The Waiting Game

ATHLETICS

▲ Gagik Malakyan ’24 and Artem Buzoverya ’24 helped the Statesmen clinch the conference title, but the war between their home countries is never far from their thoughts.

For the Hobart hockey team, the Russian-Ukraine conflict is personal.

BY COLIN SPENCER ’19

In February, teammates and friends Artem Buzoverya ’24 and Gagik Malakyan ’24 watched from halfway around the world as the political turmoil between their home countries turned violent. Buzoverya was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, less than 30 miles from the Russian border, not far from where Russian forces invaded. Malakyan grew up in Moscow. Both have family in their respective countries, and the con ict cast a shadow over the spring semester that saw the Statesmen into the NCAA quarter nals.

“You sit every day and just hope for the best but in reality you never know. You don’t control it. None of us do,” says Buzoverya.

He and Malakyan came to the U.S. during high school to join junior hockey leagues. When the junior leagues ended, both came to HWS, where they met and built

“You sit every day and just hope for the best but in reality you never know. You don’t control it. None of us do.”

a strong friendship, bonding over economics coursework, a shared language (Russian) and Hobart hockey.

“These are the guys you want to spend time with,” Malakyan says of his teammates. “As soon as you step in the locker room, you feel like this is your family.”

The 2020 season, their rst at HWS, was limited to three exhibition games due to the pandemic, meaning little time for the two on the ice. But during their sophomore year, they helped the team post a 19-4-2 overall record and clinch the New England Hockey Conference’s regular season title.

A center on Hobart’s top line, Buzoverya is one of six Statesmen with 20 points on the season. Malakyan, a defender, posted six points on a goal and ve assists, despite playing only 10 games this season because of injury.

“From day one, these two young men have distinguished themselves on and o the ice as athletes, citizens and especially students,” says Hobart Hockey Head Coach Mark Taylor. “They are going through a lot right now, and we are doing everything we can to support them. In this uncertain time, what I know for sure is they have the full support of the Colleges, certainly of their teammates and most importantly of each other.”

Malakyan says hockey helped keep news of the war at bay, though only for so long. “Every time you step on the ice, you kind of forget about your problems and enjoy the moment with the guys,” he says. “But then you get o the ice and you’re back in reality again, picturing all this stu that is going on in the world and you can’t do anything about it.”

That sense of uncertainty and vulnerability can be consuming, Buzoverya says. “Lately, it’s been kind of hard just to close your eyes and go to sleep without thinking about it, because it’s always there,” he says. “You might go to sleep with a seven-hour di erence and wake up to 100 messages saying the worst has happened.”

While “it’s hard not to feel anxious and helpless at times,” Malakyan says he’s “thankful for my teammates, coaches, friends and faculty who are doing what they can to help.”

GOING BIG

FOR HWS ATHLETICS

In just 24 hours, the HWS community posted record-breaking stats in support of the Herons and Statesmen. During the Colleges’ single biggest fundraising day ever, thousands of members of the HWS community participated in the annual Athletics Day of Donors, boosting individual teams and the Colleges’ programs in sports medicine and strength and conditioning by nearly $900,000. Once again, ADOD was anchored by the late James F. Caird ’56, L.H.D. ‘12 and Cynthia L. Caird L.H.D. ’12, who generously funded the Caird Challenge, putting up $25,000 in bonus cash for Hobart and William Smith athletic teams.

“On behalf of HWS Athletics, we all send our heartfelt thanks to the more than 3,000 alums, parents, student-athletes and friends of our 29 sports and support staffs who made a gift,” says Brian Miller, associate vice president and director of athletics and recreation. “These gifts will allow our programs to prosper and give us the ability to enhance the entire studentathlete experience, while providing the necessary funding to help each sport and individual reach their full potential.”

ADOD: by the numbers $883,998

donated

327%

of the $270,000 goal

3,057

donors

JACOBSEN JOINS NCAA PRESIDENTS COUNCIL

In June, President Joyce P. Jacobsen began her four-year term of service on the NCAA’s Division III Presidents Council, the highest governing body in Division III athletics. The Council establishes and directs the general policy of the Division, while also setting D-III’s strategic plan. “It’s an honor to represent the Colleges, our coaches, staff and student athletes, particularly in this exciting time when our athletics department is expanding,” Jacobsen says.

HOBART LAX SCHOLARSHIPS GET THE OK

Since Hobart lacrosse moved to Division I in 1995, NCAA legislation has prevented the Statesmen from offering athletic scholarships. That changed at this year’s NCAA Convention. In January, the Liberty League proposal to permit multidivisional institutions to award athletics aid to their D-I studentathletes passed by an overwhelming majority. Prior to the vote, Hobart lacrosse was bound by D-I rules except those regarding financial aid, making the program unable to grant scholarships based on athletic ability. Between the efforts of HWS Athletics, NCAA compliance staff and financial aid staff, the Colleges will soon be able to announce the institution’s first athletic scholarship.

ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA TEAM

Olivia Parisi ’22 was elected to the 2021–22 Academic All-America Division III Women’s Basketball first team by the College Sports Information Directors of America. An economics major, Parisi is a Blackwell Scholar, a three-time Liberty League All-Academic selection and a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District pick. She earned Dean's List recognition and was ranked second in the league this season in points per game. She is the fourth Heron basketball player and the 62nd studentathlete in HWS history to be named an Academic All-American.

◀ Midfielder James Greene ’25 spins off a check by a Michigan defender. The Statesmen scrimmaged the Wolverines in the Poole Family Sports Dome at the start of the spring season.

▼ A forward on the Herons, Parisi jukes an RIT defender.

PHOTOS BY KEVIN COLTON