Women’s Basketball
Head Coach: KJ Krasco
Athletes to Watch: Calie Messina ’26, Brooke Collins ’26, Teagan Lind ’28
Following the lack of three key starters, together with all time scoring chief Alexa Mustafaj ’25 and NESCAC-main rebounder Augusta Dixon ’25, Middlebury ladies’s basketball must bounce again with a robust begin to the season. After ending the common season 1–5, the Panthers misplaced to Colby College 100-97 in a 2OT heartbreaker throughout NESCAC quarterfinals. With returning senior starters Messina and Collins pacing this group, nonetheless, this group is trying promising. They should depend on the underclassmen to offer a spark this yr – with ahead Lind and guard Sarah Chenette ’28 anticipated to contribute sturdy minutes this yr.
Key Competitions: Norwich University (Home– Nov. 18), Trinity College (Away– Jan. 9), Amherst College (Away– Feb. 13)
Men’s Basketball
Head Coach: Matt Goldsmith
Athletes to Watch: Kuba Cwalina ’27, Edward Witherington ’26, Evan Flaks ’26
As Middlebury males’s basketball prepares for the beginning of their season, new head coach Matt Goldsmith takes the helm – following the retirement of 28-yr veteran coach Jeff Brown. On the courtroom, the lack of defensive stalwart heart David Brennan ’25 and his group-main 11.4 rebounds per sport looms massive. For a bunch that completed tenth out of 11 within the NESCAC in defensive factors allowed, enjoying basic protection is important. They additionally should enhance the turnover margin, ending final within the NESCAC with 12.6 turnovers per sport, whereas solely forcing 9.5 per sport. To break into the playoffs, beginning guard Cwalina — with a body just like Kevin Durant’s at 6’6, 200 lbs — must construct on his three level taking pictures prowess to jolt this offense. Joining him within the backcourt is captain Flaks, whose management and expertise is essential for this younger group. The query followers are asking, nonetheless, will Alex Gklaros-Stavropolous ’29 make an influence at 6’11? With that added peak to the lineup, the Panthers can enhance their defensive presence within the paint and create passing lanes on offense.
Key Competitions: Skidmore College (Away– Nov. 14), Trinity College (Home– Jan. 9), Amherst College (Home– Feb. 13)
Women’s Squash
Head Coach: Mark Lewis
Athletes to Watch: Sophie Calise ’29, Ying Ng ’29, and Lillian Showalter ’29
Women’s squash is poised for one more sturdy season after posting double-digit wins for the third consecutive yr and ending sixteenth within the nation within the 2024-25 season. This yr, the Panthers returned 9 gamers, bolstered by three promising first-years becoming a member of this system: Sophie Calise, Ng and Showalter, who will look to make an instantaneous influence for the Panthers. Leading the cost are senior captains Lindsey Burnham ’26, Izzy Ronda ’26, and Abbie Peterson ’26. Burnham, who competed on the prime of the ladder, made historical past final season by turning into simply the third participant in program historical past to earn All-NESCAC First-Team honors thrice. Head coach Mark Lewis enters his eleventh season simply 4 wins shy of 100 with the ladies’s program. The program additionally welcomes again Teddy Best ’22 as its first full-time assistant coach. The Panthers open their season this Saturday at dwelling towards Cornell.
Key Competitions: Bowdoin (Home– Jan. 16), Bates (Home– Jan. 18), Colby (Home– Jan. 18)
Men’s Squash
Head Coach: Mark Lewis
Athletes to Watch: Gabe Feinstein ’28, Nico Brown ’29, David Zhao ’27
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Middlebury males’s squash enters the season with 10 returners and three newcomers, led by veteran captains Caleb Boateng ’26, Kian Kardestuncer ’26, and Theo Kogan ’26. Feinstein returns on the prime of the ladder, bringing athleticism, endurance and consistency to the #1 spot. Last season, Feinstein had 11 wins and helped safe this system’s first victory over then-#14 University of Rochester. Next on the ladder, #2 Zhao — lastly again to full type after accidents — is a pointy, tactical participant with nice courtroom consciousness. Brown slots in at #5 as a properly-rounded participant who has but to be examined below stress. On the teaching facet, the Panthers formally welcome assistant coach Teddy Best ’22, a Middlebury squash alum who brings latest enjoying expertise and familiarity. He returns as this system’s first full-time assistant coach after being a volunteer final season. The group is poised to make strides in a aggressive NESCAC subject — cheer them on this weekend of their first match of the season, enjoying Cornell at dwelling on Saturday.
