Semester review: student athletes shine in fall 2015
Student achievements include a world title, program records
This time last year, the MIT football team was the talk of the town. Following an unbeaten 9-0 regular season and a thrilling NCAA playoff victory in overtime, the Engineers hogged all the limelight and deservedly so. But just in case if you were wondering if Fall 2015 has been a quieter season for MIT sports, here is what you might have missed.
Program records were broken, Academic All-America honors were earned, and MIT graduate student Alexis Sablone won the Women’s Street title at the Skateboarding World Championships in Kimberley, South Africa. From a heartbreaking loss on penalty kicks in the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regional semifinals for the women’s soccer team to the sheer jubilation of receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA playoffs for the women’s volleyball team, MIT athletes experienced a gamut of emotions during the pivotal weekend when MIT hosted the NEWMAC regionals in four different sports. Here, in our last issue of 2015, we reminisce about some of the incredible achievements of MIT student-athletes this past semester.
Alexis Sablone wins World Championship
Alexis Sablone G won the Women’s Street World Championships at the Kimberley Diamond Cup for skateboarding in October. Sablone, who has been skateboarding since she was 10, also has two gold and two silver medals to her credit at the X Games.
Men’s soccer has historic season
The MIT men’s soccer team broke numerous program records, including most wins (18) in a season. The team won the NEWMAC regular season title and reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen round on the back of a prolific season in front of goal by forward Sean Bingham ’16, who became the leading scorer in program history. On the other end of the field, goalie Jake Amereno ’16 had a stellar season with 13 shutouts that included a period over 550 minutes in which he did not concede a single goal!
Women’s volleyball reaches NCAA regional finals
The women’s volleyball team clinched the NEWMAC regular season title and reached the final of the NCAA regionals, falling to Bowdoin at the final hurdle. The Engineers finished with a 30-4 record for the season en route to clinching their second straight regular season title and 17th appearance at the NCAA regionals. Meghan Gebhard ’17 became the first player in program history to win All-America honors multiple times, and Abby Bertic ’19 was named Rookie of the Year.
Women’s tennis goes 10-0
The women’s tennis team won the NEWMAC championship with a come-from-behind victory over Babson to remain unbeaten for the season. Trailing 2-4 in the finals, Elyse Kohrs ’17 clinched the all-important No. 1 match, a tightly contested three-setter, to turn the tide MIT’s away. The Engineers earned a trip to the NCAA tournament (to be played in May) for the sixth time in program history.