As the academic year comes to a close, the 'Prince' gave Princeton club sports a chance to recap their seasons. The following are excerpts submitted to the 'Prince' by members of club teams.
Men's Volleyball
The men's club volleyball team's finished this season with a 6-3 record and a second-place finish out of eight teams in its annual fall tournament at Princeton.
The season was highlighted by a victory over Seton Hall. Down two sets to one in the match and trailing 23-16 in the fourth set, the team rallied. The Tigers took the fourth set, 26-24, and the fifth game to win the match. Princeton lost a league match in a hard-fought match at TCNJ in a packed gym.
Men's Rugby
Men's rubgy ended the year in second place in the Easter Penn division, losing, 23-21, in the final. The team had big wins over Penn (42-5) and Drexel (53-3) in qualifying for the final, and was undefeated in league play prior to final match.
The team had similiar results in the Ivy League tournament — Princeton finished second in the Ivy League tournament, losing, 23-20, in the final.
The Tigers won the Mid Atlantic consolation tournament with big wins over Towson and James Madison.
Senior captain Stan Ruda is a likely All-American and was the team MVP. The team graduates 15 seniors, 10 of whom were starters.
Fishing Club
This was the second spring season for the fishing club, and it was very successful.
On April 4, Princeton hosted its first free fishing seminar. The speakers were Chris Gatley and Jim Merritt. Gatley is a competitor on the Professional Walleye Trail. Merritt is an author on fly-fishing and a contributing editor with Field and Stream magazine.
The club had two trips during the year — one to the Pocono Mountains in search of rainbow and brook trout, and the other a guided striper fishing tour led by Gatley on the Delaware River.
The team caught several notable fish during its trips, a 12-14 lb. striper caught by Chris Gatley, an eight lb. carp from Rebecca Davenport, and a 23-inch shad by Curtis Krier.
Men's Ultimate Frisbee
Codenamed Clockwork Orange, men's ultimate frisbee took a very talented and athletic team into the college playoff series as a No. 2 seed, but was upset by the number three seed Penn in the regional semifinals.
Women's Ultimate Frisbee
Women's ultimate finished its season May 5 and 6 at regionals at Princeton. They had a strong spring season, competing in tournaments all over the Northeast. Senior Nathalie Guimard was nominated for the Callahan Award, given to the top college ultimate player in the country.
Field Hockey
The Field Hockey team competed in the NHFL Spring Tournament at the University of Maryland and finished the fall and spring seasons with a combined 2-8 record. The team's MVP for the year was junior Jackson Carmichael.
Taekwondo
The Taekwondo Club's most important tournament of the year was the 25th National Collegiate Taekwondo Championships, held at Iowa State University in November.
Princeton performed extremely well, taking first place honors in the colored belt division and third place overall. Princeton congratulated nine students on receiving their black belt this year.
Table Tennis
The Princeton Table Tennis Club performed well at the North American Teams Table Tennis Championship in Baltimore, MD, during Thanksgiving weekend and the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association league tournament.
Though they did not emerge as champions of the Mid-Atlantic Division, they gained much experience, giving Princeton high hopes for the coming year.
Figure Skating
The Synchronized Skating Team, composed of 17 girls, competed at the Eastern Sectionals in Buffalo, N.Y., on January 28, where they finished second. This qualified them to participate at the National Championships in Colorado Springs, on March 17. The Tigers finished 10th in their second year at nationals.
The remainder of the team competed at three intercollegiate singles and dance competitions — at Delaware on Dec. 2, at home on Feb. 17, and at MIT on Feb. 24. The Tigers finished fifth in the first two competitions and sixth at the third.
Seniors Lindsay Karfeld, Megan Hughes and Lindsay Warner all recorded first place finishes during the season, as did freshman Christine Chang.
The team's season concluded April 12th and 13th with its annual show, which had a sell-out crowd Friday.
The team will graduate six key seniors, including Karfeld, Warner, Hughes and Maria Maguire, who have been on the board for four years and contributed greatly to the club's success.
Equestrian
The competitive equestrian team consisted of about 15 riders with numbers varying slightly at each horse show. The team competed in five horse shows first semester and six second semester. Princeton finished sixth out of 17 teams in a region that featured many teams with varsity status.
The Tigers' biggest team accomplishment was winning the Reserve Chamionship title at Ivies on April 21 at Dartmouth. Last minute injuries forced them to attend the show with only seven riders and no coach, but the Tigers defeated Brown and Dartmouth, both of which are varsity teams. Cornell, a team of 23 members and two coaches, edged the Tigers for first.
Four riders — sophomores Allison Roensch and Emily Mitchell and freshmen Amanda Klopf and Lindsey Smith — qualified for regionals. Both freshmen continued on to compete at zones in the Open on the Flat division. Smith finished fourth, and Klopf finished eighth.
Senior Anne Kelsey won the Carla William Award for outstanding non-riding support to the team. A dedicated senior, Anne had to stop riding due to a back injury midway through what had been a successful year but maintained her commitment to the team.
Cycling
The cycling team is the Club Sport of the Year and the Co-ed Club Sport of the Year. Princeton was the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference (ECCC) Division II Champion. The Tigers were Ivy League champions and qualified for National Championships.
The Tigers barely edged Yale in the season-long points battle for first place in both the ECCC Division II and the Ivy League. The team is quickly becoming a dominant force on the East Coast, and will lose just three seniors after this year.
Captains senior Pat Zahn and sophomore Tyler Wren are currently in Colorado Springs, Colo., preparing to compete for the collegiate national title on May 19-21. The winner of that race earns the honor of wearing the national champion's red white and blue jersey for the next year.
Collegiate cycling is considered a spring board to semi-pro and pro bike teams. Many past collegiate national champions are now professional cyclists.
The team competes in three types of events — 50-90 miles road races, 25-35 mile criteriums, and 5-25 mile time trials, where riders ride against the clock by themselves or with a small team from the same school.
Women's Club Basketball
The women's club basketball team joined the East Coast Women's Club Basketball (ECWCB) league this year, traveling to the University of Maryland, Loyola College (Baltimore), and JMU for weekend tournaments in the fall. In the spring, highlights included a game against Penn at the Palestra, and a weekend trip to Maryland that included two upset victories. The team went 6-7 overall under junior Bill Dunigan, who volunteered his time to give the team its first-ever coach. Dedicated freshman newcomers Chrissy Kassis, Martha Martir, and Moira McCarthy added new strength to a solid contingent of returners, led by sophomore captains Janey Garrison and Nikki Semenetz.
Former captains and juniors Somer Bingham and Kate Lavin returned to the team in the spring, raising morale and spurring victories in Maryland. Next year, the team will play in the ECWCB league in the fall, and hopes to host several home games in the spring.
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