The 2016–17 school year was perhaps the greatest in recent history for �ֲ���ý athletics. One can measure the success via numbers, such as a��.

Or one can measure the success in the moments we will remember for years to come. With that in mind, we’ve compiled the top seven sports moments of the 2016–17 �ֲ���ý school year. Feel free to add to the list in the comments section.

7.��

 
For the fifth time in the last six years, the Bobcats defeated the Ephs on the gridiron. But this year was extra special thanks to ‘18.

The slotback from Brookline, Mass. caught nine passes for 223 yards and three touchdowns, all career-highs, to lead �ֲ���ý to a 29–17 victory on Back to �ֲ���ý weekend. His explosive performance included touchdown catches of 63 and 73 yards.

“I’ve never had a game like that receiving-wise in my life,” Williams said after it was all over. “They didn’t cover me for some reason and I just caught the ball and ran.”

A crowd of 3,211 fans cheered the Bobcats to victory.

“We’re used to good crowds, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it like that before,” Williams said. “There was a lot of people there, it was great.”

Williams earned NESCAC Offensive Player of the Week honors and flirted with �ֲ���ý’ single-game receiving yards record of 257 set by Chris Plante ’94 against Trinity in 1991.

Williams finished the 2016 season with 834 all-purpose yards, the most since Shawn Doherty ’14 put up 1,254 in 2013.

had the game covered from all angles following the win, at the 16:10 mark.

6.

 
Skiing competitively on her home course of Black Mountain for the final time,����’17 of Avon, Maine, made the most of her opportunity.

On a balmy February day, Sadie James ’17 of Avon, Maine, skis her way to the 5K classical win at the �ֲ���ý Carnival, becoming the first �ֲ���ý woman in 14 years to win an EISA carnival Nordic race. (Steve Fuller ’82/Flying Point Road)

She became the first �ֲ���ý women’s Nordic skier since 2003 to win an Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association carnival race, and the Bobcat Nordic ski teams combined to take home the coveted Chummy Broomhall Cup at the �ֲ���ý Carnival. The award goes to Maine’s top collegiate Nordic team, based on the combined men’s and women’s scores in the classical technique races.

The 5-kilometer classical technique race was an individual start, so James didn’t know she’d won until after everyone finished.

“I had coaches, teammates, and spectators telling me I was having a great race, but I didn’t know what that meant,” James said. “I was hoping that meant a top five! I got my first split at about 4.5 kilometers, climbing High School Hill. At the finish, I heard them say I broke into the lead and I’m pretty sure I said something along the lines of, ‘Wait, what?'”

The victory qualified James for the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive year.

She talked more about her carnival win at the 11:16 mark on the .

5.

 
��’17 of Marblehead, Mass., has been a near-revolutionary force for the women’s swimming program from the moment she arrived on campus. She entered the 2016–17 school year as the most decorated athlete in �ֲ���ý athletics history, thanks to a remarkable 17 All-America awards.

“The biggest impact she has made is the effect she’s had on all her teammates,” head coach Peter Casares said. “She is fantastic at leading lanes, at doing things right, and inspiring others.”

At the 2017 NCAA Championships, Daher earned six more All-America awards to finish her career with 23.

“One of the things I’ve learned since my first year here is that you swim best when you’re having fun,” Daher said. “Having my teammates enjoy the atmosphere and the moment is very important.”

Her leadership style is clearly working. In 2017, the �ֲ���ý women’s team finished the four-day NCAA Championships in 13th place out of 51 scoring teams, their fourth straight top-17 national finish.

4. and basketball players rewrite record books

 
The basketball seasons proved to be very entertaining this school year thanks to some spectacular seniors.

��’17 of Wilmington, Del., became �ֲ���ý’ on Dec. 10, 2016, in a non-conference game against Colby College. He earned NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year honors and finished his career with 178 blocked shots.

“I definitely wanted to get that record at home,” Malcolm Delpeche said. “It is very exciting to be part of �ֲ���ý history.”

Not to be outdone, twin brother����was a first team All-NESCAC selection and led the Bobcats to a huge 84-72 victory over then-No. 4 nationally ranked Tufts on Jan. 28, 2017.

Marcus Delpeche finished his career with��1,025 points, scoring point No. 1,000 .

“These milestones are something I’ve anticipated over the course of their four years here, and it’s really cool to see it happen,” head coach Jon Furbush ’05 said. “It was great to see Marcus get his 1,000th point in our gym in front of our crowd and obviously what Malcolm’s done in his career on defense has been incredible.”

