100 YEARS OF ATHLETICS
2020s
COVID-19 isn’t the first pandemic to interrupt Athletics (the 1957–58 “Asian flu” pandemic cancelled a handful of games), but it does wreak havoc on competition in 2020 and 2021. Gordon’s new Golf team enters its second season, and the still fledgling Rowing teams excel. The Men’s and Women’s Lightweight teams join the Intercollegiate Rowing Association, placing them among the ranks of Harvard, Columbia and Stanford. Grant Veurink ’21 and Stephen Kaelin ’24 earn the title of national champions in May of 2021 after winning gold in the Jefferson Dad Vail Regatta. In 2020, three basketball players make national headlines with stats that place them at the top of NCAA basketball: At 33.5 points per game, Eric Demers ’20 is the top point-maker in all of college basketball, even over players at top teams like Duke and Louisiana State University; with 24.4 points per game, Meghan Foley ’20 is the top scorer in CCC Women’s Basketball and second in NCAA DIII; and with 13.8 rebounds per game, Sarah (Gibbs) Haworth ’20 leads the CCC and is third in DIII. Demers and Foley join the 1,000-point basketball club—Demers earning the men’s top spot with 2,553.
In the Scotlight Eric Demers ’20 Athletics Rising, an arm of the College’s highly successful Faith Rising comprehensive campaign, concludes in the spring of 2021, raising $5 million to support Gordon Athletics. A portion of these funds go to significant upgrades in the Bennett Athletic Center and Brigham Athletic Complex, including the new Kanas Court gymnasium, indoor softball and baseball facilities and a new track and turf. The Marc Whitehouse Broadcast Booth, named for the longtime Athletics coach and administrator, and the Juliana Baker Elliott Scoreboard, named for former softball player Juliana “Jill” (Baker) Elliott ’03, are both dedicated at Homecoming and Family Weekend 2021. Today, 28 percent of the student body now participates in varsity or club Athletics—fostering, as the Hypernikon aptly stated a century ago—“the characteristics of leadership which the world demands.” 100 years of Christcentered, championship-driven, character-building competition, and many more to come.
2021 CCC Champions Men’s and Women’s Soccer rang in Athletics’ 100th anniversary year by winning the CCC Championship
As a child, Eric Demers arrived at TD Garden early to watch the Boston Celtics warm up before games. Last summer playing for San Antonio Spurs’ 2021 NBA Summer League squad, Demers saw the faces of enthralled children there early to see him. “It was a flashback to being a little kid dreaming of something like this,” he says. And now he takes the court as a pro with the Maine Celtics, an NBA G League team. While most NBA players come from NCAA Division I and II backgrounds, Demers says his Gordon career provided distinct advantages. Ample playing time developed Demers’ skills; becoming a Division III standout garnered national recognition; and close relationships developed him both as an athlete and as a person. Those connections carry over into his latest endeavors even beyond basketball. Teammates stood beside him as he married Lauren (Edwards) Demers ’20 and traveled to watch him play in the NBA Summer League. “I try to remind myself that at the end of the day, the hoop is the same height, the basketball is the same, and I’ve been doing this for a very long time,” he says. “I’m trying to believe in myself that I am ready and embracing the opportunity.”
this past fall. Siblings Nathan Talesnick ’22 and Taylor Talesnick ’24 hold the trophies.
Follow the future of the Fighting Scots
See game schedules, live broadcasts, competition write-ups, athlete spotlights and more at athletics.gordon.edu gordonathletics
GordonCollegeAthletics
gordonathletics SPRING 2022 | STILLPOINT 29