Key Competitions: Dartmouth (Away– Nov. 16), Colby (Home– Jan. 18), Amherst (Away– Feb. 8)
Women’s Indoor Track & Field
Head Coach: Martin Beatty
Athletes to Watch: Julia Tulimieri ’26, Emily Rubio ’26, Annelise Jensen ’29
Although the indoor season for Middlebury’s monitor & subject program is usually a prelude to the spring, the ladies’s group can nonetheless enter the season with confidence after a powerful marketing campaign final winter. The group broke three college data on the DIII New England Championship meet, and despatched six athletes to the NCAA Indoor Championships. At the meet, Rubio topped her earlier college document within the pentathlon and earned All-American honors. Thrower Tulimieri additionally posted a powerful string of outcomes in the course of the season, incomes quite a few wins within the shot put. However, with standout runner Audrey MacLean ’27 going overseas, the Panthers might want to fill within the gaps left in her absence. The proficient mid-distance and distance squad can hope for some breakout performances, together with from Jensen in her debut indoor season.
Key Competitions: Middlebury’s Luke Hotte Field and Track Meet (Home– Jan. 24), Middlebury’s New England Small College Invitational (Hosted in Boston– Feb. 1), DIII Indoor New England Championships (Away– Feb. 27-28)
Emerson Kington ’28 down the house stretch on the TRACK at New Balance.
Men’s Indoor Track & Field
Head Coach: Martin Beatty
Athletes to Watch: Donnell Harvey Jr. ’28, Zach Utz ’26, Emerson Kington ’28
Numerous college data fell for the lads’s monitor & subject group final winter, together with the lengthy bounce, triple bounce, excessive bounce, 4×800 meter relay, 4×200 meter relay, 3000 meter run, 60-meter sprint, shot put, pole vault, and heptathlon. With a recent document board and quite a few prime-performing returners, the lads’s group begins the indoor marketing campaign with excessive expectations. Harvey Jr. will look to construct on a slew of historic performances within the 60-meter sprint— a race held completely in the course of the indoor season— whereas Utz can journey the momentum from assertion mile performances and distance medley relay contributions final yr. Four hundred meter stud Kington, featured within the Panthers’ distance medley relay group, additionally enters the winter on the again of quite a few spectacular races final yr.
Key Competitions: Middlebury’s Luke Hotte Field and Track Meet (Home– Jan. 24), Middlebury’s New England Small College Invitational (Hosted in Boston– Feb. 1), DIII Indoor New England Championships (Away– Feb. 27-28)
Women’s Ice Hockey
Head Coach: Bill Mandigo
Athletes to Watch: Kate Flynn ’27, Olivia McManus ’27
This season carries particular significance as Middlebury ladies’s hockey celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of its program this yr. The group can be seeking to fill vital gaps after graduating 10 seniors from final yr’s roster. Fortunately, the Panthers return key juniors in ahead Flynn, and defender McManus, who ranked second and third on the group in factors final season. Between the pipes, the Panthers are anchored by goaltender Sophia Will ’26, who posted a powerful 1.22 objectives-towards common final yr, rating third within the NESCAC. With thrilling new first-yr expertise and one of many convention’s prime goalies, this system has the items to reload and compete this season.
