This graduate program is a product of the $200 million donation from alumnus Robert Day ’65, who hoped to enhance the educational experience at CMC. The program replaced the former Robert Day 4+1 MBA Program at Claremont Graduate Institute with an on-campus option and was modeled on a number of similar graduate programs, most notably the Masters of Finance degree offered at Princeton University. Robert Day, the grandson of another important donor and Superior Oil Co. founder William M. Keck, hoped to do something slightly different with his donation. His efforts eventually led to the creation of the Robert Day Scholars program.

Robert Day '65 interacts with CMCers at a Networking Event.

The draws of the Masters program include its specialized instruction, a 97% job placement rate, scholarships of at least $24,000, and networking trips to Asia and New York for job placement purposes. The Robert Day Masters scholarships are just slightly more than the $21,000 scholarship given to undergraduate scholars for their participation in the program. The deadline for the undergraduate program was Friday, October 14.

The RDS “package” also includes networking connections with many of the most successful of CMC alums, many of whom serve on the Board of Trustees and the board of the Robert Day School, as well as a week-long session with Training the Street (TTS), a week-long finance preparation program which trains analysts at many top Wall Street investment banks.

For the future, Blomberg sees a graduate class of about 40 students including 7-10 undergraduate students taking part in the 4+0 program, in which CMC students are able to get both a BA and MA in 4 years. There are currently 5 students enrolled in this new program. As Professor Blomberg said in a New York Times article earlier this year, he hopes these students will be able to “show up at the door of [an] investment bank and you won’t even need to add batteries.”

Although the small program has no strict competitors, it does have similar admissions numbers to other top finance programs. The average GRE quantitative score for CMC Graduate students in the Class of 2011 was 770, while Princeton’s Masters in Finance class had a median GRE quant score of 790. The college has continued to market to students via a number of avenues, including presentations at various undergraduate institutions and running online and targeted ads on Facebook. Applications to the graduate program have increased in size in each of its first three years.

When compared to the undergraduate Robert Day Scholars, Blomberg noted that the understanding of the graduate program among CMC’s alumni network needs “to grow a little bit, as the masters program students have traditionally been different from our undergrads.”

Blomberg sees the RDS undergraduates as those seeking a liberal arts background and wanting specialized education in areas of finance, accounting and economics, while the graduate students have mostly come from national research universities, giving them a different undergraduate experience. The program will continue to recruit more students from small colleges. Blomberg and the Director of Admissions at the Robert Day School, Kevin Arnold, have continued to reach out to liberal arts schools across the United States to familiarize them with CMC’s new graduate program.

Undergraduate and graduate RDS scholars have found jobs in similar places, and Blomberg credited these similarities to the connections the school maintains with its alumni base, and the strong work of Director of External Relations, Michelle Chamberlain and her team. Placements for the graduate class of 2011 included positions at Ernst & Young, Goldman Sachs, Houlihan Lokey, and Morgan Stanley.

Following a recent networking trip, Blomberg said, “the anecdotal evidence suggests that the [job] market is tight, and the actual evidence continues to suggest that the market is tight.” At a recent job event for Barclays Capital at Harvey Mudd on October 12, a recruiter noted there are few opportunities in finance in the United States at this time. With the job environment for CMCers looking bleak, it presents a challenge for the current graduate students and for the program to maintain its 97% job placement record.

However, with more undergraduate students facing a life after college without a job, this may benefit the program with more highly qualified applicants turning to the masters program as an intermediary step to their job search.

Although the debate continues over CMC’s current academic focus, applications for the undergraduate and graduate RDS programs, as well as to the college, are on the rise. If the program can continue to place graduates in top spots, despite the dismal job outlook for ‘Generation Limbo’, the RDS Masters program will continue to grow as a selling point for the school.

Clare Riva ’13, the new Dorm Affairs Chair, says of the event: “We were extremely pleased with the turnout. We’re really looking forward to a more open relationship between ASCMC and the CMC student body, and the think that this was a really great step in the right direction.”

“Temple was violent, playing a little dirty and they were bigger than us physically, but our strategy was more intelligent, we attacked, we scouted their players, and moved more cohesively as a unit than they did, they didn’t move as well as a unit, we came together better”  spectator Julie Hailue CMC ’11 said.

