The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Bobcats are a team — no matter what.

This fall, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ athletes are being tested like never before, with intercollegiate competition canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last Saturday, the tennis and soccer programs became the first teams at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ to hold practices in six months. Other teams have followed suit.

“I feel like during the summer, especially when we heard that we didn’t have a season, it really hurt everyone, everyone was really upset about it,” said So Kim ’21, a women’s soccer player from Thornhill, Ontario. “But now getting the team back together, it feels good to be with everyone. It feels good to practice with everyone.” 

Various protocols are in place to make practice sessions safe for all. Sessions are limited to one hour and to 10 participants at a time for now. Social distancing is a must and masks are required.

“It’s definitely interesting,” said Peder Bakken ’21, a men’s soccer player from Seattle. “The first half hour or so is usually good. And then once the mask starts getting wet it’s not as comfortable. But it’s the new normal, no complaints. I’m just happy we can be outside and playing again.”

Across campus, first-year students are getting to know each other and meeting upperclass students. It’s all a bit harder with COVID protocols in place. So this year’s ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ captains are more focused than ever on helping first-years get off on the right foot. 

“We definitely contacted the new incoming first-years kind of earlier than we normally would and started a group chat together over the summer just to make sure everyone was on the same page in regards to training and if any first-years had any questions or anything,” said men’s tennis co-captain Owen Greenwood ’21 of Wellesley Hills, Mass.

“We just try to keep the energy up.” 

Eight teams are competing for the team championship from May 13-15, followed by 32 singles players and 16 doubles pairs going for those championships May 16-18. Included on the list are ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ doubles pair Ben Stein (Pelham, N.Y.) and Amrit Rupasinghe (Colombo, Sri Lanka). Stein is also named as the alternate singles player from the Northeast Region. More singles and doubles details are further below.

The eight quarterfinalists are Claremont-McKenna College (24-7), Williams College (17-3), Washington University (18-4), Gustavus Adolphus (30-5), Emory University (17-6), Kenyon College (25-1), Middlebury College (17-5) and the University of Mary Washington (22-6).

SINGLES QUALIFIERS (Alphabetical by name):
Mark Boren, Emory (22-8)
Andy Bryan, Gust. Adolphus (27-4)
Charlie Cutler, Washington-St. Louis (18-8)
Spencer Feldman, Trinity (Conn.) (11-6)
Chris Fletcher, Methodist (21-3)
James Furr, Trinity (Tex.) (19-3)
Oliver Gaines, Trinity (Tex.) (18-10)
Garrett Gates, Bowdoin (28-7)
Michael Goodwin, Emory (15-10)
Dan Greenberg, Williams (22-6)
Michael Greenberg, Kenyon (29-2)
John James, Mary Washington (19-9)
Jared Kamel, UC Santa Cruz (16-6)
John Kauss, Gust. Adolphus (25-5)
Kortney Keith, DePauw (15-11)
Brenden Kincaid, Salisbury (20-5)
Michael Klimchak, TCNJ (16-9)
Andrew Lee, Middlebury (12-12)
Zach Lerner, Amherst (11-9)
Randy Loden, Mary Washington (22-9)
David Maldow, Johns Hopkins (17-4)
Filip Marinkovic, Middlebury (18-7)
John Mook, Chris. Newport (20-3)
Max Ortiz, UC Santa Cruz (13-5)
John Pelton, Hope (20-2)
Dustin Phillips, Texas-Tyler (20-3)
Stephen Sullivan, Bowdoin (23-10)
Cameron Taylor, Pomona-Pitzer (15-11)
Eric Wagar, Redlands (23-5)
Larry Wang, Claremont-M-S (19-6)
John Watts, Washington-St. Louis (25-4)
Miguel Yunes, Carthage (21-5)

SINGLES ALTERNATES
Atlantic South: David Sutton, Greensboro
Central: Will Zhang, Chicago
Northeast: Ben Stein, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½
West: Robert Sajovic, Texas-Tyler

Any individual that scratches from the singles tournament will be replaced by an individual from their region.

DOUBLES QUALIFIERS (Alphabetical by school):
Ben Stein/Amrit Rupasinghe, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ (20-9)
Jared Kamel/Marc Vartabedian, UC Santa Cruz (13-4)
John Mook/Eddie Glidewell, Chris. Newport (23-4)
Guillaume Schils/Larry Wang, Claremont-M-S (24-8)
Randy Lofgren/Kevin Newman, Denison (19-6)
Andy Bryan/Charlie Paukert, Gust. Adolphus (24-7)
Casey Blythe/Joe Vasoontara, Johns Hopkins (13-6)
Michael Greenberg/Jeremy Polster, Kenyon (17-3)
Randy Loden/Kaz Murata, Mary Washington (19-9)
Fil Marinkovic/Andrew Thompson, Middlebury (24-5)
Brenden Kincaid/Scott Burtzlaff, Salisbury (19-6)
Michael Klimchak/Roger Mosteller, TCNJ (14-4)
Dustin Phillips/David Ashlock, Texas-Tyler (17-2)
Oliver Gaines/Ryan Desantis, Trinity (Tex.) (18-7)
Charlie Cutler/Chris Hoeland, Washington-St. Louis (22-7)
Dan Greenberg/Bret Thacher, Williams (15-9)

DOUBLES ALTERNATES
Atlantic South: Evan Stiegel/Thomas Kinrade, Haverford (9-5)
Central: Dan Lafountaine/Nate Fox, Grinnell (25-3)
Northeast: Garrett Gates/Alex Caughron, Bowdoin (6-7
West: Brian Pybas/Max Ortiz, UC Santa Cruz (9-1)

Any doubles team that scratches from the doubles tournament will be replaced with an alternate from their region.

ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ hosted the 2004 NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Championships at the Wallach Tennis Center last week. Middlebury defeated NESCAC rival Williams 4-3 in a thrilling come-from-behind match to win the team title on Friday.

On Monday, UC Santa Cruz rookie Matt Seeberger won the individual singles title, while Dan Uyar and Paul Bristow of Mary Washington claimed the doubles title.

ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½’s Will Boe-Wiegaard ’06 (Georgetown, Conn.) earned the No. 8 seed in the singles tournament, but was unable to take advantage of his home court advantage, falling to Redlands’ Brian Murphy 6-3, 6-2.