NESCAC Series | NESCAC teams in national spotlight

Fifteen years ago, a national championship title was just a dream for NESCAC athletes. But with the postseason runs of the Tufts women's soccer, men's basketball and men's swimming teams this year, and with 26 league teams currently in the national top 25 polls and several poised at a national title, the news is out: NESCAC is here to stay. Prior to 1993, NESCAC rules prohibited teams from competing in any tournament that was not regional and terminal, meaning that its draw pool could not exceed New England, and it could offer no NCAA qualifying berth to the winner. "NESCAC schools have always been strong athletically - we were just the best-kept secret," Tufts Athletic Director Bill Gehling said. "If we had been allowed to compete on the national stage back then, we would have been successful. We offer an option to really good student-athletes that's tough to beat." Individual qualifiers in track, cross country and swimming were allowed to compete at Nationals from the league's inception, but relays and all team sports were prohibited, a rule intended to protect class time and keep NESCAC teams off the slippery slope of big-name athletics. "To me, the only purpose that rule served was to keep deserving athletes from having the chance to test themselves at the highest possible stage," Gehling said. "It created an inequity in that track athletes or swimmers could go whereas [team players] couldn't, and that never struck me as fair." Rather than NCAA tournaments, NESCAC teams played in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) tournaments, which were regional in scope and offered no automatic qualifying bid to the national tournament. "We had a great deal of success [at ECACs], to the point where in the semifinals there would be a minimum of three, if not all four, NESCAC teams," Middlebury Athletic Director Russ Reilly said. "Clearly we were showing that in addition to outstanding academics, we also had great athletic programs." With NESCAC programs proving themselves around New England, the impetus for change came largely from two league athletes. Bowdoin track and cross country star Eileen Hunt ('93), now Eileen Hunt Botting, and Williams runner Seth McClennen ('92) provided a voice for the student-athletes across the conference that were putting pressure on their coaches and administrations. "I thought that the rules were unnecessary and unfair and extreme," said Hunt Botting, now an assistant political science professor at the University of Notre Dame. "There's no athlete that doesn't want to compete at the top level." Botting Hunt met with then-president of Bowdoin Bob Edwards, who was newly arrived from his post as president of Carleton College, a Div. III school that had no such restrictions on NCAA tournament play. With Williams president Francis Christopher Oakley facing pressure from McClennen, and Colby athletic and academic administration being lobbied by a standout cross country relay team, the NESCAC presidents met and agreed on a three-year trial period to allow league teams to accept NCAA berths. "A lot of pressure started to be exerted by student-athletes, their families and the coaching staff to add NCAAs to our menu of athletic offerings," Reilly said. "Several track relay teams and a couple of hockey teams and a couple of lacrosse teams were having unusually great success, and the presidents decided to try it as a three-year experiment. At end of first experiment, there was a second, and now it's standard practice that we go as institutions." One of those teams was the Tufts women's lacrosse team, which went 71-4 from 1984 to 1990 and won five consecutive ECAC Championships. The Jumbos were undeniably among the nation's best, but were prohibited by NESCAC rules from pursuing a national title. "We all came to Tufts knowing what the rules were," lacrosse coach Carol Rappoli said. "In my mind, the ECAC tournament was what our goal was, and we have six championships in the 80s. The only disappointment for me [was that it was] about six years too late when the NESCAC presidents allowed teams to participate in the NCAA [tournaments]." Botting Hunt pointed primarily to the economic sacrifice that is asked of student-athletes who choose to play at a NESCAC school over a state school or Div. I program that can offer athletic scholarships. "The kids that NESCAC attracts are already turning down Div. I scholarships because they value their education," Hunt Botting said. "Economically, it's a huge difference, and [NESCAC schools] were basically saying, 'You made this incredible sacrifice, but we're going to punish you even more by denying you the opportunity to compete at Div. III Nationals.' The culture of NESCAC is one that is very professional and unique, and [allowing teams to go to NCAAs] didn't compromise that." "The big thing that keeps corruption out of Div. III sports is the lack of scholarships," Hunt Botting added. "We have that safeguard and then in NESCAC we have the extra safeguard of the kids, choosing to go to these schools because they care about a liberal arts education." Rocky Carzo, a former Tufts football coach and Athletic Director, was at the helm when the decision was made in 1993, and still holds reservations about its implications. "When we started allowing [teams to go to national tournaments], people told me 'Rocky, you're going to be sorry. You guys have got it made, and all you're doing is opening a Pandora's box by going to NCAAs,'" Carzo said. "I've been here for a long time as a coach and an AD [athletic director], and I don't know whether it's better or not." "When does the tail begin to wag the dog?" Carzo continued. "When does it become so important to go to national championships that it affects the way students live, the amount of practice they have, the amount of money that you put into the sport, the number of coaches you have, the number of facilities you have? All of those things have an impact on where your school is going." While they still prompt debate, the new rules are firmly established in the NESCAC institutions' athletic programs, and the success that has followed their implementation is undeniable. Williams College has won the Div. III Directors Cup, awarded annually to the best athletics program in the country, nine out of its 10 years of existence, and the past seven straight years. The only time it lacked sole ownership of the top spot was in 1998, when it shared the title with NESCAC rival Middlebury. Williams, Middlebury and Amherst have been in the top 15 of the standings all 10 years, with Williams and Middlebury going one-two in 2004-2005, 2000-2001 and 1998-1999. "These are kids who care about their future as intellectuals and professionals," Botting Hunt said. "Sport is more of a hobby for them - it's just what they do, secondary to everything else. What I'm amazed by is how NESCAC teams, even though they have the highest academic standards in Div. III, consistently do really well at Nationals. Obviously, something's working out well."