Earlier this year, the Panther women’s lacrosse team captured the college’s 50th team national title with an 8-6 victory over Wesleyan at Judson Stadium in Rochester, New York. The spirit of competition and tradition of success runs deep at Middlebury, with championship roots spanning five decades of varsity athletics.

THE FIRST: BACK TO BACK

With the establishment of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) in 1971, significant doors opened to allow women to compete in collegiate athletics. That came to a head for the women’s skiing team in 1979.

The Panthers outpaced some of the nation’s toughest teams to assume the 1979 AIAW throne. The navy and white scored 300 points in the event hosted in Marquette, Michigan and bested the University of Colorado by 20 points. Pacing the contingent was 2016 Middlebury Athletics Hall of Famer Sara McNealus Radamus ‘79, who won the giant slalom (GS) and finished as the runner-up in the slalom. Alice Tower Knapp ‘81 and Dani Shaw Virtue ‘82 also earned All-America honors for the Panthers.

Going into the 1980 season, the Panthers remained the program to beat. After headlining the AIAW East, Middlebury was set to welcome the country’s premier talent for the national event, but competition was relocated due to a lack of snow. Headlined by team victories in the GS and the 4x5-kilometer relay, the Panthers outdistanced the University of Vermont by 26.3 points (286.7 to 260.4) to claim the crown again. 

Following the consecutive AIAW crowns, the Panther faithful waited over a decade for its next national championship team. With it came a dynasty that produced a half-decade of hardware.

DRIVE FOR FIVE

The next opportunity for national supremacy came when the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) lifted its ban on NCAA postseason play before the 1993-94 campaign. Before 1993, Middlebury teams were allowed to compete for other championships in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) and AIAW, but the NCAA stage was an unknown.

The Middlebury men’s ice hockey team posted a 13-10-0 record in the 1993-94 season but missed the NCAA bracket. Entering the 1994-95 season, head coach Bill Beaney knew the team had the tools to battle for a national championship if given the opportunity.

Middlebury entered the postseason with an 18-2-2 mark. The Panthers clawed their way through Plattsburgh State in a best-of-three series before a 4-3 victory over defending champion University of Wisconsin-River Falls in the national semifinals set up the title tilt between the navy and white and Fredonia State.

In a packed Duke Nelson Arena, Mark Spence ‘98 delivered the decisive goal with 11:56 remaining in the first period and goalie Chris Farion ‘98 stopped all 17 shots he faced, sealing a 1-0 triumph over the Blue Devils and the program’s first national championship. 

What followed that initial title run can be described in one word: historic. Over the next four years, the Panthers rattled off a quartet of NCAA crowns, capped by a 5-0 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Superior in the 1999 installment in Norwich, Vermont. Middlebury became the only hockey program across all three NCAA divisions to win five consecutive championships.

As the decade neared its conclusion, the Panther spirit of being atop the mountain trickled down into other programs. The Middlebury women’s ice hockey team secured the 2000 and 2001 American Women's College Hockey Alliance (AWCHA) titles, but the championship fever was also caught by a pair of spring teams.

MIDDLEBURY LACROSSE GRABS THE SPOTLIGHT

One of the pillars of success for champions includes consistency. For Missy Foote, it was no different. Joining the Middlebury Athletics family in 1977, Foote was involved in multiple facets from administration to coaching. In 1997, she guided the women’s lacrosse team to its first NCAA crown with a 14-9 victory over The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in Lehigh, Pennsylvania. 

During the fall months, Foote served as the field hockey coach - and with many of those players trading in a field hockey stick for a lacrosse stick come spring, Foote knew both teams had the buy-in to make history. 

In 1998, Kully Hagerman ‘99 helped the field hockey program find its first taste of championship success, thumping the panel with 2:21 left in overtime to down William Smith College by a 3-2 score in Geneva, New York.

Middlebury’s reign continued in the spring. Over the ensuing eight campaigns, the Panthers hoisted five trophies in women’s lacrosse. 

The program’s rise to national prominence coincided with the men’s lacrosse team finding its footing. After dropping a 13-6 result to Salisbury State in the 1999 national championship game, head coach Erin Quinn ‘86 went back to the drawing board. 

The Panthers quickly proved the championship run was no fluke, avenging the 1999 defeat with a 16-12 victory over the Sea Gulls in 2000. The squad went on to claim back-to-back triumphs over Gettysburg in 2001 (15-10) and 2002 (14-9), becoming the fourth men’s program across all three divisions to win three consecutive NCAA titles. 

Having two programs achieving parallel success can be tough to juggle. For Foote, the hunger to compete was mutual.

