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CC recognizes athletes during Fall Weekend
Peter Dorman ’84
| Meg Gaillard ’95 | Kim-An
Hernandez ’99 | Chip Orcutt ’84
Peter Dorfman ’84 — basketball
One of Connecticut College’s first recruited blue-chip basketball players, Peter Dorfman was a competitive and dominating player who helped the men’s basketball program reach the next level of competition and gain respect in NESCAC and New England Division III.
Prior to Dorfman’s arrival in the fall of 1980, the men’s basketball team’s record was 4-19 in 1979-80 and rarely above .500 before that. He had an immediate impact as a starting freshman center, helping turn the program around in the next few years. In his tenure, the Camels dominated the Whaling City Ford Tournament, winning the championship in 1980, 1982, and 1983, and finishing as runner-up in 1981. As a senior, he led the 1983-84 Camels to a 21-4 season as the team broke several school records, including season wins (21) and consecutive wins (8). The squad also earned the program’s first post-season appearance and reached the finals of the 1984 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) New England Division III Tournament.
Individually, the four-year starter was a three-time team Most Valuable Player (1981, 1982, 1984) who served as a co-captain in 1983-84. With good hands for a soft shooting touch, Dorfman shot an impressive career .551 field goal percentage while scoring 1,257 points (currently ranking fourth all-time), all before the three-point shot was in effect. At 6’8”, he was also impressive on the boards, graduating with school records for rebounds in a season (243) and career (817, 8.9 per game average), in addition to having a wide arm span for blocking numerous shots.
Dorfman earned a B.A. in economics and is currently a technology manager for Bank of America in Charlotte, N.C. He also has volunteered as a basketball coach for the YMCA. He and his wife, Lori, live in Charlotte with their children.
Meg Gaillard ’95 — sailing, soccer
A versatile athlete who was part of two nationally-ranked fall sports, Meg Gaillard was an All-America sailor on Connecticut College’s sailing team, while also competing for the women’s soccer team.
As a leading member of the College’s coed sailing program, Gaillard helped the team maintain its prominence both regionally and nationally. She was runner-up at the 1993 New England Championships, and finished second at the 1994 Atlantic Coast Championships. In 1995, the senior took A Division first-place honors at the New England Championships. Gaillard also was a three-time qualifier for the national championships (1993, 1994, 1995), where she earned All-America honors.
On the women’s soccer field, the midfielder helped lead the Camels to a four-year 35-23-3 record. The squad was selected to the ECAC New England Tournament three times, reaching the quarterfinals in 1992 and the semifinals in 1993 and 1994. A team co-captain in 1994, Gaillard played 47 career games and closed out her career with seven goals, five assists, and 19 points.
After graduating in 1995 with a B.A. in international relations, Gaillard set her sights on representing the United States at the Summer Olympics. Under challenging selection rules with only the winner of each sailing event going on to the Olympics, she placed fourth at the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 470 class. Four years later, Gaillard was runner-up in the Europe Class, just missing the Olympic cut. She continued her high level of competition, dominating in the U.S. and in Europe Olympic events the next three years. In 2004, Gaillard reached her goal and represented the United States in sailing’s Europe Class at the Summer Olympics in Athens.
Gaillard currently lives in Pelham, N.Y. and is training for international events with sights on the 2008 Olympics.
Kim-An Hernandez ’99 — soccer, lacrosse
An exceptional two-sport athlete, Kim-An Hernandez is one of the only Connecticut College athletes to lead two teams in two different sports to the NCAA Tournament (both made the Elite 8 round).
In soccer, she played a significant role in the 1995 and 1997 Camel teams that reached the ECAC semifinals. As a senior team captain, Hernandez led her squad to the 1998 NCAA Elite Eight Tournament. Theirs was the first Connecticut College soccer team to reach the NCAA Tournament. A three-time All-New England selection (1996, 1997, 1998), she is the program's all-time leading scorer with 44 goals, 19 assists and 107 career points. She also graduated with school records for season goals (16 in 1997) and season points (37 in 1997). Hernandez capped her soccer career earning the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-America honors as a senior.
As a lacrosse player, the midfielder had an immediate impact as a freshman, helping lead the 1996 squad to the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament. The Camels played into the Elite 8 round and were ranked as high as eighth in the nation. As a senior team captain, Hernandez graduated with 93 goals, 25 assists, and 118 career points.
After earning a B.A. in government, Hernandez earned a law degree from Vanderbilt University. She is a lawyer with Lieff Cabraser Heimann and Bernstein in San Francisco.
Chip Orcutt ’84 — ice hockey, soccer
Chip Orcutt helped establish a reputation for excellence on the ice, serving as one of the leaders for the first winning hockey teams in the history of the program. He set the foundation for the team’s later success, while also serving as a backbone of the men’s soccer squad.
As a forward on the ice hockey team, Orcutt was one of the most prolific scorers for the Camels. In his sophomore year, the first winning season in the program’s history, he scored a school record 25 goals. He went on to graduate as the program’s all-time leading scorer with 63 career goals, and he was second all-time in both career assists (45) and career points (108). A team captain as a senior, Orcutt was known for his gutsy play in the corners and served as an inspiration for future players.
Orcutt, a three-year soccer player, anchored the team as a starting goaltender. In addition to serving as a team captain as a senior, he received the squad’s Most Valuable Player Award in 1983. Orcutt closed his career with a 1.3 goals-against average.
Orcutt graduated with a B.A. in government and has been in the commercial real estate field for 20 years. As president of the Emerson Group, one of his career highlights was designing and overseeing construction of the New England Sports Center in Marlborough, Mass., the largest ice skating facility in the world at 190,000 square feet.
Orcutt has also been a Connecticut College alumni admissions interviewer for 20 years. He is a trustee for the Acton Conservation Trust and served as clerk of the Acton, Mass., Water Supply District, an elected position, for four years. Orcutt also has coached the Acton Youth Soccer U7 Team in addition to coaching at his prep school alma mater, the Middlesex School. His positions at Middlesex (1984-2001) included varsity assistant boys’ soccer coach and varsity boys’ ice hockey coach.
Orcutt and his wife, Jennifer, live in Acton with their children.