Williams has big week in NESCAC

Both Amherst and Williams continued their football success with powerful ground attacks this past Saturday. These schools used their running games to stomp all over their competition. For Amherst, Junior half back Fletcher Ladd carried the team on his shoulders as he ran the ball an arduous 35 times compiling 208 yards in the process. Ladd's efforts helped the Lord Jeffs land a 14-0 victory over Colby.

Meanwhile on the other side of the state, William's Tim Crawley came off the bench to dash for 127 yards on only 13 carriers, an average of nearly 10 yards per run. Crawley also added two touchdowns to his list of accomplishments, the latter score being the difference in the game as the Ephs went on for the 27-24 victory. After four weeks both Amherst and Williams look like they will be sharing NESCAC's top spot for a while, as both are a perfect 4-0.

Amherst football was not the only team to make headlines this weekend as the men's soccer freshman forward Joe Gannon earned player of the week honors. Gannon scored twice in the Lord Jeff's 3-2 victory over Connecticut College this past Thursday. He then turned around and dished out two assists in Amherst's 3-1 win over Colby on Saturday. The Lord Jeffs at 3-3, however,are still sitting two games out of first; that top seat honor belongs to Bowdoin and Williams who both have 5-1 records. Amherst's victory left Connecticut College still scratching its head trying to figure out how to break its six game losing streak, as they are winless.

For the women in NESCAC soccer, Middlebury is sad to see its road trip come to an end. Senior Forward Meg Bonny, along with the entire Middlebury team, enjoyed a great two game stretch in which she scored 4 goals as the team won an important game at a hostile Williams Colleg. The win moved Middlebury into fourth place, only two wins behind first place Tufts who leads the NESCAC with it's 5-1 record. Sitting close behind the Jumbos are Amherst and Williams who trail by only one game. At the bottom of the standings is Wesleyan who has struggled mightily to this point still unable to find a way to win in any of its first five contests.

Williams is having a big week in many sports as they place yet another athlete in the player of the week spotlight. Volleyball sophomore Joyia Chadwick was remarkably consistent and mistake free as she had only 10 errors in 114 attempts for the week. In a win over Amherst she executed 16 kills. Chadwick has helped put the Ephs atop the NESCAC as they are tied with Amherst for that position. Each school has 6-1 records in the NESCAC.

Appropriately Williams also boasts the player of the week in Field Hockey. Junior Tori Scott scored once and had two assists contributing to all three of the Ephs goals as they defeated Middlebury 3-1. Williams now has moved into a tie for first with Bowdoin as each team has five wins and one loss. Connecticut College remained a step behind everyone, and have yet to score a victory in this still young season in the NESCAC.