Brown’s athletes will not spend the long winter break relaxing at home or taking vacations. Instead, the six-week hiatus from classes will be filled with games, meets and long road trips for a number of teams. Winter sports will hit the busiest stretch of their seasons in December and January, while spring sports will use the break to fit in exhibition games and early contests.
Women’s hockey
The women’s hockey team could have the busiest break of any team on campus. After road contests this weekend, the Bears (2-8-0, 0-4-0 ECAC) will go without a game until January, when they will play 11 times. Brown will ring in the new year by taking to the road Jan. 1 and 2 to face Princeton and Quinnipiac. The following weekend, St. Lawrence and Clarkson will come to Meehan Auditorium for another Friday-Saturday slate of games. Bruno will hit the road again the next weekend, Jan. 15 and 16, taking on Empire State foes Colgate and Cornell. The lone mid-week and non-conference contest for Brown will come Jan. 19 in a road game against Merrimack. Finally, the Bears will return to Providence for home games against Rensselaer and Union on Jan. 22 and 23. The eight ECAC games, many of which are rematches in which the Bears will look to avenge earlier losses, will be crucial after a slow start to the season.
Wrestling
The Brown wrestlers will be busy as well, hitting the road to get a shot at some top NCAA competition. The team will travel to Evanston, Illinois to compete in the Midlands Championships hosted by Northwestern Dec. 29-30. The tournament draws teams from across the nation and was won last year by Iowa, which finished the season as NCAA runner-up. Bruno will get another chance to stack up against top teams at the Pitt Duals hosted by Pittsburgh Jan. 9. There, Brown will take on American, Pittsburgh and North Carolina. The following weekend, the team will open up its conference season, facing off at Cornell Jan. 16 and at Columbia and Sacred Heart the following day. The Bears will finish the break on the road with another three-match weekend, taking on Bucknell and Franklin and Marshall in conference tilts Saturday and Bloomsburg University Sunday.
Track and field
Both the men’s and women’s teams will compete in meets around the region, hoping to get a fast start to the season. Both teams will compete in the Yale Invitational in New Haven Jan. 9, followed by a trip north to Cambridge the next weekend. The Harvard Multi-Event Challenge will feature more than a dozen teams from around the region and will run from Jan. 15 to Jan. 16. Also commencing Jan. 16 will be the annual Battle for Beantown. Finally, both teams will return to Boston and head to Northeastern to compete in the Joe Donahue Games Jan. 22, where they will look to continue their streak of success — both Brown teams have won the overall team title in recent years at the Donahue Games.
Swimming and diving
The swim teams will get limited action in the coming weeks. After traveling to Princeton this weekend, the men’s and women’s teams will not compete again until Jan. 16. Both teams will travel to Cambridge Jan. 16 to square off with Penn and Harvard in a three-team meet. The Columbia Lions will come to town Jan. 23 for a men’s and women’s combined duel. Bruno will honor graduating seniors as they compete in their final home events.
Tennis
The Brown men will get a trio of matches, starting with a home matchup against William and Mary Jan. 18. The following Sunday, the team will be back on the court with contests against Buffalo and Boston University.
The women’s team will get a chance to leave New England as it heads to Nashville for the ITA kick-off weekend, hosted by Vanderbilt Jan. 23-24. Bruno will take on Penn State on the first day of competition and either Vanderbilt or Denver the following day.
Squash
The squash teams will look for early-season success over winter break as well, as both the women’s and men’s teams have four matches scheduled. Columbia and Cornell will come to Providence Jan. 9 and 10, respectively, for conference matches. Both teams will go on the road the following weekend to take on Middlebury and Bowdoin in non-conference showdowns.
Gymnastics
The gymnastics team will look to extend its streak of top-two ECAC finishes to three years as it opens the season Jan. 16 at Southern Connecticut. Ithaca and Springfield will also compete in the meet. Bruno will follow up the next weekend, hosting Rhode Island College and Bridgeport Jan. 24.