Captain Jeff Astor CMC ’11 reflected on the team’s attitude: “It was the last time this team would ever be together, and I knew that each guy would leave everything they had on the field.  They did.”

Photo credit: Tim Stapenhorst PZ '12

Under the leadership of first-year coach Jeremy Ognal, the team qualified for nationals for the first time since 2005 by winning the SCRFU D-II playoffs with a dominant 43-5 victory over their rival LMU, who knocked Claremont out of nationals last year.

The first two rounds of nationals were  hosted by The Central Florida Sports Commission & The Orlando Rugby Club in Sanford, FL. Claremont, the #2 seed in the Southern California region behind Arizona State, who they lost to 40-0 in January.  The 5C team defeated St. Louis University in the round of 16, and University of Vermont in the quarterfinals to advance to the final 4.

In the semifinals, the team eeked out a 36-34 victory over University of Miami (Ohio) to advance to Saturday’s final.

This has also been a historic year for the team, as they defeated the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos in double overtime back in April in a DI/DII Challenge Match to be promoted to Division 1 competition.

The video of the final can be watched here.

Some information from this article was taken from The Student Life’s April 1st article.

Last year Lee was awarded Division III First Team All-American honors after finishing eighth at the Division III championships. He was the first Stag to accomplish this feat since 2002, and the first Stag ever to be a first-teamer as a freshman. He was also a first team all-SCIAC honoree. Last week, Lee was the medalist at the Kingsmen Invitational for the second year in a row, leading the Stags to a first place finish.

Lee focuses on a putt at the Kingsmen Invitational.

Cal-Berkeley is a member of the Pacific 10 conference which has seen golfers such as Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Tom Watson compete on its links. Unlike a transfer from another D-I school, Lee will be eligible to compete immediately, and will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Berkeley is currently the 28th ranked team in Division I golf according to golfweek.com, and won the D-I championship in 2004. It is the alma mater of two active players on the PGA Tour: Charlie Wi and Peter Tomasulo, who both competed in the 2009 US Open. The squad plays on 11 different practice courses and has its own facility for short game work.

CMS Golf will play at home on April 9th to battle Cal State Fullerton.

The Stags had been looking forward to this matchup since last spring when the Slugs knocked CMS out of the NCAA tournament in the round of 16 on their way to the championship. Although UCSC had lost five of their six senior starters from a year ago, the team rebounded to win the ITA Indoor Nationals tournament in February to retain their No. 1 ranking.

This was the first matchup between archrivals CMS and UCSC at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center, with CMS riding a four match winning streak at home vs. the Slugs.

The Slugs were the first to get on the board, with their No. 5 ranked team defeating the Stags #1 doubles team of Thomas Keiffer CM ’10 and captain Mikey Lim CM ’10 8-4. Robbie Erani CM ’12 and Ron Wu CM ’11 evened the score at 1-all with a convincing 8-1 victory at second doubles, and Eric MacColl CM ’10 and Brandon Wei HM ’12 were close behind with a victory at third doubles, 8-3.

All eyes turned to the singles matches, as the Stags needed three of six to clinch victory. First off was No. 3 ranked Robbie Erani with a crushing 6-2, 6-2 victory over Santa Cruz’s No.1, and the Stags were up 3-1, with first set victories in all six matches, unprecedented against a team of Santa Cruz’s quality. Erani’s partner Ron Wu was next off with a 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 5, and Victor Chien CM ’12 in the six slot, clinched the match for the Stags. Chien was especially impressive: after losing the first two games, he rebounded to win the next 12  and take the match in convincing fashion.

The men continued to pour salt on the Santa Cruz wounds, with MacColl at 3 winning 6-3, 6-3, Lim with a 6-4, 6-2 victory at No. 2, and Russell Brockett CM ’11 with a 6-4, 6-1 victory at No. 4 for an 8-1 victory. The 8 to 1 score was the most lopsided ever for the Stags vs. the Slugs and sends a message to the rest of Division III.

The Stags (13-4, 3-0 SCIAC) host No. 25 ranked Gustavus Adolphus on Tuesday night and face SCIAC rival Cal Lutheran April 10th at 9:30 at the BFTC.

Editor’s Note: I know there’s a joke waiting in there somewhere about salting slugs instead of wounds but I’m just not coming up with it.

