On the court or in the pool, Pomona College student-athletes spend the winter months vying for wins before and after returning to campus for the spring semester.
The end of the calendar year brings new seasons for men’s and women’s basketball, as well as men’s and women’s swimming and diving.
Three student-athletes reflect on what drew them to Pomona, how they balance schoolwork and athletic responsibilities while in season, and what they plan to do with their time left at the College.
Collegiate swimming, like college itself, is very much a sport of delayed rewards, and Emmie Appl ’25 is nothing if not patient.
“We’re in the pool every day, sometimes multiple times a day, and the evidence of all that work doesn’t show up until the very end of the season,” she says. “You really have to trust the process, and there are a lot of similarities between that and research, because with some experiments you have to do them many, many times to get any significant data.”
Appl, a molecular biology major by way of Orinda, California, is drawn to research “to help progress human health and develop treatments that help people,” she says. As such, her senior thesis is centered on Vibrio cholerae, the bacteria that causes cholera disease.
“In my research, you’re getting to know this bacterium better so down the road you can create more drugs or treatments for cholera,” she says. “Looking forward, I want to be one step closer to having those direct impacts.”
Appl intends to pursue a Ph.D. in either biomedical sciences or immunology and work in labs that emphasize translational research.
Until then, she’s spending equal time pushing her limits as a swimmer and mentoring the underclassmen who’ll lead the program when she and her fellow seniors complete their final season.
Appl holds Sagehen records in the 200 IM (2:04.43) and 400 IM (4:23.15) and is the reigning Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion in the 200 Breast. Pomona-Pitzer is the defending SCIAC team champion and a top team in the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America Division III poll.
As her time at Pomona draws to a close, Appl is prioritizing time with friends, teammates and her surroundings. There’s another SCIAC team championship to win, she says, a sunset on Mount Baldy to watch and a bite to grab at Pitzer College’s Pitstop Café.
The clock’s ticking.
“People say college goes by so fast,” Appl says. “I’m pretty satisfied with what I’ve experienced over the past three and a half years, and it’s not over yet. There’s a lot to look forward to this coming semester.”
Elsa Cottrell ’28 may be far from home, but at Pomona, home is never far from her.
Cottrell’s older sister, Sydney, is a junior at the College and can be heard inside Voelkel Gymnasium during home games calling the action for the Pomona-Pitzer women’s basketball team. If she’s not on that assignment, then she’s at the scorer’s table keeping stats—something she’s done for her younger sister for years.
“We’re very close,” Elsa Cottrell says. “Originally, I didn’t want to go to the same school as her because we’ve done everything the same our whole lives, but now that I’m here, it’s really nice to have her here.”
Cottrell, a 5-foot-11 guard from Portland, Oregon, is one of seven first-year players on a young Sagehens team that has already surpassed last season’s win total. As a newcomer, Cottrell has found the team culture “positive and so encouraging,” a rarity in competitive sports, she says.
Cottrell has appeared in all 13 games this season, playing about 12 minutes a game.
“I didn’t know what to expect coming in so I practiced as much as I could to prepare myself as best I could for the season,” she says. “I’m doing whatever I can to support the players who are carrying a lot more of the load than I am.”
Aside from having a sibling already here, Cottrell was drawn to Pomona “because you don’t have to know what you want to study when you’re coming in.” Cottrell visited campus when her sister was deciding where to go, and in addition to liking the location, the younger Cottrell enjoyed “how Pomona feels like a bigger school because of (the Claremont Colleges) but still has the benefits of a small school.”
In her first semester on campus, Cottrell explored academic interests in the classroom, watched her sister’s music performances, and attended as many on-campus events as her basketball and class schedules allowed.
“I hope to take advantage of all the things Pomona has to offer,” she says. “I’ve had a really good experience so far, both at Pomona and on the team.”
What Connor Fitzgerald ’27 appreciated most about his first year on the Sagehens’ men’s basketball team is how teammates two, three or even four years his senior taught him how to handle a new environment.
While drawn to the sandy shores of California, the Scottsdale, Arizona, native says he chose Pomona to push himself academically and athletically. Fitzgerald discovered quickly “the schoolwork here is no joke,” he says.
“I’ve been challenged for sure,” he adds, “and it’s definitely hard to maintain good grades, which wasn’t the case in high school. But it’s been great.”
Fitzgerald, a 6-foot-3 guard, has appeared in most of the Sagehens’ games this season as the team embarks on conference play after winter break. Entering his second season in blue and orange, Fitzgerald wanted to pass on the wisdom he picked up last year to his younger teammates.
“I remember looking up to some of the sophomores when I was a freshman,” he says, “and I wanted to be someone like that for the guys coming in. Our team is more of a family than friends, and we always look out for each other. We’ve definitely created a bond as a team.”
One of the ways Fitzgerald has strengthened that bond is by inviting them to an athletes Bible study with Claremont Christian Fellowship. “It’s been a great experience just getting to know people of similar backgrounds and similar interests and building a community around my faith,” he says.
Additionally, as an economics and philosophy double major, Fitzgerald is a member of two financial clubs on campus, including Sagehen Capital Management, a student-run hedge fund that manages approximately $1 million of Pomona College’s endowment with a value-oriented philosophy.
Between basketball, clubs and extracurriculars, Fitzgerald has put a lot of names to a lot of faces while growing close with classmates and professors alike.
“The intimacy here surprised me,” he says. “You get to know every face in your grade, every face in your dorm and really get to know your teachers. I knew Pomona was a small school, but I didn’t expect it to be so intimate.”
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