With the 2000s just beginning, Middlebury continued to dominate on the national stage, culminating in a historic 2003-04 academic year. 

FIVE TITLES IN NINE MONTHS

When classes for the 2003-04 academic year began, the Panther faithful were in unfamiliar territory - the 2002-03 campaign marked the first time in 15 years that the Panthers had not brought home a national team title. What awaited the navy and white that season would prove to be worth the wait.

The women’s cross country team, which secured back-to-back NCAA titles in 2000 and 2001, was denied a three-peat after finishing second to conference foe Williams College at the 2002 championships in Minnesota. 

After a dominant campaign, the Panthers traveled to the 2003 championships in Hanover, Indiana, with something to prove. They did just that, outlasting NESCAC foe Trinity by 39 points to grab their third title in four seasons.

As the season shifted, the roar of Middlebury ice hockey ran through the community and beyond. The men’s squad, following a 6-0 defeat to Oswego State in the 2003 national semifinals, rallied the troops to a 24-3-0 mark entering tournament play. A 9-1 drubbing of Wentworth Institute of Technology set up a battle against a familiar foe in Norwich University for a spot in the title tilt. Overtime became the keyword for the squad, as Levi Doria ‘05 and Kevin Cooper ‘04 tallied the game-winning goals in extra sessions against the Cadets (3-2) and St. Norbert College (1-0), bringing home the bacon for the first time since 1999.

The rallying cry carried over for the women’s ice hockey program. After a 3-0 loss to Bowdoin College in the 2003 NCAA Quarterfinals, the Panthers rallied with consecutive 2-1 triumphs over Elmira College and Plattsburgh State to set up a championship bout with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Liz Yale-Loehr ‘06 was the hero for the navy and white, scoring with 4:28 left in the first period to give Middlebury a 2-1 lead. After limiting the Pointers to 13 shots on goal over the final 40 minutes, the program secured its first NCAA title.

The magic continued into the spring. The men’s tennis program, which had lost in the national semifinals to Emory University a season before, battled back with a 4-1 victory over the Eagles, setting up a meeting with Williams College in the national championship hosted by Bates College. Down 3-1 in the match, Ari Beilin ‘06 (2-6, 6-3, 6-1) and George Mayer ‘07 (6-4, 6-7(5-7), 6-0) rallied to knot the match at 3-3. Rookie Alex Scott ‘07 rallied from a 6-3 loss in his opening set, downing Lax Urban (3-6, 7-5, 7-5) in three sets to stamp the first men’s tennis title in school history.

Coming into the 2004 season, the women’s lacrosse team looked to reach the peak again after falling 11-9 to Amherst College in the 2003 national title game. Middlebury cut through the competition to reach the final weekend once more. The Panthers enacted some revenge, downing Amherst College 13-9 in the semifinals to set up another matchup with TCNJ in the championship game. The sides went back and forth, needing overtime to settle the score. Michele Bergofsky McPhee ‘06 gave the Panthers a 12-11 lead with 1:37 left in the first overtime before a Channing Weymouth ‘06 tally with one tick left sealed the two-goal victory.

Over those nine months, Middlebury tallied five team national championships. The Panthers are still the lone Division III program to accomplish this feat in one academic year and joined the likes of Stanford University and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as one of a few institutions to do so.

2000s DOMINANCE CONTINUES

After the historic 2003-04 campaign, Middlebury’s national title total continued to climb. The dominance on the ice continued, as the men’s and women’s ice hockey squads commenced consecutive three-peats from 2004 through 2006. Both programs added a page to the history books, becoming the only school in the country to sweep the men’s and women’s championships in the same season. 

The women’s cross country program returned to the top of the ladder after finishing 12th in 2005. Led by top-20 finishers Alexandra Krieg ‘08 and Andrea Giddings ‘06, the Panthers (144 points) edged conference foe Amherst (145 points) by an NCAA-record one point to ship another piece of hardware to Vermont in 2006. 

Another program joined the fray in 2007. Anchored by First-Team All-Americans Brian Bush ‘09 and current head coach Alex Elias ‘08, the men’s soccer program locked down its first trip to the national semifinals with a 2-0 victory over York College (Pa.). In Buena Vista, Florida, Middlebury needed penalty kick conversions from Andrew Germansky ‘08, Stephen Hart ‘10 and David LaRocca ‘08 to squeak by Loras College and set up a winner-take-all battle with Trinity University (Texas). Less than 24 hours later, Brandon Jackson ‘08 buried a penalty kick attempt after two scoreless overtimes into the back of the net to give the squad its first trophy.