Perizzolo said, “Winning two national titles is amazing and I still don’t think it has fully hit me yet, and it will probably take me awhile to fully realize everything that happened last week,” but noted her greatest swimming achievements have been as part of relay teams.

On Perizzolo, Coach Griffiths noted, “When you add the significance of her medley relays splits this year and her body of work over three seasons at the SCIAC and NCAA level, there’s no doubt that Annie is one of the elite student-athletes in CMS history.”

The University of Minnesota Aquatic Center hosted the NCAA Division III Championships. Photo Credit: NCAA

Both medley relay teams earned All-American honors as well, and set CMS and SCIAC records with their times. The 200 medley relay team (Elsa Cheng CMC ’13, Perizzolo, Bilotti and Emma Jones CMC ’12) took second in 1:43.09, while the 400 medley relay team (Tessa Dover CMC ’11, Perizzolo, Bilotti and Jones) swam the relay in 3:44.60, also taking second place. Dover finished sixth in the 200 backstroke earning All-American honors and broke CMS and SCIAC records in the prelims.

Tessa Dover was awarded an NCAA Elite 88 award for having the highest cumulative GPA of all the competitors at the Division III Championships.

The 200 free relay team (Jenni Rinker HMC ’11, Elica Sharifnia CMC ’12, Bilotti and Jones) and Bilotti in the 50 free received honorable mention All-American honors for their finishes in the top 16. The Athenas’ 5th place finish is their highest ever and the fifth straight top 15 national finish.

For the future of the Athenas, Coach Griffiths has a lot of goals, “We’d like to see our All-Americans continue to improve; we’d like to see some more current team members take the next step and qualify for nationals; we want to recruit incoming swimmers who will be great fits at our colleges and are excited about getting faster.”

The Women’s Swimming team beat Redlands by over 100 points to win their eighth straight SCIAC championship, the third longest active SCIAC winning streak next to the women’s and men’s track teams. On the first day, he Athenas team of Jenni Rinker SC ’11, Elica Sharifnia CM ’12, Katie Bilotti CM ’12 and Emma Jones CM ’12  started the night by winning the 200 free relay and followed by closing the same night with a victory in 400 medley relay (Rinker, Annie Perizzolo CM ’11, Bilotti, Jones.) On the second day of competition, Athenas also took gold, and set a CMS and SCIAC record in the 200 medley relay (Elsa Cheng CM ’13, Perizzolo, Bilotti and Jones). In addition, Emily Ott CM ’13 won the 400 individual medley, Perizzolo won the 100 breaststroke, and Bilotti won the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke, setting meet records in both swims. On the final day CMS cemeted their victory with wins from Whitney Dawson CM ’12 in the 1650 free, Tessa Dover CM ’11 in the 200 back, Perizzolo in the 200 breast and the team of Rinker, Perizzolo, Bilotti, and Jones in the 400 free relay.  Dover set a CMS and SCIAC record in the 200 back and Perizzolo set SCIAC meet records in the 200 breast and the 400 free relay. A number of swimmers will move onto NCAA’s and will be previewed in The Forum before the competition.

In the SCIAC final at Ducey Gymnasium on Saturday, two-time SCIAC player of the year Chris Blees was the star, scoring 14 points to go with 6 rebounds and 3 steals, including the final steal and two free throws that clinched the Stag’s victory. Second team All-SCIAC forward Joey Anderson dominated the glass with 13 rebounds, and added 6 points of his own. Connor Faught came up huge off the bench, with 13 points in just 18 minutes of play, including two big threes. Hounded by the Pomona-Pitzer crowd with chants of “Ja-Son”, Jason Toney CM ’11 was off, shooting just 2 for 10 from the field, but handled the ball well, and led the offense effectively. Toney was also named to the SCIAC first team for his efforts this season. The Stags were unable to continue their run, as they dropped their first round NCAA tournament game to Chapman 58-47.The Stags will have to wait another year to win their first NCAA tournament game.

The women’s basketball team entered the SCIAC tournament, having high hopes, especially after taking Occidental to OT in their previous match up. They played the first thirty minutes with the same confidence, rolling to a 10 point lead on top seed Oxy. A back and forth game still had the Athenas with an 59-51 lead with 5:31 remaining, but the Tigers did not back down.  They clawed back to even the score at 59-all in the next minute and a half. Occidental then went on a run, and looked like they had the game won in the final minute, up 68-62, but All-SCIAC guard Aria Krumwiede CM ’12 scored 7 points in the final minute to give the Athenas a possession down 72-69 with eight seconds remaining. Krumwiede again was called upon, but unfortunately her shot fell short, and the Athenas season came to a conclusion.

