The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) Athletic Director, Michael Sutton, has reason to be proud of the long history and many accomplishments of the CMS athletic teams. And this fall season proved that the athletes do not miss the opportunity to score.
Since its founding, the CMS women’s athletic teams have won 55 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) titles. The men’s teams, founded in 1947, have won 147 SCIAC titles. Scripps College athletes joined the teams of Claremont McKenna and Harvey Mudd colleges in 1976 when SCIAC began sponsoring women’s sporting events. The 19 teams of CMS are currently the only participating institution in SCIAC that have each won a conference title at least twice.
SCIAC is composed of private colleges and universities in the Southern California area. The conference and all of its members are affiliated with NCAA Division III.
The CMS athletic teams, including women’s cross-country, volleyball, and soccer teams, gave an impressive performance this season. Sutton optimistically stated, “The results of our CMS women’s [fall] teams put us in the hunt for the SCIAC women’s all sports trophy.”
The Athena cross country runners took off to a great start and ended the season with a kick. After earning first overall in SCIAC and second at the NCAA Western Region competition, cross country sent seven of its runners to Delaware, Ohio, to compete in the NCAA National Championships. Among these runners was CMC senior Kim Sonne who finished second in SCIAC, Sarah McFadden (CMC) earned a third-place finish in SCIAC, and only two places behind was Amy Berg (CMC)—all achieving First Team All-SCIAC honors. The Athenas also claim five runners who earned Second Team All-SCIAC honors, including Scripps first-year student Evelyn Ross. At Nationals the Athenas improved by six places in the standings to finish 18th overall, with an impressive 32nd place showing by Sonne. Among other Athenas finishing at Nationals, Scripps’ very own Ross came in at 143 out of the 215 total runners, a great finish for the first-year.
The Athena volleyball team finished with an overall record of 15-8 ranking them third in SCIAC. They finished behind two nationally ranked SCIAC opponents with whom CMS struggled bitterly all year. The home game on Senior Night provided the season’s highlight for the volleyball team when the Athenas avenged their first-round loss to Pomona-Pitzer, beating the Sagehens soundly in front of a full house. Post-season awards included First Team All-SCIAC appointments to Scripps senior Emily Bennett and Scripps sophomore Camille Butts.
Women’s soccer concluded an impressive season finishing third in SCIAC. The team battled, and beat, several competitive conference teams, and showed great team unity behind their senior leadership. This Athena squad named three players to First Team All-SCIAC, two to Second Team, and Claremont McKenna College (CMC) senior Michelle Daley to SCIAC Player of the Year who also won First Team honors.
Congratulations to all of the fall CMS teams. They competed fiercely and each made a name for themselves. Keep an eye out for them next year; there is surely more to come.