Key Competitions: Hamilton (Home– Nov. 14), Panther Cardinal Classic (Home– Nov. 29-30), Amherst (Away– Jan. 17-18)
Men’s Ice Hockey
Head Coach: Jack Ceglarski
Athletes to Watch: Luc Malkhassian ’29, Revy Mack ’27, John Burdett ’26
Ever because the 2000s, a golden decade marked by six NESCAC titles and 4 NCAA tournaments, the lads’s hockey trophy cupboard has been gathering mud. To shake issues up, the Panthers are joined by new assistant head coach, Trent Grimshaw. Grimshaw performed collegiate hockey at SUNY Oswego in 2024, and spent final season enjoying within the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). Another recent face is ahead Malkhassian, who has made a robust impression in observe on a few of his teammates. He’ll be joined up entrance by Mack, who notched 21 factors final season, probably the most from any present participant. Holding down the protection is Burdett, a staple of this system since he got here to Middlebury 4 years in the past. This new mix of coaches and gamers will head north to Bowdoin on Saturday to start their championship quest. Will this be the season males’s hockey reopen their trophy cupboard?
Key Competitions: Bowdoin (Away– Nov. 14), Tufts (Away– Nov. 22) Hobart (Home– Jan. 3)
Women’s Alpine Skiing
Head Coach: Abby Copeland
Athletes to Watch: Kjersti Moritz ’28, Sophia Tozzi ’26, Henriette Borgia ’28
Over the summer season, former head coach Stever Bartlett stepped down from Middlebury’s alpine ski program after 18 seasons marked by NCAA titles and carnival wins. The group will start an thrilling new chapter with head coach Abby Copeland, who has served because the affiliate head coach since 2016;she brings intensive data of this system and the power to construct on Middlebury’s wealthy snowboarding historical past. For the ladies’s alpine group, they enter the season with much more to sit up for. Moritz, the EISA Rookie of the Year and a prime-10 finisher for the U.S. Ski Team on the FIS Alpine Junior World Championships final yr, returns for her second season. Borgia and Tozzi may also be key members of the ladies’s downhill squad, incomes twenty fourth and twenty seventh respectively within the large slalom on the EISA Championship.
Key Competitions: Vermont Carnival (Away– Feb. 6-7), Middlebury Carnival/EISA Championships (Home– Feb. 20-21), NCAA Skiing Championships (Away– Mar. 11-14)
Men’s Alpine Skiing
Head Coach: Abby Copeland
Athletes to Watch: Nicholas Unkovskoy ’27, Dominic Shackleton ’28, Milan Novak ’28
Following the commencement of star skier Bradshaw Underhill ’25, the lads’s alpine ski group will depend on their returners and incoming expertise for renewed presence on the prime of the sphere. Unkovskoy can be essential of their pursuit, recording thirteenth within the large slalom on the NCAA Skiing Championships and incomes EISA second group honors. Shackleton was additionally a standout performer for the Panthers final yr, representing Great Britain on the FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships with quite a few sturdy runs down the mountain. Finally, Novak will look to construct on a robust first season, boasting a prime-20 end within the slalom at Middlebury’s dwelling carnival. Middlebury’s dwelling competitors may also be particularly thrilling this yr, doubling as the school’s traditional winter carnival and the EISA Regional Championships.
Key Competitions: Dartmouth Carnival (Away– Jan. 30-31), Middlebury Carnival/EISA Championships (Home– Feb. 20-21), NCAA Skiing Championships (Away– Mar. 11-14)
Women’s Nordic Skiing
Head Coach: Andrew Johnson
Athletes to Watch: Shea Brams ’26, Maggie Wagner ’26, Sofia Scirica ’27
Middlebury’s ladies’s nordic group heads into the season fired up about returning to the snow and representing the panther brand. They enter the marketing campaign with a roster able to race, led by Brams in her senior season. Coming off a sixth-place particular person end on the EISA Championship and ninth within the 20k freestyle on the NCAA Championships, Brams earned All-American honors to cap off a powerful marketing campaign. Wagner may also look to help the Panthers in the direction of the entrance, reaching fourth within the dash at Middlebury’s dwelling carnival and twenty third within the 20k freestyle on the NCAA Championships final yr. In the identical race, Scirica completed in twenty seventh, additionally recording quite a few sturdy outcomes all through the season. The group can sit up for Senior Nationals in early January, and hopes to hold a full squad to the NCAA Championships in Bozeman, MT to conclude the season.
