Winter sports wrapup

Ice hockey

The men’s hockey team lost to Babson College, 3-2, in the ECAC East playoffs, finishing the season with an 8-14-2 overall record. The Thoroughbreds finished 5th in the nine-team ECAC East regular-season standings with a 5-10-2 mark.

Skidmore had impressive league wins over Wesleyan (5-3) and St. Anselm (5-4) and a 3-3 road tie with Salem State. Four of the team’s losses were by two or fewer goals, including a 3-2 loss to regional champion New England College.

Conor McDavitt ’03 led the Thoroughbreds in scoring, with 9 goals and 16 assists for 25 points. Chris Dunn ’02 added 9 goals and 14 assists for 23 points, while Joe Ziolkowski ’04 scored 7 goals and had 8 assists for 15 points.

Women's basketball

The Thoroughbreds won three of their last four regular-season games to finish at 8-17 overall and 2-12 in the UCAA. Skidmore fell to St. Lawrence, 84-49, in the first round of the UCAA tournament. But the Thoroughbreds bested Coast Guard, 69-57, to win the Skidmore Invitational Tournament and also beat NCAA tournament team Mount St. Mary, 55-44.

Sarah McEachron ’01 closed out her outstanding career with a team-high 11.5 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. McEachron finished second on Skidmore’s all-time scoring list, with 1,334 career points. Andrea Paulson ’03 averaged 11.3 points and 8.1 rebounds before a season-ending knee injury in January. McEachron and Paulson were both all-UCAA honorable mentions; McEachron, Jennifer Davis ’03, and Carissa Rotas ’03 won UCAA all-academic honors.

Men's basketball

Lofty goal: All-time top scorer Brian Culkin ’01 takes flight above the Hartwick defense.

The Thoroughbreds battled injuries down the stretch to finish with a 7-18 overall and 4-10 UCAA record. Skidmore lost, 72-49, to Hamilton College in the first round of the UCAA tournament, but won its own tournament with a 74-65 victory over Wesleyan. The team also beat UCAA champion St. Lawrence University, 72-69.

Brian Culkin ’01 led the team, as well as the UCAA, in scoring, averaging 22.4 points per game. He became Skidmore’s all-time leading scorer in January, finishing with 1,689 career points. Mark Mortensen added 10.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Culkin was named first-team all-UCAA, while UCAA all-academic honors went to Mortensen, Dan Carroll ’01, and Mike Rockefeller ’03.

Women's swimming and diving

Maggie Duer ’02 reaches for the finish line.

Jessica Connor ’02 broke her own Skidmore one-meter diving record with a score of 325.05, good for a 4th-place finish in the NYSWCAA championships. She set the school three-meter record too, with 300.20, an 8th-place mark. Also for the Thoroughbreds, Lauren DeLong ’03 took 10th in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 5:02.4. Skidmore finished 14th overall, with 203 points.

DeLong and Jessie Ehrlich ’01 were UCAA all-academic selections.

Men's swimming and diving

Mac Guy ’04 set the Skidmore record in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:38.32 at the Upper New York State Swimming and Diving Championships. Guy finished 19th overall. Skidmore was 13th in the meet, with 122 points.

Anatoly Ostrovsky ’03 earned UCAA all-academic honors. —WJ