installed in 2000, to local schools, but none were reusable. The AstroTurf had been glued onto a shock-absorbing elastic layer, aka e-layer, of mixed asphalt, stone, and rubber, and that was some tough glue.

“Everything just came up as one solid piece,” says Gillert, whose project management portfolio includes the field hockey field as well as the boathouse.

Around the same time the AstroTurf was being peeled off Campus Avenue Field, AstroTurf LLC was filing for bankruptcy protection, in an action designed to protect an intended sale of the company. The firm was a pioneer in the field of artificial turf, and was also a bidder in the current project.

With some of the AstroTurf still in place on Campus Avenue Field, an excavator stacks rolls of the turf that have just been peeled off on July 6, 2016. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Talk about turf wars. The filing followed AstroTurf’s $30 million loss in a patent fight with the French company Tarkett. That company makes yet another turf for athletics: FieldTurf, which covers �ֲ���ý’ Garcelon Field as well as several NFL facilities.

Whatever happens next with AstroTurf the company, AstroTurf the product has left �ֲ���ý with its honor intact. “A lot of folks have said that we really got our money’s worth with that field,” Gillert notes.

He expects the same result from the GreenFields, made by a company based in the Netherlands. “It’s a great manufacturer with a great reputation,” he says. “Everybody’s really excited to see this new product come in.”

Can we talk? Campus Construction Update welcomes your questions and comments about current, past, and future construction at �ֲ���ý. Write to dhubley@bates.edu, putting “Campus Construction” or “Do the Vulcans use artificial turf?” in the subject line. Or use the 21st-century commenting system below.

Morgan Maciewicz ’10 celebrates a goal during a game against Colby. �ֲ���ý lost the game but earned the sixth seed in the NESCAC Championship.

The �ֲ���ý field hockey team was in need of scoring entering last week, averaging only 1.00 goals per game. The Bobcats responded forcefully in a 1-1 week, defeating New England College 5-1 before losing at No. 10 Tufts by a 4-2 score. �ֲ���ý was the first team to score more than one goal on the powerful Jumbos.

Sophomore forward Sema Kazarian (Providence, R.I.) led the scoring breakthrough with three goals on the week — two against New England College and another against �ֲ���ý. Kazarian now leads the Bobcats with four goals for eight points.

�ֲ���ý takes on non-conference opponent Husson College on Wednesday at 5 p.m., before hosting Connecticut College Saturday at noon during Parents & Family Weekend.