Bobcats love the outdoors, a helpful fact during a pandemic.

“The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ campus in itself is a great outdoor facility,” says Mike Milliken, the college’s manager of community wellness. “And this is one of the best times of the year in Maine.â€�

With physical distancing and other public-health protocols limiting the scale of indoor physical activities, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is helping the campus community stay well and healthy in creative and safe ways.

Milliken, who oversees B Well, the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ wellness program, has expanded his outdoor offerings to include pop-up classes near the Bobcat statue, including yoga, cycling, and Milliken’s famed boot camps. B Well also offers a range of .

Another new outside offering, the featuring six exercise stations along the way. During the week of Oct. 19, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ will open a new fitness park adjacent to the Wallach Tennis Center.

Beti Stevens ’24 of Kittery, Maine, tried her hand at one of Milliken’s recent boot camps. Her judgment? “Awesome. I loved the music, and it went by really quickly,” she says. “He gave such good direction and was super supportive the whole time and really motivating us and kind of just kept us going.”

The B Well program counts on student workers to lead classes like yoga and cycling.

Alix Zabin ’22 of Milford, Conn., is in charge of the cycling classes. She started out as a participant and was encouraged by one of her peers to become an instructor. While it’s a little different this year, she encourages students to come see what it’s all about.

“It’s outside, it’s socially distanced, we’re wearing masks the whole time,” Zabin said. “I think even though it’s a really different time on campus, it’s a great time to learn something new and try it out.”

For the seventh year in a row, the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ women’s rowing team earned a berth at the NCAA Division III Championships. For the fifth straight year, the Bobcats placed second only to rival Williams at the national regatta. And each time they’ve done so, they’ve matched the best NCAA team finish in the history of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ athletics.

Mike Bradley followed the team to the 2013 national championships in Indianapolis, and has captured the camaraderie and competitive fire of these “Bobcats With Pride.”

Misty Hyman boasts not only an Olympic gold medal, but an amazing and inspirational story to go with it. Hyman visited campus on July 9, 2013 to work with campers and counselors at the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Swim Camp. The slide show below shows scenes from Hyman’s time at Tarbell Pool.

Read about Hyman’s visit from the Lewiston Sun Journal.

Camps and clinics are offered by ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ head coaches in baseball, basketball, football, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, softball, squash, tennis and volleyball. They occur on campus throughout the year, but are concentrated in the otherwise quieter summer months. (Mike Bradley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Misty Hyman, 2000 Olympic gold medalist in the 200 butterfly, delivered a lecture, led 80 kids through drills and progressions, and signed autographs. (Mike Bradley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Hyman reinvented the underwater dolphin kick and scored perhaps the biggest upset of the Sydney Olympics when she beat Australia's world-record holder, Suzie O'Neill, in her best event. O’Neill hadn’t lost in the 200 fly in six years. (Mike Bradley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Posing with Hyman (sitting) and her precious medal are (left to right) Casares, Lindsey Prelgovisk '16, Melissa Paione '16, assistant coach Vanessa Williamson '05 and Rebecca Hefty. (Mike Bradley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Swim Camp has grown in its six years of existence, from two weeks and 70 swimmers to four weeks and 300 swimmers. Casares and his team of coaches from around the country have attracted campers from New England, California, New Mexico, Kentucky, Michigan and Hawaii. (Mike Bradley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Travis Jones ’13, a double major in art and visual culture, and theater, with a minor in dance and a concentration in mathematics, is a standout in competitive diving with passions for architecture and aerial arts. Here he explains how and why he takes on the exploration of things that he loves. Produced by Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College.

Kevin McHugh of The College of New Jersey has been named director of athletics and chair of the Department of Physical Education at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College, effective July 1. McHugh’s appointment, the result of a six-month national search, was announced today by President Elaine Tuttle Hansen.

At The College of New Jersey, McHugh has served as director of athletics since 1987 and also recently as executive director for student development and campus programs. He oversees a nationally successful 20-sport varsity intercollegiate program, as well as intramural, club sport and recreation programs. He also heads the Department of Campus Activities, which oversees the college’s 180-plus student organizations.

“Kevin McHugh comes to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ with a well-earned and wide-ranging reputation as a strategic thinker, a hard worker and a strong leader both at The College of New Jersey and on the national college sports scene. His life and career exemplify the finest qualities of athletic leadership, and we are very pleased that he will be joining ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ as director of athletics,” said President Hansen.

At ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, a member of NCAA Division III and the New England Small College Athletic Conference, the 50-year-old McHugh will oversee a department comprising 30 varsity sports and 12 club sports, in addition to intramural offerings, that involve more than 60 percent of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½’ approximately 1,700 students. His faculty appointment will be as lecturer in physical education.

McHugh succeeds Suzanne Coffey, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ director of athletics from 1991 to 2006. Dana Mulholland, associate director of athletics at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, is serving as interim director during 2006–07.

“Kevin McHugh’s interests, experiences and accomplishments fit the mission of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ and the ideals of a liberal arts education well,” said Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty Jill N. Reich. “He is dedicated to the learning and health of his students, championing their academic and athletic accomplishments. He knows the rhythms of their day-to-day lives, he understands the complexity and varied demands they face, and he has demonstrated an outstanding ability to inspire and lead them to their greatest potential on the athletic field, in the classroom and throughout their lives.”

At The College of New Jersey, McHugh is credited with transforming separate intramural, recreational and intercollegiate sports departments into a unified Department of Athletics, and positioning the college’s recruitment efforts to successfully enroll a diverse array of student athletes. He has developed programs to acknowledge the academic accomplishments of his athletes, and during his tenure the college added women’s soccer as a varsity sport and seen it become a premier program in NCAA Division III.

“I am honored, gratified and excited to have the opportunity to be the next director of athletics at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College,” McHugh said. “Each visit to the campus further solidified my previous perceptions of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ community. My interactions with members of the search committee, the Department of Athletics and student athletes convinced me that ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is a special place.

“I could not have felt more welcome, and I eagerly look forward to taking the reins of an athletic program that so positively reflects what is outstanding about ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ and whose excellence supports so well the educational mission of the College.”

McHugh draws upon 29 years of administrative experience at three institutions. From 1979 to 1983, he served as an operations and facilities manager at Yale University, and then served as an assistant athletic director at Bowling Green State University. In addition to directing The College of New Jersey’s athletic programs and student organizations, McHugh oversees a large summer-camp offering and the management of the college’s athletic facilities complex, which has hosted numerous NCAA national championships.

A native of Wharton, N.J., McHugh earned his bachelor of arts degree in Latin American studies from Columbia University in 1978. A four-year varsity wrestler at Columbia, he was a two-time captain who twice earned All-Ivy honors at 134 pounds. He won 75 career matches, was named Columbia’s Most Outstanding Wrestler his last two years and earned All-America honors from National Mat News.

McHugh earned his master of science degree in sport management from the University of Massachusetts, where he served as an assistant wrestling coach and junior varsity football coach. A former chair of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee, McHugh was inducted into the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III Wrestling Hall of Fame as a contributor to the sport.

Active in NCAA governance, McHugh was elected vice chair of the NCAA Division III Management Council last winter, and will resign his council membership later this spring to focus on his new responsibilities at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. He has also served as a member of the NCAA Division III men’s basketball committee. A member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics executive committee, McHugh was named one of 25 regional NACDA Athletic Directors of the Year in 2004–05.

McHugh enjoys distance running and has completed 12 marathons, including the Boston, New York City and U.S. Marine Corps races.

Click here to see the current page for the athletic director at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½.