Mawrtian Spirit: Winter Sports Recap

By alexandra m. ‘21

Confidence, leadership, hustle, commitment: these are the ways of a Mawrtian athlete. During the 2019-2020 winter athletics season, student athletes participated in a variety of sports including Squash, Basketball, Indoor Track, Ice Hockey, Swimming, and Dance Company. Each sport had a victorious season, seeing both individual and team successes. 

Alison H. ’20 discussed the overall goals she and her team achieved during her Varsity Basketball season. She told me excitedly, “Our team was very young and unselfish, as we only had four returners from last year, but I believe it’s one of the reasons why we experienced so much success. I am so glad I had the opportunity to be around such amazing young women everyday.” The returners did an excellent job directing the team while encouraging the younger girls, which led to overall improvement. Varsity Basketball practiced tirelessly, making it all the way to championships where they had a nail-biting 43-42 victory against Concordia Prep.

Ice Hockey also had a triumphant season, winning the championship against Holy Child for the first time in 10 years.  Martha L. ’20 enthusiastically stated, “It felt really good to end my four years of ice hockey on such a high note! In the regular season, we won nearly every game which kept our spirits up and motivated us to eventually win champs.” In addition, her teammate Anna H. ’21 expressed that, “Winning champs this year felt surreal… Everyone on the team put their all into that game, and it paid off when we heard the buzzer go off with us as winners, the score being 3-2.” Anna and Martha expressed the feeling after the astounding win explaining how teamwork and the relationships formed between each player were what ultimately led to this victory.

Furthermore, Varsity Squash went undefeated in their regular season and traveled to Connecticut for nationals. Julia B. ’21 reflected on her season saying, “Nationals was definitely my favorite part of the season as well as getting to know everyone better and bonding with my team. I’m very proud of what our team accomplished throughout this season.” Indoor track also had a great season, going to several meets and thriving amidst tough competition. Several records were broken throughout. J’nai K. ‘20 broke the school record for 300m, while Jaimie placed third in the long and triples jumps during one meet, and Maelynn U. ‘20 placed first in the long and triple jumps; Jaimie tied for second place in the high jump. In another meet, Jaimie PRed in the triple jump.  In addition, Marina M. ‘21 came in first in the girls 500 dash, while Sophie Hood came in third in the 500 dash. Vanesa B. ‘20 came in second for the 55M hurdles and got a PR of 9.87 seconds. The 4x800 and 4x400 relays placed third overall, and there was a new school indoor record for the 4x200 relay at the Montgomery County invite; finally, Bryn Mawr tied for second in an Indoor Track meet. 

In addition, team spirit is an important aspect of athletics. Riley W. ’21 commented on swimming championships, stating, “Championships were great, but gazing over at my team for my first season of swimming, seeing everyone cheer each other on, representing the Bryn Mawr School as a whole, was a great experience.” In swimming championships, Bryn Mawr placed third overall while still having victories in individual races. 

Finally, Dance Company excelled in their final performance with a great turnout. Sydney L. ’21 exclaimed, “We performed for the audience of course, but mostly we performed for ourselves. We gave it our all and put ourselves in each piece while supporting the dancers for the piece we were not in.” Dance Company put a lot of effort into each piece, and even with a wardrobe malfunction, they were able to improvise and deliver a strong performance.

During the winter season, athletes learned that in order to succeed in the 2019-2020 winter sports season, they must understand the importance of being a team player and supporting their community!