Sophomore forward Paula Romanchuk is better known as “Chukie.” Though this nickname may sound cute, when Romanchuk takes the ice she transforms into a player to be feared.

The men’s basketball team has gotten off to one of its best starts in recent history. Behind the tutelage of third-year coach Sydney Johnson ‘97, Princeton (11-5 overall, 2-0 Ivy League) has staked out an early spot atop the Ivy League standings. The Tigers are led in scoring by sophomore Doug Davis, who averages 14.1 points per game, and junior Dan Mavraides, who averages 11.5 points.  

Who dat gonna beat dem Saints? Saints fans have been asking that all year and have yet to receive an answer in the playoffs. I know: When I write about Saints fans, you probably think of those crazy rednecks in that Youtube video that shoot up a big-screen TV, but bear with me for a minute. The common wisdom regarding Super Bowl XLIV is that the Colts are by far the superior team. This assumption has been reflected in the current Vegas spread of Colts -5 or -6. But, as is often said, on any given Sunday, any team can win. The Saints have been underrated all season, especially during the playoffs, and will prove their naysayers wrong on the grandest stage of all. 

​​I hate the colts. I am a diehard fan of another AFC South team, and watching Peyton Manning get eaten by Saints defensive end Will Smith would be like Christmas in February. Unfortunately, I’ve been down this road enough times to know the simple truth: The Colts are too good to lose on Sunday. The passing game is too precise, the blocking is too efficient and the defense is simply too good when it counts. 

Take a look at the best collegiate men’s squash players in America, and you’ll see a lot of experienced faces. The top players for No. 1 Trinity, No. 3 Rochester and No. 5 Harvard are all seniors with plenty of matches under their belts. But in this selective group is a younger face, Princeton freshman Todd Harrity. And up to this point in the season, nobody has defeated him yet.

The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams traveled to Hanover, N.H., over Intersession for a meet against Dartmouth that they hoped would tune them up for the prestigious Harvard-Yale-Princeton (HYP) meet the following weekend. This was a successful strategy, as both the men’s and women’s teams won both competitions.

After dominating the first half of its schedule, the women’s basketball team (15-2 overall, 3-0 Ivy League) is ready to tear through its Ivy competition. The Tigers lead the league in most statistical categories, from scoring offense to scoring defense, and their average margin of victory is an incredible 19.3 points per game.

After last weekend, there’s no doubt about it — the men’s and women’s fencing teams can fight with the biggest and the best of them, and prevail.

Collectively, Princeton’s fencing teams racked up 23 wins, including four over other top-10 teams, at the Northwestern Duals.

While most sprinters face a slow start to the indoor track season after a six-month hiatus from racing, sophomore Austin Hollimon has enjoyed a strong opening month. He has already set an indoor school record in the 300m, held the second-fastest time in the nation in the 400m, reached NCAA provisional standards in the 400m (47.65 seconds on Saturday at the New York Road Runners Meet) and helped the 4x400m relay team reach NCAA provisional standards.

The men’s and women’s tennis teams kicked off their spring seasons this past week.

When you go to a men’s volleyball game, you probably won’t see head coach Sam Shweisky yell or scream. The calm demeanor of Princeton’s new coach, who replaced the legendary Glenn Nelson this past year, belies his intensity and quiet confidence — hallmarks of Shweisky’s coaching style.

When you were 13 and in seventh grade, what was on your mind? You were probably thinking about your next homework assignment, or, more likely, how to talk to your middle school crush. You most certainly were not thinking about where you were going to college. That is, unless you are David Sills.

The bracket is set, the field has begun to narrow, and the excitement is mounting. No, it’s not March Madness just yet. But February Frenzy — the popular Dillon Gymnasium fitness tournament — is already underway. This three-week, six-round elimination tournament held each February pits freshman against upperclassman, graduate student against faculty member, average student against varsity athlete. All compete for the title of "fitness champion."

 Many of the women’s basketball team’s victories this season have been blowouts. But as fate would have it, the weekend in which the Tigers could clinch the Ivy League championship also provided the most difficult games of the season, as they faced the defending champion and the clear second-best team in the league on back-to-back evenings.

After over a month without a match, the men’s and women’s squash teams returned to the court last week with important matches against Penn and Yale. Both squads also played Middlebury on Sunday. The teams had hoped to maintain their unbeaten records in the Ivy League, but neither team escaped without a loss.

Most Princeton students look forward to Intersession as a tranquil time before the rigors of the spring semester begin. For the men’s volleyball team, however, the weeklong break was anything but relaxing. As part of their annual training trip to California, Princeton (0-3) faced off against some of the best schools in the country in three matches. The trip out west proved a tough test for the Tigers, who now head into the heart of the season.

But, as it has proven so many times this season, the women’s basketball team is anything but normal.  The Tigers (15-2 overall, 3-0 Ivy League) came out firing in their first game since Jan. 9, cruising to a 75-44 victory over Brown (5-13, 2-2).  Princeton capped off its first full weekend of league play by hosting Yale (7-11, 2-2) in the annual “Pink Zone” game, downing the Bulldogs 69-48 and extending its winning streak to 10 games.