CMS Women's Lacrosse Goes Varsity
With Feb. 21 Debut Against Bates

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's lacrosse team makes its Division III debut with its match against Bates College on Friday, Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. at Parents Field. CMS becomes only the third Division III college in California, and the fifth in the west, to field varsity women's lacrosse.
Women's lacrosse began as a club sport at CMS in the early 1980s under the direction of Dan Guthrie, professor of biology. An early West Coast team, they played successfully for years within the Western Women's Lacrosse League, a collection of about 30 college clubs in California and Arizona. Despite the lack of recruiting prior to gaining NCAA status, The Claremont Colleges still attracted strong players from the East Coast, and by the late 1990s, the skill level was high enough for the colleges to support a varsity team, said CMS Athletic Director Michael Sutton.
"We are drawing students from around the country with lacrosse in their background, and now we have a skilled group of women who want to play varsity lacrosse," Sutton said.
Dana Latona joins CMS this year as head coach of women's lacrosse. Latona is a graduate of the College of New Jersey. She was voted U.S. Lacrosse Division III Player of the year and most valuable player of the 2000 NCAA All-Tournament Team. Professor Dan Guthrie continues as assistant coach.
"We hope we can be leaders in the Western Division for having a varsity women's lacrosse team as we aim for the quality of play that will routinely be invited to the NCAA Division III tournament," Sutton said. Visit http://athletics.claremont.edu for information on the team and schedule.