Varsity Spring – The Oberlin Review

Senior Student-Athletes Must Balance Athletics, Academics, Impending Graduation

November 9, 2018

Filed under Baseball, Basketball, Softball, SPORTS, Sports Editorials & Features

At the conclusion of her junior year, College senior and softball player Emma Downing was unsure if she should apply to the Honors Program in History. She didn’t think she would get in — only seven students were accepted this year — and even if she did, she didn’t know if her schedule would allow for it. Nevertheless, she decided to take the plunge. “There weren’t any other classes I wanted to take, and I wanted to push myself academically and see what I could accomplish,” Downing said. “I knew that coming up with a question and researching it all year to write a 60-page paper would be the hardest thing I’ve ever done academically.” The History and Russian & East European Studies double-major ...

Men’s Lacrosse Bolsters Philanthropic Efforts

October 5, 2018

Oberlin Men’s Lacrosse Head Coach Topher Grossman has always believed in the importance of giving back. Most collegiate athletic teams, at Oberlin and elsewhere, may partner with a local non-profit throughout their season, or maybe play an “awareness game” or two, where baked goods are sold for medical research. The men’s lacrosse team, however, has taken its philanthropic goals a step further and partnered with University Hospital Rainbow Babies, a local branch of the Pediatric Bra...

Good Recruiting Leads to Great Success for Cross Country, Track and Field

September 14, 2018

It was four months ago that Lilah Drafts-Johnson, OC ’18, clutched her first-place trophy while being mobbed by teammates and coaches. She had just run the 10th fastest 400-meter hurdle time in the event’s history at the NCAA Division III Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and could finally call herself a national champion — a promise she made to herself three years earlier. Two days later, it was her Oberlin College diploma that she held with pride. After four year...

From the Bass to Baseball: Perfecting the Right Pitch

Luke Sprecher

September 14, 2018

Filed under Baseball, SPORTS, Sports Column, Varsity Sports, Varsity Spring

Most Oberlin students arrive on campus at age 17 or 18, but Ian Ashby — first-year Conservatory student — familiarized himself with the College when he was 12 years old. He played baseball competitively in his hometown of Pittsburgh, PA until he was in seventh grade, when his father accepted a position as a Jazz arranging professor in the Conservatory and his family moved to Oberlin. Every Wednesday, 12-year-old Ashby would practice his pitch on the red dirt of the old Dill Field while his dad, Jay Ashby, would teach a class. Dill Field has since been renovated — the classic dirt was switched out for a sleek turf diamond — but nowadays when he steps on the mound, he does so as an Oberlin varsity at...

Newton, Drafts-Johnson Lead Team to NCAC Championship

May 11, 2018

Many words have been used to describe the women’s track and field team: victorious, dominant, and inspiring are a few key examples. One word that is not in the team’s vocabulary is complacent. The team won its second straight North Coast Athletic Conference Outdoor Championship with a total of 228 points Saturday, a few months after winning its second consecutive Indoor Championship. A number of Yeowomen had career-best performances during the two-day contest. Head Coach Ray Appenheimer, who was ...

Historic Season from Rauchle Not Enough for Yeowomen

May 11, 2018

The women’s lacrosse team’s season came to a close in their matchup against the College of Wooster Fighting Scots in the North Coast Athletic Conference Semi-Finals last Wednesday. While the Yeowomen had hoped to return to the NCAC Championships after playing one of the best seasons in program history last year, they had no answer for the Fighting Scots’ relentless attack, losing 14–11. While senior midfielder and NCAC Offensive Player of the Year Natalie Rauchle — who will surely go dow...

Men’s Tennis Tops Battling Bishops, Finishes Third

May 4, 2018

The men’s tennis team clinched third place in the North Coast Athletic Conference at its annual tournament last Sunday. After beating the DePauw University Tigers 5–1 last Friday, the Yeomen dropped their semi-finals matchup to the Denison University Big Red 5–1, sending them to the matchup for third place against the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops with another 5–1 win. Against the Bishops, the Yeomen won their second-straight third-place prize. To senior Michael Drougas, who pla...

Yeowomen Clinch Third Place in NCAC Championships

May 4, 2018

The women’s tennis team finished its season by winning third place in North Coast Athletic Conference tournament last weekend. As the third-seed in the tournament, they first played the sixth-seeded Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops last Friday. After dropping the semi-finals to the second-seeded Denison University Big Red, they played their final match against the fifth-seeded DePauw University Tigers Sunday. “The season was very successful,” Women’s Tennis Head Coach Constantine A...

Big Red Sweeps Yeomen Baseball

May 4, 2018

The baseball team collected three more losses this week in what has been a disappointing season for the promising squad. After making the North Coast Athletic Conference semi-finals last season, expectations were high for the Yeomen, but now — at 10–26 overall and 2–14 in the NCAC — returning to the playoffs is out of the question. The Denison University Big Red swept the Yeomen in a two-game series Wednesday, and their game against the Heidelberg University Student Princes Monday was repr...

Men’s Lacrosse Defeats Tigers 14–13, Finishes Season on Three-Game Win Streak

April 27, 2018

The men’s lacrosse team ended their season with a 14–13 victory against the DePauw University Tigers last Saturday. The win capped off a three-game win streak that helped them finish on a high note after an overall disappointing season, hopefully building some positive momentum going in to next season. With an 8–7 record, 3–5 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, the Yeomen will not compete in the playoffs but have enough reason to be optimistic about next spring. Senior attack John S...

Softball Sweeps Terriers, Falls to Crusaders

April 27, 2018

The softball team closed their season against the Capital University Crusaders Thursday, dropping the first game 9–1 and the second game 2–1. Although they ended with an overall record of 8–26 and a 3–13 record in North Coast Athletic Conference play, they have some momentum to carry into next spring. Against the Hiram College Terriers, the Yeowomen earned their first conference sweep since 2014. Since eight of their 18 players are first-years — and over half of the first-years are starters ...

Men’s Tennis Splits Heading into NCAC Tournament

April 27, 2018

The No. 37 men’s tennis team finished the regular season with a pair of matches last weekend, easily dispatching the Allegheny College Gators 8–1 Saturday and dropping a close contest to the No. 28 Denison University Big Red 6–3 Sunday. The Yeomen enter the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament as the third seed behind Kenyon College and Denison with a record of 9–9. In the first matchup Saturday, the Yeomen dominated the Gators in singles play, winning all six pairings. Sophomore Cam...