Women’s Water Polo
Athletes from across the country filled Thayer Street Saturday evening, as the women’s water polo team hosted the Bruno Classic over the weekend. The Bears (1-6) faced off against stiff competition in their first home games of the season — four of their five opponents were top-20, nationally ranked teams. When considering the caliber of Bruno’s competitors, the weekend could be regarded as a success for Brown, even though the host only won one game.
The first test for the Bears was No. 4 Hawaii. Bruno managed to hang around with the formidable opponent for most of the contest, never falling behind the Rainbow Wahine by more than four goals. But the visitors showed why they are one of the top five teams in the nation, rattling off the last three goals of the contest and claiming a 17-10 decision. Olivia Santiago ’16 and McKenna Miller ’19 each completed a hat trick in the game.
In the second day of competition, the Bears competed against two other powerhouses — No. 13 Indiana and No. 17 Hartwick College — and St. Francis Brooklyn. Brown’s only win came in the middle of the day against St. Francis Brooklyn.
The Bears took an early lead against the Terriers (0-2) with goals from Santiago, Miller and Victoria Pierotti ’16. The Bears constantly fed off of their teammates, scoring several back-to-back goals to distance themselves from their opponent. Led by hat tricks from Marisa Kolokotronis ’17 and Jessica Heilman ’18, Bruno defeated St. Francis Brooklyn by a 13-7 margin.
The two other games of the day ended quite differently for the Bears. From the outset of the contest against Hartwick College (3-3), the Hawks were on pace to run away with the game. Bruno did not get on the scoreboard until the last two minutes of the second quarter, when Santiago netted her team’s first goal, bringing the score to 8-1 going into halftime. Unfortunately for Bruno, the nationally ranked Hawks proved to be too much, as the visitors rattled off goal after goal, widening the gap to 14. Still, the Bears demonstrated resilience, scoring three goals within 75 seconds to bring the final score to 17-5.
In Bruno’s last game of the day against the Hoosiers, the team fought its way back into the game after its highly ranked opponent claimed an early lead. The Bears outscored Indiana in the second half to bring themselves within three by the third quarter, but the Hoosiers went on a surge in the fourth to defeat the Bears 15-7. Miller scored four goals in the contest.
Brown wrapped up the tournament with a game against No. 16 Wagner Sunday evening, falling to the Seahawks 6-3.
The Bears will take a few weeks off from competition before heading across the country to the UC Davis Aggie Invitational.
Track and Field
Paced by impressive individual performances, the men’s and women’s track and field teams both finished in second place at the URI Invitational Saturday. The women’s team garnered 140 total points, while the men captured 120. Charlotte Walmsley ’16, Carly Paul ’18, Rachel Van Metre ’16 and Michelle Bazile ’18 all topped their respective events. Paul’s high jump performance left the sophomore in ninth place in program record books.
On the men’s side, Owen Russell ’19, Ryan Kelly ’16 and Zack Emrich ’18 all finished on top in their events.
The Armory Track Invite Friday saw another commanding showing from O’Sha Williams ’16. The triple jumper leapt to 41 feet and 7.25 inches — the second-best leap in program history and the best in the Ivy League this season.
Next weekend, Bruno will head west to the Iowa State Classic and get festive at the Boston University Valentine Invitational.
Fencing
The men’s and women’s fencing teams participated in the Ivy League Round Robins hosted by Cornell over the weekend. Both teams struggled against dominant Ivy foes. The Ancient Eight boasts four top-10 teams in the nation on both the men’s and women’s sides.
Three total wins — two for the men’s epee and one for the women’s — highlighted the first day of the tournament, but the men’s squad fell to No. 3 Penn, No. 5 Harvard and Yale, and the women were outlasted by No. 8 Penn, No. 4 Harvard and Yale.
Bruno will attend the Temple Invitational Feb. 20.
