Hello all cougar sports fans near and far, we are back with yet another week of Clark Athletics coverage, so why don’t we skip the formalities and jump right into it. 

The athletics week started off on Tuesday Oct. 25 as there were no competitions on Monday. Two Clark teams competed Tuesday, with women’s volleyball traveling to face Wellesley College and field hockey on the road against the Western New England Golden Bears. Both teams were unable to capture victory Tuesday as volleyball fell two to three and field hockey suffered a five to nothing loss. 

Moving on Wednesday Oct. 26, the Clark women’s soccer team hosted Springfield College for a late season NEWMAC showdown with playoff implications. The Cougars added another tally to the win column, defeating The Pride two to one after a late second half from Siobhan Lounsbury broke the deadlock. 

Thursday and Friday of last week saw no Clark teams taking part in athletics competitions, so we’ll move to Saturday Oct. 29 for some Halloweekend showdowns. Both swim and dive teams took on Bridgewater State in a home meet at the Kneller Pool. The men’s and women’s teams also both achieved their first meet victory of the year; the men’s team prevailed 110-95 over the Bears, and the women’s team left the pool with an impressive 130 to 107 win. These two wins were brought about through strong individual races, paired with consistent relay times, and bolstered by a first place three meter dive finish for the women’s team by Robin Bozik. Sticking with aquatic sports, the Clark University rowing teams competed at Wormtown Chase in Worcester. The crew racers put on a clinic, grabbing three first place finishes (Collegiate 4+, Collegiate 2x, and Collegiate Novice 8+), as well as second place in the Collegiate 8+ event. Later on Saturday Oct. 29, the women’s soccer team took on Babson College at home for their final game of the season, which also happened to be senior day. Unfortunately the Cougars were unable to end the season with the win, falling two-nil to a strong Beavers team. The volleyball team also finished out their season on Saturday, capturing a three to two road victory against Wheaton College. This triumph comes at a great time, giving the Cougz a boost of momentum heading into the playoffs. Finally for Saturday the 29, men’s soccer capped off their season by hosting Wheaton College, dropping the match zero to six. 

Last week’s athletic affairs ended off with the NEWMAC cross country championships for both Clark squads on Sunday Oct. 30. The men’s runners finished the event in eighth place, and the women’s side concluded the season with a tenth place finish. Previous athlete of the week, Ruby Krasnow, finished the 6k event fifth overall, earning her All-NEWMAC honors for the season. 

Now that the recap portion of this week has concluded let’s see what teams, athletes and games stood out over the previous seven days. This week’s game of the week, or should I say regatta of the week, goes to the Clark rowing teams! The collective effort to secure three first place finishes and a second place victory (out of a field of 14) has to be commended. To say that the Cougars swept the Wormtown Chase would be an understatement, attaining first place in a majority of the races in which Cougz were competing. The beauty of such a strong all-around performance from several of the units, comprised of different racers, is that it shows the depth within the program. The Wormtown Chase Regatta was an outstanding showing for all Clark racers, and they should be proud of the first-rate coalition put together. 

The Clark athlete of the week also showed high proficiency in the water this week, with swimmer Gor Bagumyan taking home this week’s honor. Bagumyan, a senior from Barrington, R.I., put in multiple spectacular individual races, as well as taking part in a relay win for the Cougars. Taking home first place finishes in both the 50 and 100 yard freestyle races, the economics major secured 18 vital points for Clark through his solo races. The Clark ‘A’ 200 yard medley relay team, of which Bagumyan was the opening racer, took home yet another gold. Overall, through solo and combined races, Bagumyan tallied 29 of the Cougz’ 110 points on the day. Gor Bagumyan’s three first place finishes on Saturday make him our athlete of the week for 10/24 to 10/31!

Before we move on to looking around the NEWMAC, a quick shout should be made for the cross country all-academic honorees. On the women’s side Lily Carey, Wynne Dromey, Megan Gohn, Ruby Krasnow, Rosa Newshore, Sophia Oomen-Lochtefeld and Fiona Scharff obtained the award. As for the men’s team, Kevin Braunwart, Alec Hoffman and Adam Liebell-McLean received top marks. 

Taking a trip around the NEWMAC, there were some consequential matchups heading towards the end of fall sports. On Tuesday Oct. 25 MIT hammered Babson College three to nought in an intra-conference volleyball match. These two squads finished the season atop the NEWMAC, with MIT concluding at the apex and with an undefeated record in conference play. Also on Tuesday Oct. 25, the Wheaton College Lyons won handily in a men’s soccer match against Framingham State University. The scoresheet read one to zero in favor of the Lyons heading into the half; only for their side to erupt with four goals in the second half, including two goals within four minutes. All five goals also came from different scorers. Finally for this past week, it would be a disservice to not mention the results from the cross country championships, of which both MIT teams claimed victory. The result of a MIT victory in cross country, especially men’s cross country, will surprise none familiar with NEWMAC history. The women’s team has now won 15 straight championships for MIT. Even more impressive is the men’s side, which has won the NEWMAC cross country championship every single year since its establishment in 1998 (24 in a row, only interrupted by the lack of a season in 2020 due to COVID). 

Looking to the future, this upcoming week will be momentous for the conclusion of the fall sports season. On Tuesday Nov. 1, both the women’s soccer and volleyball teams will compete in the first round of the playoffs! Soccer, which obtained the four seed in the playoffs, will host fifth seeded Springfield in what should be a tightly contested rematch for the Cougars. The volleyball team (7 seed)  will ship out to Wellesley for a duel with the two seed Babson Beavers. The schedule for next week could change with a Clark victory in either of these two playoff games, but as for now (Monday Oct. 31) the lineup of games has thinned out until the start of winter sports. On Saturday Nov. 5, both swim and dive teams will be on the road for a meet against Babson College. 

This concludes yet another edition in the Clark weekly sports recaps. This week concluded the regular season for fall sports and same some key Clark victories to close out the month. By the conclusion of next week, we will begin to transition towards winter sports coverage. Until then, all eyes will be on the two Clark playoff teams, as always, roll Cougz!