Following a 76-73 OT loss to Occidental on the 6th, the playoff outlook for the Athenas seemed bleak, but the stars aligned with a pair of Poet losses and two rapid-fire wins for CMS.  Nevertheless, the Athenas aren’t quite in control of their own destiny. With only a showdown against last place Pomona-Pitzer (1-11 SCIAC) left to play, CMS is depending on yet another Whittier loss to squeak into the tournament.

Aria Krumwiede and the Athenas look to clinch a playoff birth this weekend. Photo Credit: Gary Stephenson

It seems as if the close loss to first place Oxy has given CMS the confidence that they can compete with the elite in SCIAC and it’s shown in their last three games.

Last night the Athenas dominated Whittier statistically even more than the score showed,  grabbing 44 rebounds to the Poets 23, shooting 34-42 for free throws and leading in just about every other stat.

In an 81-30 drubbing of Cal Tech, Aria Krumwiede CM ’12 had a game high 22 points, including setting a team record, shooting 6 for 6 from beyond the arc. Taylon Johnson CM ’12 got in on the scoring parade, adding 13 points, and swiping three steals.

On Saturday, the Athenas defeated the University of La Verne 61-50 to move within one game of Whittier. Krumwiede again led the team with 19 points, while Grace Beck CM ’12 grabbed 10 boards to keep the Athenas in the game.

If the Athenas win their final game, they could be looking at a rematch with the Tigers at Occidental in the SCIAC tournament next week.

Men’s Basketball

Stags basketball has picked up right where they left off after their SCIAC championship season by going 15-3 in division III play, including 8-1 (1st) in SCIAC play. Reigning SCIAC player of the year Chris Blees CM ’11 is averaging 18.5 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per game to lead the team in both categories. The team had a huge win at Redlands for first place in the SCIAC last week. After blowing a 6 point lead with 1:09 to  play, the Stags rebounded in overtime to outscore the Bulldogs 16-8 and take sole possession of 1st place in the conference. The SCIAC champs have won 11 of their last 12 games, the lone exception being a tough 36-47 loss at Pomona-Pitzer two weeks ago in which the men made only 23% of their shots from the field. The team faces Cal Tech at home on Wednesday, then faces La Verne and Whittier, before a huge showdown at home vs. P-P a week from Saturday.

Women’s Basketball

The Athenas got off to a strong start this year, winning 9 of their first 11 games, but the conference schedule has been tough on the women. Aira Krumwiede CM ’12 was named MVP of the CMS-CalTech classic in late December, and has continued that torrid pace, averaging 14.5 points per game, shooting 36% from beyond the arc, and leading the team in steals. Cameron Hanson CM ’10 has been a dominant inside presence, shooting 57% from the field and grabbing 7 rebounds a game. They currently sit at 12-9, 3-7 in SCIAC (5th) with three games remaining, including a home game against P-P the same Saturday night as the men.

Nick Ostreim and the CMS swim team hope to repeat their success of last year. Photo Credit: Christopher Mitchell / Sport Shot Photo

Men’s Swimming & Diving

The two time defending SCIAC champion aquatic Stags once again have gotten off to a strong start in league play, besting CalTech, Pomona-Pitzer, Whittier, La Verne, Occidental, and Cal Lutheran before falling last Saturday in a tight one to Redlands. In the losing effort, Andrew Fevery CM ’13 and Garrett Smith CM ’11 won the 1m and 3m diving events, respectively, Brant Kersten CM ’12 set a pool record in the men’s mile, Nick Ostreim CM ’11 won the 200 backstroke event, and Vincent Pai HM ’12 set a pool record in the 200 breaststroke. The men will have a chance to avenge their loss at the SCIAC championships starting February 21.