Key Competitions: U.S. Cross-Country National Championships (Away– Jan. 1-9), Middlebury Carnival/EISA Championships (Home– Feb. 20-21), NCAA Skiing Championships (Away– Mar. 11-14)
Men’s Nordic Skiing
Head Coach: Andrew Johnson
Athletes to Watch: Mason Wheeler ’26, Benjamin Jenkin ’28, Peter Warner ’27
Returning 5 NCAA qualifiers, a number of skilled veteran skiers, and welcoming the most important first-yr class in years, the lads’s Nordic snowboarding group has the instruments to construct on Middlebury’s Nordic snowboarding legacy this season. The squad is deep— an excellent day for any of the Panthers’ skiers might imply a breakout scoring efficiency, and their incoming class of six solely provides to their versatility. Wheeler enters the season off the again of a tenth-place particular person end on the EISA Championship and sixth within the dash on the Middlebury Carnival. Jenkin impressed on the Dartmouth Carnival, incomes thirty fifth within the 7.5k particular person race. Also on the Dartmouth Carnival, Warner achieved twenty first within the 20k mass begin, eight spots behind Wheeler. Both of Middlebury’s Nordic snowboarding groups will moreover battle for spots on the number of worldwide races, together with World Juniors, U23s, and the World Cup.
Key Competitions: U.S. Cross-Country National Championships (Away– Jan. 1-9), Middlebury Carnival/EISA Championships (Home– Feb. 20-21), NCAA Skiing Championships (Away– Mar. 11-14)
Women’s Swimming and Diving
Head Coach: Bob Rueppel
Athletes to Watch: Anna McGrew ’28, Hannah Baumgartner ’26, Emma Hall ’26
Kicking off their season this Saturday at Connecticut College, the ladies’s swimming and diving group begins the season with sturdy returners and 7 incoming athletes. McGrew can be pivotal for the Panthers, getting into her second yr after a standout rookie season. McGrew’s highlights embrace 12 particular person wins, college data within the 100 freestyle and 50 freestyle, and All-American honors. Co-captain Baumgartner may also be key for the Panthers, displaying her power throughout the 200, 500 and 800 freestyle final season. Hall, one other captain, boasts a sixth-place end within the 200 breaststroke on the NESCAC Championship, and can assist lead the group by means of the 2025-26 season.
Key Competitions: Connecticut College (Away–- Nov. 15), MIT Invitational (Away– Dec. 5-7), Women’s Swimming and Diving NESCAC Championship (Away– Feb. 12-15)
Men’s Swimming and Diving
Head Coach: Bob Rueppel
Athletes to Watch: Luke McNamara ’26, Andrew Dou ’26, John Masiello ’27
Also starting their season at Connecticut College on Saturday, the lads’s swimming and diving program will enter the pool with a mix of sturdy returning athletes and first-yr expertise. The group will flip to co-captain McNamara for management and robust performances, returns with college data within the 200 and 400 particular person medley, together with All-NESCAC honors. Dou can be one other essential swimmer for the Panthers, displaying his velocity within the butterfly as a member of a program document-setting 200 medley relay. Masiello additionally comes off a profitable earlier season, making the NCAA ‘B’ lower time within the 100 breaststroke and tallying three particular person victories.
Key Competitions: Connecticut College (Away–- Nov. 15), MIT Invitational (Away– Dec. 5-7), Men’s Swimming and Diving NESCAC Championship (Away– Feb. 19-22)
Kanan Clifford ‘28.5 (he/him) is a Sports Editor.
Kanan is a possible Molecular Biology/Biochemistry main, with extra pursuits in historical past and politics. At Middlebury, he sails, is on the board of the South Asian Students Association, and is an avid baker!
Ting Cui ‘25.5 (she/her) is the Business Director.
Ting beforehand labored as Senior Sports Editor and Staff Writer and continues to contribute as a Sports Editor. A political science main with a historical past minor, she interned on the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. as a coverage analyst and op-ed author. She additionally competed as a determine skater for Team USA and enjoys scorching pilates, thrifting, and consuming copious quantities of espresso.
Simon Schmieder ’26 (he/him) is a Senior Sports Editor.
Simon is an avid runner and biker and enjoys spending time outdoor. He is a philosophy and political science joint main with a minor in German, along with being a Philly sports fan.