Malcolm and Marcus Delpeche’s accomplishments were not limited to the court. Off the court, they proved to be��leaders in efforts to keep the �ֲ���ý community a safe place for all.

In women’s hoops,����’17 of��Tarrytown, N.Y., became on Jan. 31, 2017, in a 71-42 victory over Maine-Farmington. Coppola completed her career with 977 points and 942 rebounds.

But perhaps her best performance of the season came earlier in January, in a 64-57 win over Colby to begin NESCAC play. Coppola tallied at that point a career-high 24 points while adding 16 rebounds. She took the game over down the stretch.

“I wasn’t really thinking at all in the fourth quarter,” Coppola said. “We were just so focused on winning that game since we’d lost to Colby earlier in the season.

“I think some of those shots that went in were helped by ‘Alumni Magic,'” she added, referring to the Bobcats’ home court of Alumni Gym.

Coppola finished her senior season as a second team All-NESCAC selection and was one of 38 �ֲ���ý graduates to receive the Senior Scholar Award from the Department of Athletics.

3.

 
When ��’17��of Brunswick, Maine, hit a hurdle and failed to qualify for the 60-meter hurdle finals at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in March, it could have spelled disaster.

Instead, it turned into the comeback story of the year.��

In her 60-meter hurdle preliminary race at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 10, Allison Hill ’17 clears the second hurdle before finding trouble at the third. (Photograph by d3photography.com)

The Bobcats finished the two-day event with 15 points and a tie for 11th place out of 70 scoring teams and 112 participating schools. Their four All-American finishes surpass the three they earned at the 2004 NCAA Indoor Championships, when the team finished third overall. The team’s 11th-place finish is their best since 2006.

Hill became the first �ֲ���ý women’s track & field athlete to win All-American honors in the 200-meter dash. She broke her own flat-track �ֲ���ý record with a time of 25.22 seconds, good for a fifth-place finish and her first indoor All-American award.

“I realized it was my last indoor race ever so I tried to put everything I had into it,” Hill said. “I am really proud of everyone’s performances this weekend, it was amazing.”

The �ֲ���ý Bobcast captured the upbeat vibe of the track teams’ trek to the American heartland:

2.

 
After barely missing out on the NCAA tournament in 2016, the �ֲ���ý men’s lacrosse team left no doubt in 2017. The Bobcats won their first 14 games and surged as high as No. 1 in the national rankings.

First team All-American and NESCAC Player of the Year����’17 of Falmouth, Maine, exploded for a team-record 79 goals, finishing his career with 167, second most in Bobcat history.

Fay is laid back off the field, but as intense as they come on the field.

“I hate to lose, so I am going to do everything I can not to lose,” Fay said, reflecting on his hyper-competitive nature. “I don’t like that feeling of losing and I don’t want it ever again.”

All-America Honorable Mentions ��’17 of Medfield, Mass., and ��’20 of Westfield, Mass., joined Fay on attack to form the “two-and-a-half men,” a sly reference to Chlastawa’s listed height of 5-foot-6. The two-and-a-half men propelled��the Bobcats to perhaps their signature win of the year, a 19–18 victory at then–No. 3 nationally ranked Tufts on April 18.

�ֲ���ý advanced to the NCAA tournament quarterfinals before falling to Wesleyan by just one goal. The Bobcats finished��the year with a program-best record of 16-2. Following the season, Fay was selected in the Major League Lacrosse draft by the Boston Cannons.

1.

 
Once upon a time, the �ֲ���ý women’s rowing team routinely finished second to Williams at the NCAA regatta — five straight times, in fact.

Those days seem to be well in the past.

In 2017, �ֲ���ý won its second NCAA��championship in three years thanks in part to a fourth consecutive gold medal for the second varsity eight, a scrappy bunch led the past three years by coxswain��’17 of��Bethlehem, N.Y.

Like the rest of her teammates, Bierman could only watch as the first varsity eight raced down Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J. The first varsity eight finished second to Williams, but because Williams finished third in the second varsity eight race, the points title and the national championship trophy went to �ֲ���ý, with the Ephs finishing national runner-up.

“We’re watching, we’re watching, Wellesley puts up this fight in the last 500 that almost gets them, they [�ֲ���ý] put up an even bigger fight,” Bierman��said. “My bow seat����turns around and is like, ‘I can’t watch any more!’ They finish and we whip our heads around to the coaching staff, and ask, ‘Did we?’ and they nod��— we did!”

“This is so much more than a victory for those of us who got to be on the water today,” ’17 of Ithaca, N.Y., said. “This is for everyone. I was happiest to see my first coxswain at �ֲ���ý [Molly Huffaker��’14] who was here. This is the second [team] national championship for the school and we own both of them. So that’s awesome.”

