Sarah Lawrence College Athletics

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March Mania Begins at Sarah Lawrence

March 5, 2012

    Once again, the madness of March starts right here at Sarah Lawrence.

    Students and staff came out on March 5 to start SLC’s own version of March Mania, beginning the month of championship college play with a three-on-three tournament hosted by the Phys Ed Department.

    As the tournament got under way, the energy level was high and the enthusiasm level even higher, as new faces played along with seasoned veterans, and took to the courts with a variety of skill and experience levels.

    There was a heavy favorite in the competition, a player who had steered his former teams to two past championships. Going into the finals, the teams who made the championship round were evenly matched, causing the even tournament’s ousted teams to pick a favorite and look on as the final game got under way.

    The championship game was back and forth with the lead changing a number of times. The underdogs, new to the March Mania limelight, hit a number of threes and eventually outscored the previous years’ victor.

    All of the participants played hard and played to win, but when the madness was over, everybody shook hands and congratulated each other for a job well done and fun had by all.

    Every player will have the pleasure of wearing their March Mania t-shirt proudly, having walked out of the gym this March Mania with a t-shirt and a smile.

    Thanks to all who came out and played. Look forward to the madness again next year! 



Fitness Gets a Sweetheart with This Year's Sweatheart Challenge 

 February 2012  

    The Challenge was put out again this year, and the Sarah Lawrence community accepted. The Sweatheart Challenge? 26.2 miles in the fitness center over Valentine’s Day week, only doing five miles on each machine until it’s maxed out and competitors have to move on to the next one. Five on the bike. Five on the treadmills. Five on the stair-stepper. Maybe five on the erg (rowing machines) or five miles worth of circuits. You get the idea…

     Names filled the posterboards as soon as they went up with participants couldn’t wait to take the challenge. Students took the challenge, faculty and staff took the challenge, and while not everyone finished, everyone gave it their best shot. Staff and faculty squeezed it in on their lunch hour or after work. Students dropped in at all times of the day to get their mileage in.

    You could see them calculating, looking closely at the screens, tallying their mileage so they could record it on the posterboards, asking the trainers to initial it to make it official for the day. You could hear the students turning to each other during this in-house marathon, asking, “How much did you do today?”

    And then of course, there was the collective a sigh of relief and a feeling of accomplishment when the 26.2 miles were completed and the trainer wrote on the board, “FINISHED” before the Sunday cut-off date.

    Of those that started the challenge, 65% finished, collecting their t-shirt trophy, which reads, “I took the challenge.”
           
    Congratulations to all those who did!
 


Annual Ski Trip a Swiss (Chalet) Family Affair

January 27-29, 2012

    20 people boarded the vans early Friday morning, headed to the mountains of Vermont. Even though it was foggy with a drizzle forecasted all day, no one’s spirits were dampened as the students and chaperones climbed on the bus for the Annual Ski Trip.

    And after a long foggy ride, the skies cleared enough that the group was able to get a few hours of skiing in before retiring to their Swiss chalet, where family-style meals awaited them all weekend long for breakfasts and dinners of plentiful food and good company. At the chalet, you sit at long tables, not only with your group but other people that are staying at the inn, so visitors always make a new friend or two.

    Downstairs at the chalet is a big game room, filled with chess boards and a fireplace, where students spent the evening relaxing before Day 2 when they could hit the slopes with real abandon from morning until night, when they also had the option of sitting in the chalet’s bubbling Jacuzzi Room to rest sore muscles after the slopes.  

    The group rose early on Saturday morning and after a hardy breakfast, headed to the mountain for a full day of skiing. Conditions were perfect as the group suited up and went their different ways—some to the bunny slopes, others to double black diamond, and still others to every slope in between.

    At around 4pm, the content group headed back to the chalet, to unwind with a view of the mountains while eating, jacuzzi-ing, playing games or just relaxing with friends.

    After a good night’s rest, the group took the mountains once again on Sunday, skiing a half day before getting together to make the long trip home, sleeping on the bus, telling stories of the weekend, and stopping off for hot chocolate on the drive back to SLC.

    The response upon coming home was overwhelmingly: “Can we do it again?”
    
    Thanks to everyone who participated in the Annual Ski Trip, with a special thank you to Student Affairs, which partnered with the Physical Education Department to sponsor the trip.
 


Break is Over, But the Fun Has Just Begun: Winter Carnival Kicks Off the Spring Semester with a Spectacular Snowy Start

Bronxville, NY – January 19, 2011

            On a chilly January night outside the Campbell Sports Center, snow fell inside the warm gymnasium as it fluttered around a giant inflatable snow globe where students frolicked and had their pictures taken inside a magical winter wonderland.
  
           A scene such as this could only mean one thing: Winter Carnival was back at Sarah Lawrence, bringing all of the fun of this annual Student Affairs-sponsored event. And with the event came rides, food, music and the laughter of students as they stuffed teddy bears, talked to school-wide clubs, and rode the mechanical snowboard all set up in the gym.  
  
          Before entering the winter wonderland, the students mingled at the buffet table of cocktail hot dogs, chips and dips and cinnamon treats, and grabbed popcorn and cotton candy as they crossed under the snowy arch into the gym that welcomed them to Winter Carnival.

