One of the most exciting moments in Oberlin athletics last year was when both of the College’s ultimate Frisbee teams, the Flying Horsecows and the Preying Manti, qualified for the national Frisbee tournament. Their success allowed for some rare glimpses of school spirit as the campus came together to support both squads — in a way it rarely does around Oberlin’s varsity teams. This celebration was a reminder of the ways club sports can build community, even though they receive a fraction of the institutional support that varsity teams do. While that discrepancy is at least partially due to the inherent DIY nature of club sports, which many club athletes and supporters value, it can hinder the ability of club...

Oberlin’s swimming and diving teams brought home brag-worthy achievements after their three-day Fredonia Invitational meet, with 83 season-best swims, 21 career-best times, and seven swims making it onto the Oberlin All-Time Swims list. Encompassing 386 points for the men’s team and 377 points for the women over the course of the meet, the Yeomen placed fourth in the meet and the Yeowomen placed fifth. “I was very proud of the way the team competed this past weekend,” Aquatics Director and Head Swimming and Diving Coach Andrew Brabson said. “We had a large number of lifetime bests, all-time top 10 performances, and had a 99 percent success rate for achieving season bests.” At the top of the scoreboard for the m...

Despite cutting a 21-point deficit to eight in their final road game of the season, the Yeomen’s comeback attempt was too little, too late as they fell to the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops 34–26 on Saturday. After starting the season 2–0, the Yeomen are now 2–6, sitting second to last in the North Coast Athletic Conference. “We struggled early in the first quarter on both sides of the ball, but to everyone’s credit, nobody quit,” senior wide receiver Trace McConnell said. ...

Editors’ Note: This article contains mention of unwilling ingestion of consciousness-altering drugs. I am a former athlete who played lacrosse at Oberlin for three years. From my first to fifth years here, my identity, perspective, and culture — specifically in relation to my sport — have significantly shifted. I have seen the best and worst of what athletics can encompass and witnessed its polarizing effects. Like many former student-athletes, I have undergone a sharp transition away from sports-centric culture, rejecting the structures — like aggression is ability and pack mentality is power — that once governed my belief system. As a result of this awareness, I am a traitor to teams but an outsider to ...