Twin brothers Marcus Delpeche ’17 and Malcolm Delpeche ’17 of Wilmington, Del., are standouts on the basketball court and, off the court, standup members of the college’s residence life staff.

They know the importance of watching out for their fellow Bobcats. “We all play a part in promoting an environment where everyone feels safe and included,” says Malcolm, a junior advisor in Chu Hall, while his brother is a residence coordinator in John Bertram Hall.

So it makes sense that the Delpeche twins organized their teammates to get certified in the college’s Green Dot initiative, a bystander intervention program that seeks to prevent power-based violence.

The team’s game vs. Connecticut College tonight (Jan. 20) is a Green Dot game to further build awareness for the program.

When it comes to building a culture where violence is unacceptable, one doesn’t have “to do everything, but everyone should do something,” says Blake Reilly, director of residence life in Student Affairs.

It might be time to double down on the men’s basketball team’s chances this winter.

Identical twin brothers and seniors and of Wilmington, Del., team leaders in scoring and rebounding, have led the Bobcats to a 9-3 record as conference play starts tonight, Jan. 6, at Colby.

After making the Sweet 16 their sophomore year, 2015-16 was a letdown, says Malcolm Delpeche. “So we really want to come back and put our best foot forward this season.”

Marcus Delpeche ’17 and Malcolm Delpeche ’17 from Wilmington, Del., are identical twins and starters for the 2015 �ֲ���ý men’s basketball team,

Marcus is a 6-foot-7 forward averaging 9 points, 7 rebounds and one block per game. Malcolm is a 6-foot-8 center, averaging 7 points, 6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.

Separately, each answered a few questions just before practice yesterday.

Marcus Delpeche ’17 (left) and Malcolm Delpeche ’17, identical twin brothers from Wilmington, Del., pose for a photograph during practice in Alumni Gymnasium. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Favorite place to study?

Marcus: Pettengill Hall, third floor computer lounge. You go there around 9 at night and there’s not a lot of people there.

Malcolm: Basement of Pettengill, Room G52. No one seems to go down there at night. I like the space.

What do people not know about �ֲ���ý back home?

Marcus: They don’t know where it is or why you would go to a place where there’s snow. But when I go home to Delaware and it’s 40 degrees, they’re all in jackets and I’m in shorts and a T-shirt. It’s so nice today! [It was 45 degrees.]

Malcolm: They know �ֲ���ý has rigorous academics but they don’t know about our sports. We’re minding our P’s and Q’s in athletics too. They’re seeing that now. They’re all watching the livestream down there.

Favorite moment of the season?

Marcus: Tie between when I saw Graham [Safford ’15] get his first dunk, against Bowdoin, or when Billy [Selmon ’15] dunked on that dude against Tufts. That was a mean hammer. I just lost it. It was the most hyped I’ve ever been.

Malcolm: Beating Babson early in the year. We all had our minds on that game because they’re a really nice team. Some guys cried. The win told us we were a talented team and to believe in our talent.

Favorite professor?

Marcus: Amy Douglass [professor of psychology]. She’s my adviser, and I’m a psych major. She tells really hilarious stories about her twin daughters. She’s an excellent teacher, and she’s proactive. She’s already moved up my weekly quiz so I don’t have to stress about missing it [because of travel].

Malcolm: Michael Rocque [assistant professor of sociology]. I’m taking Sociology 101. I really like how he interacts with students.

Favorite TV�� show?

Marcus: I haven’t been watching TV lately. Mostly school work.

Malcolm: Walking Dead, Game of Thrones. [He laughs when told that Marcus says he’s too busy studying.] I try to study ahead of time.

What other �ֲ���ý sports would you like to play if not basketball?

Marcus: Football. My biggest regret in high school was not staying with football. Played freshman year. Would love to play wide receiver, out-jumping guys.

Malcolm: Football. My biggest regret is not playing football. But basketball took so much time.

Any unusual hobby or talent?

Marcus: I can juggle. My high school chemistry teacher taught me. He was in the circus a little bit, so he had a bunch of juggling balls in his classroom. If I’m chilling, I just like to juggle.

Malcolm: Juggling. It’s a party trick.

Favorite Commons food?

Marcus: Pasta. They never have the same kind back to back, so you can’t go wrong! I like meat sauce but [teammate] Jerome [Darling ’17] put me onto alfredo sauce.

Malcolm: Pasta. It never fails. I like the chicken meatball marinara sauce. That’s always a go-to. Commons serves great food, but pasta never lets you down.