CMC Magazine banner

Call it the Year of the Athena

Winter 2018

By Chris Watts

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas brought home a clutch of national titles, including three team national championships in one year—a first in CMS athletics history. The winning streak began last November with the women’s volleyball team earning the national title. In May, the women’s golf team won its first championship, with Margaret Loncki ’18 sinking a 15-foot putt on the second playoff hole against Williams College. Loncki also scored the individual national title and was named Division III Player of the Year.

Two weeks later, women’s tennis toppled perennial power Emory University 5-4, giving another Athena team its first taste of glory. The same week, Emily Bassett ’18 earned an individual national title in the hammer throw with a toss of 62.51 meters. Bassett’s victory, along with individual titles by Tyra Abraham and Bryn McKillop from Scripps College, helped propel the CMS women’s track and field team to a fourth-place finish in the NCAA Division III Championships, the team’s best season to date.

How does it feel to reach the highest level of your collegiate athletic career? CMC Magazine asked the College’s two individual winners, Loncki and Bassett, to reflect on their amazing victories.