Women’s Swimming & Diving

The seven time defending SCIAC champions have once again clinched an undefeated SCIAC record with their victory over Redlands this past Saturday. This past weekend, the Athenas dominated the 400 m relay, Carmen Lundell CM ’13 took 1st in both the 1m and 3m diving events, Whitney Dawson CM ’12 toasted the Bulldogs in the 1650, and Annie Perizzolo CM ’11 and Emma Jones CM ’12 both posted NCAA B-cut times in the 200 breast and 200 free respectively. Other event winners included Jones in the 100 free and Jenni Rinker HM ’11 in the 200 backstroke. Next for the Athenas are SCIAC diving prelims this Saturday and then SCAIC championships February 21st.

Andrew Cosentino (CMC JR) was named to the All-SCIAC first team for the second straight year. Photo Credit: Gary Stephenson.

Women’s Volleyball
A young team, graduating only one senior (Jamie Matusiak (CMC)) finished a rocky season at 14-15 overall and tied for 5th in SCIAC competition with a 6-8 conference record. Allie Macy (CMC JR) OH and Taylor Jones (CMC FR) S were named to the All-SCIAC second team.

Women’s Soccer
One of the most dominant seasons in Athena’s soccer included a nine-game winning streak, an undefeated SCIAC campaign, and a second straight SCIAC tournament title before falling in the round of 32 of the NCAA tournament. Laura Hagen (CMC SR) was selected as SCIAC Player of the Year, leading the league in assists, and 2nd in goals scored.  First Team All-SCIAC selections included goalie Camila Friedman-Gerlicz (CMC SR), defender Stefanie Chan (CMC JR) and midfielder Nicole Sady-Kennedy (CMC SR). Defender Courtney Funk (SCR SR), midfielder Kirsten McAfee (HMC JR), forward Giselle Galanto (CMC SR) and utility player Julia Nishioka (CMC SO) were named to the Second team.  We finished 16-3-2 overall and 10-0-2 in SCIAC play.

Men’s Soccer
After a fourth place finish in the regular season, the Stags knocked off top seed Pomona and second seed Redlands to qualify for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2000. They continued their magic run in the NCAAs, winning at Santa Cruz before falling in the round of 32 to Whitworth.  Goalie Ryan Fahey (CMC SR), defender Tomislav Zbozinek (CMC SR), midfielder Michael Nguyentat (CMC JR), and forward Harrison Doyle (CMC FR) were named to the All-SCIAC first team. Midfielder David Taylor (CMC FR) was a Second Team All-SCIAC selection.  We finished 12-8-2 overall and 8-5-1 against SCIAC foes.

Football
After a 2-0 start, including the seniors’ first victory over regional rival Puget Sound, the Stags went into a mid-season funk, losing four of their next five games. However, strong performances by the defense, QB Pat Rooney (CMC SO) and DJ Lillard (CMC SR) helped the team win their final two games, clinching a winning season and retaining the Peace Pipe. First team SCIAC selections were running back DJ Lillard, linebacker Dan Picciotto, (CMC SR), and defensive back Brock Olson (CMC SR). Offensive tackle Matt Pautler, (CMC JR) and defensive lineman Rory Baird, JR, (CMC JR) were named to the second team. The Stags finished 5-4 overall and an even 3-3 in SCIAC play.

Men’s Cross Country
The men finished a strong season in 15^th at NCAAs after winning the West Region and SCIAC titles. All-Region honors for the men included Kramer Straube (HMC JR) 4^th, Brian Kopczynski (CMC JR), Florian Scheulen (HMC SR), Brian Sutter (CMC FR), Georgi Dinolov (HMC JR) and Matt Kurtis (HMC SR). First Team All-SCIAC selections were Straube, Kopczynski Kris Brown (CMC JR), and Sutter. Second Team All-SCIAC selections for the Stags were Scheulen, Kurtis, Dinolov, and Dillon Ayers (HMC JR).

Women’s Cross Country
The women finished 22^nd at NCAAs, besting conference rivals Redlands and Occidental in their final two meets, after finishing behind these two in the SCIAC championships   Jennifer Tavé (SCR SO) finished 27^th to become the first Athena All-American runner since 2005, also earning First team All-SCIAC honors and All-Region honors. All-Region honors for the women also included, Julia Rigby (SCR SO), and Breanna Deutsch (SCR SO). Rigby and Ashley Scott (CMC JR) were named to the All-SCIAC second team.

Men’s Tennis
Robert Erani (CMC SO) won the West Regional tournament and finished in 3rd place at the ITA nationals to earn All-American honors for the first time in his  budding career.