Closing out the 2000s was the women’s cross country team. Paced by a third consecutive top-10 showing from Krieg, Middlebury claimed its fifth national title in eight years by 59 points over Calvin College in 2008. 

NEW DECADE, SAME STANDARD

As the calendar shifted to 2010, the trophy case continued to fill. The men’s tennis program met Amherst College in the national title bout after a heart-stopping 5-4 victory over Washington University in St. Louis. Paced by a senior class that included Andrew Lee ‘10 and current head coach Andrew Thomson ‘10, the Panthers dispatched the Mammoths 5-1 for their second national championship. 

Meanwhile, the women’s cross country team made room in the trophy case for the sixth time. With four of five scoring runners in the top 50, Middlebury bested WashU by eight points to claim the NCAA title. The championship closed a remarkable run that featured six crowns in 10 years.

The Panther community waited five years for its next crown. Led by head coach Katharine DeLorenzo, the field hockey program hoisted the trophy for the first time in 17 years with a 1-0 victory over top-ranked Bowdoin College in the 2015 title game. Middlebury, who knocked off four of the top six teams in the country on its quest to the top, kicked off a stellar run that included four championships in five seasons (2015, 2017, 2018, 2019). 

Also rejoining the championship party was the women’s lacrosse program. The Panthers brought in a familiar face to lead the charge in Kate Livesay ‘03, who won two titles as a player for Missy Foote in 2001 and 2002. Middlebury ascended the mountain once more, downing Trinity College (Conn.) 9-5 in the 2016 title tilt to cap a then-school-record 22 wins against one loss. 

The Panthers needed to wait three more years before another women’s lacrosse title came calling. Four goals apiece from Jane Earley ‘23 and Emma McDonagh ‘19 paced the navy and white to a 14-9 victory over Salisbury University in the 2019 title game in Ashland, Virginia.

Finally, the men’s tennis squad shook off a 5-4 loss to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in the 2017 semifinals with a 5-3 triumph over Bowdoin College in the 2018 championship match. The victory marked the third title in program history.

STICK SPORTS REIGN SUPREME

With the COVID-19 pandemic striking the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 seasons, many programs may have lost their spark. For Middlebury, it was the beginning of something special.

The field hockey team burst out of the gates in the fall, using two goals from Katie George ‘23 and Erin Nicholas ‘22 to down Johns Hopkins University 4-1 and secure their fourth straight NCAA title with a perfect 22-0 record.

The women’s ice hockey program barreled through the competition, entering the Big Dance with a 24-0-0 mark. After dispatching Endicott College 4-0 and Elmira College 2-1 in the quarterfinals and semifinals, the Panthers met Gustavus Adolphus College in the season finale inside a packed Chip Kenyon ‘85 Arena. A Gustie goal with 0.1 seconds remaining in regulation knotted the contest at 2-2 and delayed the celebrations. A centering pass from Eva Hendrikson ‘23 to a darting Ellie Barney ‘22 sailed into the back of the net with 6:43 remaining in the first overtime, sending the crowd into a frenzy. The historic season came to a close, as Middlebury joined the 1970 Cornell University men’s hockey team (29-0-0) and 2013 University of Minnesota women’s hockey program (41-0-0) as the third squad, regardless of division, to complete an unbeaten season.

The 2022 women’s lacrosse team closed the academic year in style. Shaking off a 9-8 loss in the conference title to Tufts University, the Panthers outscored four opponents 74-17 in NCAA Tournament play, setting up a rematch with the Jumbos for the national championship. Middlebury set aside the past and thrived in the present, tallying the final six goals to secure a 13-5 victory.

Over the past four academic years, the field hockey and women’s lacrosse programs have continued to push the envelope. The field hockey program has claimed three of the last four national championships, most recently finalizing a 2-1 victory over Tufts University in the 2024 title game. The women’s lacrosse squad has continued to rewrite the record books, claiming the last five titles. The fifth manifested with last spring’s 8-6 triumph over Wesleyan University.

With the chase for 50 complete, the Panthers still have some history on the horizon. Middlebury sits four NCAA Championships away from reaching the half-century mark. In the NCAA’s history, only 11 schools have achieved the milestone. Kenyon College (62) and the University of Wisconsin La Crosse (54) represent Division III in the exclusive club.

For coaches like Aldrich, Middlebury’s success is like the components of a locomotive. Every piece of equipment must work together to make the engine go.

“Middlebury has achieved incredible success in so many different sports," Aldrich said. "The academic reputation, its geographic location, our athletic facilities, highly motivated coaches, an extremely competitive conference and support and leadership from our athletic directors have given our student-athletes an incredible opportunity for success in their respective sports."