         Some students moseyed from table to table as the SLC clubs gave their pitches, before conquering the mechanical snowboard, riding Segways around the edges of the gym or bouncing in the giant snow globe for a souvenir photo.

         But by far, the most popular surprise hit of the evening was a Stuff-Your-Own-Teddy-Bear station, but the options didn’t stop with one animal. Students could choose from the plush pelts of dogs, elephants, penguins and, of course, lovable bears. Students waited in a long line for their turn, but were soon huddling around the tables as their turns came, choosing their animals and then methodically plunging stuffing into their new furry friend. They even got a birth certificate to commemorate the bear’s (or dog’s or elephant’s or penguin’s) big day.

         In the grand tradition of the carnival’s riding bull, this year it was only fitting for a Winter Carnival to bring out a mechanical riding snow board. As onlookers watched, riders tried to navigate an invisible terrain while staying put in a safe inflatable arena. As each old contestant was thrown, a new adventurous participant climbed on board and tried their best to conquer the imagined slopes.

         Students came and went throughout the night, and left happy as the lights came up and the clubs cleaned up their booths and headed home with new members and happy memories for all.

         Thanks to Student Affairs and all who participated to make this a very successful and fun evening!  

 
 
Hot Coals Warm Up a Cold Night at Student-Worker Appreciation Barbecue

January 18, 2011
      
    It’s no secret to anyone that’s been to the Campbell Sports Center that we are lucky to have a team of dedicated student workers who keep the fitness center running and running well. In order to thank them each year, the staff of the Campbell Sports Center hosts a thank you barbecue—mid-January, no less—to show our appreciation for all our student workers do.

    And as Evening Events Director and veteran grill maestro Joe Iannotti says, “There’s nothing better than a barbecue on a cold night in January.”

    Along with Joe flipping burgers (beef and veggie) and turning hot dogs (meat and tofu)  on the grill, the rest of the full and part-time staff acted as the servers for the night, shuttling back and forth trays of food, coolers of soda and then, as a final hurrah for the night, plates of pre-made—but not yet toasted—s’mores.

    Students enjoyed the feast as they mingled and basked in the warmth if each other’s company and the downstairs lounge, eating their fill until it came time to toast the marshmallows. Joe popped the top from the grill and students manned their sticks, either toasting their marshmallows to a warm brown or charring them to crisps. A new twist was added to the s’mores this year, as the students lathered their graham crackers with peanut butter prior to the adding of chocolate and marshmallows and reviews were rave.

    As the last embers burned out, students gladly took home leftovers in makeshift tinfoil packs and walked away happy with their doggie bags.

    It was a really great evening all around with laughter in the air and the smell of barbecue filling up the chilly night.  We at the Campbell Sports Center are very grateful to have our student workers, who make this a fun and comfortable place to come for our Sarah Lawrence community. A barbecue in January is the least we can do.

    Thanks to all. See you next year!
 


The New Year Year Kicks Off with Annual Staff Fitness Challenge

January 3-12, 2012

    Once again SLC staffers started the year off with a New Year’s Resolution: take on the Staff Fitness Challenge at the Campbell Sports Center.
    
    The rules are simple. Departments compete by racking up workout time and vying for the most laps done, abs crunched and all sorts of other fitness activities (but all officially tallied in time spent) on a big board that track their hourly progress against other departments. This being January, the fitness center is only open from 12-2pm and 5pm-7pm so staffers came on their lunch breaks and after work to put in their sweat equity.

    Student Affairs and Communications are just two of the departments that assemble teams and are the two with the strongest rivalry in the Challenge, having won in prior years. Although it was Communications that took the trophy ultimately for 2012, all the departments that participated put their own spin on the fun fitness event. One department, which dubbed itself “The Hairband Goddesses,” even had a cheer to let everyone know members were in the building tallying time for their department.

    The week ended with an award ceremony and a sense of camaraderie both department and staff-wide. Although many got t-shirts, it will be Communications that gets to display the trophy in their office for the coming year until the next Staff Fitness Challenge in 2013

    Congratulations to the Communications Department and to the overall individual winners, Debra Finkelstein of College Events (1^st) and Genevieve Hein of Students Affairs (2^nd), along with everyone who sweated their way into making this a very successful event!  



"Turkey Day" Takes on a Different Meaning at Annual Bowling Event

November 14, 2011

    "Turkey Day" took on a different meaning this November as students headed to the lanes to participate the annual bowling day put on as a special event by the Phys Ed department. The event kicked off at 4pm on Monday as vans loaded up with excited students and steered course for Paradise Lanes in Yonkers, where participants vied to be the first ones to score a turkey on the big boards above the lanes.

    Three strikes in a row constitutes a turkey in bowling and set the mark for the students, who were eligible to win a number of prizes that night including the free and colorful t-shirt that has become a mark of the Special Events and Intramural games. Some bowlers even took home bowling pins as prizes for winning categories such as Highest Game of the Day, Highest Series of the Day (the highest cumulative score for the three games), Most Marks (the most strikes and spares over their three game period), and of course, getting the bird.

