The birds are chirping, bare legs across campus may see some sunlight for the first time since early October and my crippling seasonal depression is starting to lighten ever so slightly. What must that mean? There’s only one reasonable option I foresee: Spring Sports Season (SSS) is upon us! 

Unhinged intro aside, it’s been awhile, you guys. I’m feeling a tad rusty on Bobcat Bites, but I’ve tried my best to provide for you all. Let’s see what’s been going down and what’s to come in Bates athletics:

Women’s Basketball Earns Icon Status, NYU Is a Bummer for Ruining the Dreams of Many: In the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament, the women won in OT against Roger Williams 68-64 (shoutout Mia Roy ‘22 for the coolest three point buzzer beater that every Bates student has now seen on their Instagram stories 50 times). Unfortunately, the next day the women lost to NYU in the second round, 54-76. One highlight from the game was from Sarah Bennett ‘22 hitting a really beautiful three point shot right at the end; I think it was lovely that despite a season-ending injury early on, she was able to play her last few minutes for Bates in style. Steph Curry style, that is.

Speaking of Women’s Basketball: Meg Graff ‘23 was announced as NESCAC Player of the Year and named to the All-NESCAC First Team, and Mia Roy ‘22 was named to the All-NESCAC Second Team. They are amazing. They are unstoppable. They are everything. It was like watching an iconic dynamic duo in the NBA play. Like Tyrese Maxey and James Harden.

Stephon Baxter ‘23 Stands Out for the Men: The junior men’s basketball captain earned All-NESCAC Second Team honors. He led the conference in scoring average with 20.4 points per game. He ranked ninth in three-pointers made per game (2.1) and 10th in three-point percentage (.308). Baxter was also the third-best free throw shooter (.872). That’s kind of … legendary. He is the moment.

Elise Lambert ‘22 and Jordan Wilson ‘23 Head to North Carolina: To run in the women’s indoor track and field NCAA championships, that is! They are going to Winston-Salem on Friday and Saturday. Lambert is competing in the 800 meters and is currently seeded fifth, while Wilson will be competing in the mile run, where she is seeded eighteenth. Good luck to both of them!

Swimming and Diving Team Makes History: The team is sending its largest ever contingent to NCAA Championships in Indianapolis. Thirteen will be traveling to the event, which is set to take place march 16-20. The women are sending eleven and the men are sending 2. Hooray!

PAST GAMES:

Women’s Lacrosse: The women came out on top in their home opener against the University of Southern Maine a week ago, winning 18-1. On Saturday, the team played their first NESCAC game, unfortunately dropping their home match 3-17.

Men’s Lacrosse: The men went to Middletown, Connecticut, to play Wesleyan on Saturday, losing 8-22.

Women’s Tennis: The team played Smith College on Friday and Mount Holyoke College on Saturday, earning 9-0 wins in both matches. Whoo hoo! Has anyone seen the movie “King Richard”? Because this team is giving me Serena and Venus Williams vibes with these twin games! We’re keeping it positive and optimistic in Bobcat Bites this week.

Men’s Tennis: The men played their home opener on Sunday against Endicott College, serving (pun intended) a clean sweep of the Gulls, 9-0.

Baseball: On Saturday the team headed to Troy, New York, where they faced Rochester Polytechnical Institute (RPI), losing 3-5. Then the team played RPI two more times on Sunday, which feels kind of extreme to me but I guess that’s how it works in baseball? And they’re already there anyways so might as well, I suppose. In both of their rematches the team once again fell short, losing 2-6 and then 6-9.

Club Women’s Lacrosse: It’s a Bobcat Bites exclusive (BBE). The club women’s lacrosse team beat the University of Maine 12-6, and we have an exclusive (I love that word) quote from one of their captains Katy Boehm ‘22: “As a team, we were dancing at half time, celebrating every goal and every pass, and everyone was just so happy to be together on the field,” she told me over text. “We started the game with a goal to just make one goal — we definitely didn’t expect to win, but we got 12 goals!” Okay, that was cute and I’m so happy for this team. And Katy says this year the team has uniforms for the first time ever. We see you club women’s lacrosse! And we celebrate you!

Club Women’s Water Polo: They started their season this past weekend with a huge tournament! The team pulled out a fabulous win against Wellesley (14-3), but fell 9-15 against Tufts, 2-12 against MIT and 4-13 against Middlebury. According to captain Sophie Mackin ‘22, the team had only five days of practice beforehand made up of “mostly beginners who did an amazing job.” Shoutout to the women on the team for enjoying water polo, which is a very intense sport that looks kind of violent to me. So they are brave and we love them!

UPCOMING GAMES:

Women’s Lacrosse: The team is headed to Hartford, Connecticut, to play against Trinity on Saturday at noon, where they hope to earn their first NESCAC win of the season. Then, on Tuesday, they will be in Beverly, Massachusetts, to play Skidmore College at 5:00 p.m. Which is confusing because Skidmore is in New York? But whatever.

Men’s Lacrosse: The men have their home opener this afternoon on Garcelon! 4:30 p.m. against Western New England; you should go. On Saturday, the team will be playing the Trinity Bantams at 1:00 p.m. on Garcelon so show up to that one too! Darty! Lol.

Women’s Tennis: On Saturday the women will be in Williamstown, Massachusetts, to face off against the Ephs at 10:00 a.m. The next day they’re crossing state lines to play the Middlebury Panthers. Same time, different NESCAC, hopefully same Williams sisters vibes.

Men’s Tennis: The men will follow the women to the Berkshires where they will also play Williams, but their matches will be at 2:00 p.m. The next day they’re set to head to Vermont to play Middlebury College.

Baseball: The men are in Beverly, Massachusetts, tonight to play the Endicott College Gulls at 3:30 p.m. I am sending lots of good vibes. On Saturday, they’ll head back to Massachusetts, this time to play against MIT at 1:00 p.m.