     As the games went on, players huddled around to see who had won the next giveaway and ooh-ed and aah'ed at the latest color combination of the free t-shirt pulled freshly from the batch. Although only some went home with a bowling pin, all went home happy with a t-shirt and a smile.

     Come join us for bowling class next semester and relive the fun of that night while working on your game! Sign-ups will be available after winter break. 

     Thank you to all who came out and made this event a great success! See you at the lanes.



Sarah Lawrence Gets Fired Up for Homecoming

November 11, 2011

       Sarah Lawrence lit up the grills for the newest addition to the school's annual homecoming festivites: Homecoming Tailgate. Co-sponsored by the Student Athletic Advisory Committe (SAAC) and Peope Eating Tasty Animals (PETA), the event took place at the big grill on the North Lawn, just outside Westlands and the dorms that emptied out as students smelled the grill going and headed out for a taste. 
 
      Students were treated to barbecue fair, such as hot dogs, hampburgers, cheeseburgers and veggie options, while talking about the basketball game to come and getting their faces painted for the big game. Sodas were cracked open and laughter filled the air as the barbecue brought people together and got them fed before the Gryphons Men's Basketball Team took on the Webb Institute at the Campbell Sports Center that night.

       As the barbecue became to simmer and night fell, the group headed en masse to the Sports Center where they cheered their Gryphons on to a 67-61 win over Webb. The night was a huge success from the barbecue to the game, and we'd like to thank all those who participated, cheered and ate with old friends and made some new ones around the grill. 

       Thanks to all for a very fun night! 
 


Come Fly With Me

November 8, 2011

      On a warm night in early November, a group of Quidditch enthusiasts borrowed some brooms and headed to the North Lawn to play the game cooked up by J. K. Rowling and brought to life by the Special Events Department at Campbell Sports Center for this first ever event at Sarah Lawrence College.

     It was an afternoon of realistic magic--no one left their feet, but boy, did they have fun--and of revelry as students and a few community members played the game, some with experience and some learning as they went. Groups of students looked on, cheering for the participants and enjoying the free cider that was put out for the event. Laughter filled the air on both sides of the Quidditch court as the game took off at the opening whistle.  

     Rings made of PVC and about the diameter of hula hoops were set up eight-to-ten feet high and three to a side to the form goals that the players attempted to throw a number of balls through, while other players defended either the hoops or their teammates by "striking" (tossing a ball at) the other team's scorer to send them running back--broom between legs--to their side to try again. (Think dodgeball, but with brooms.) 
  
    The team's jovially battled it out until night fell and the field was too dark to play on anymore. The game ended in tie, and made fast friends of the former competitors who then gathered around the cider to talk and laugh about what had just transpired.   
  
     It was a great way to celebrate these popular books and the spirit of sport in us all. Thank you to all who came out to participate. It was truly a Sarah Lawrence first and one that we hope to see 'sweeping' across the campus again soon!



Better Safe Than Sorry: Street Smart Self-Defense Returns to SLC

September 7, 2011

    This Wednesday, September 7, the Campbell Sports Center welcomed Al Medina and crew for a Street Smart Self-Defense Clinic that taught students how to defend themselves in worst-case scenarios. Students were instructed not just on how to defend themselves if a situation goes really badly, but how to recognize a situation and evade or diffuse it.

    The group was very enthusiastic as Al took students through different scenarios and how to deal with each as it may arise. Along with each scenario, he taught students holds, kicks, and other defensive techniques. He utilized a number of real-life scenarios to illustrate his points.

    We were very fortunate to have Al lead this clinic, who earlier in the year spent time in Egypt training their security forces. Al worked in law enforcement in the boroughs of New York City for 22 years.

    The focus of the night was on getting away from a questionable and potentially dangerous situation before it leads to a need for some of the physical techniques Al taught. We’d like to thank Al and his crew for bringing his techniques to campus and also a special thanks to the Sarah Lawrence Security Department for co-sponsoring this very important clinic.



Play It and They'll Come: Annual Ultimate Frisbee Match Kicks Off the Year

August 30, 2011

    As is the slogan of Ultimate Frisbee players everywhere, “In the spirit of the game,” so went the annual Ultimate Frisbee match played during orientation week. The intention of the match is to introduce first-years to some new friends and let upperclassmen get reacquainted with old friends while greeting the new students during a friendly game.

    The teams were divided down the middle with students—be it first-year or returning senior—playing side-by-side. Players rotated in and out of the game in the spirit of fair play, but also because when you don't play Ultimate for awhile, you get a little out of shape.

    Everyone enjoyed playing and had so much fun, score wasn't an issue and there were no losers on the field. Teams just played until everyone needed a breath, then they headed over to the refreshment table, got some water, caught a second wind and were ready to throw the disc again.

    The match proved to also be a good opportunity for those who play on the Ultimate Frisbee Club Team to do some recruiting for the upcoming fall tournaments while sharing stories about past games.

    Everyone had a great time and many made a 'playdate' to meet again on the Ultimate Frisbee Field—anywhere there's a patch of grass—until Intramurals and the club team get underway.

    Thanks to everyone who came out. It was a fun event that we look forward to every year!