As the fall season comes to a close and the winter starts up, we at the 'Prince' wanted to give a chance to all of the club sports teams to give a brief roundup of what's happening.
Women's soccer
The women's club soccer team reached the semifinals in its first appearance in the open national tournament in Tuscaloosa, Ala., before losing to Ohio State, 1-0, in a close game. The Buckeyes lost, 1-0, in overtime to Colorado in the final. En route to the final four, Princeton beat Louisana State and Utah Valley State, 1-0, tied Richmond, 0-0, and clobbered Texas, 6-0.
Sophomore center midfielder Linda Crites was named to the all-tournament team and led the team with two goals and one assist at the tournament. Junior goalie Eva Steinle-Darling and sophomore sweeper Katie Smith anchored the stingy Tiger defense, which notched four shutouts before the 1-0 loss to Ohio State.
Princeton finished the regular season 8-1, with its only loss coming to Villanova in overtime. At the regional tournament in State College, Pa., the Tigers defeated Delaware, 2-1, for the first time in club history before losing to Penn State, 1-0, on a penalty shot. Penn State women's team later won the national title in the championship division at Tuscaloosa. Delaware lost in the national quarterfinals but still managed to win the sportsmanship award.
Men's rugby
The men's rugby team graduated 17 seniors last year, including 13 starters, which left a young team that was expected to have a rough time in our 70th anniversary season. However, the younger players stepped up to record initial league wins over Penn and West Chester, before falling to a strong Delaware team.
Facing elimination, the team clawed its way to a hard-fought win over East Stroudsberg to keep its postseason hopes alive. In the semifinals, the team faced heavily-favored defending champions Kutztown, in a game that no one expected Kutztown to lose.
Even with injuries to several key players, Princeton raised its game a notch and won 32-17 to set up a rematch against Delaware in the division final. In the final, the Tigers exacted revenge for the earlier loss and won a hard-fought game, 22-20, to clinch the EPRU Championship for the second time in three years.
The team now stands to qualify for the National Sweet 16 tournament in the spring for only the second time.
The second side also had a great season — going undefeated through league play and winning the first ever B-side championship by beating Kutztown in the finals.
Women's ice hockey
Despite a rocky start, with a record of 2-1, the women's club ice hockey team is looking forward to a promising and exciting upcoming season.
After dominating the Tri-State Women's Hockey League last year, the Tigers hope to step it up to regain their place.
The relatively young team has been playing well both offensively and defensively. With an experienced goalie, sophomore Kristina Thanavaro, and returning offensive talent, the team looks primed to win the league this year. Princeton's greatest weakness is in its numbers, as the Tigers are always looking for new skaters.
Cycling
The cycling team's mountain bike squad raced well this fall. The team consisted of five members, including junior captain Tyler Wren.
Wren won the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference Championships in Roxbury, N.Y. as well as the men's short track and men's cross country events at the National Collegiate Cycling Association National Championships, also in Roxbury.
With his road national championship victory in May, this gave Wren a total of three national championships in 2001. He was recently named the Velonews Collegiate Cyclist of the year for 2001, a highly coveted honor.
The team's main focus is road racing, and the road season will begin Mar. 3 at Rutgers. Princeton will host a race on Mar. 31. Over 300 cyclists from the East Coast are expected to attend.
Skiing and snowboarding
The alpine ski team will take on a different look this year as Princeton has formed a snowboarding team to go along with the downhill skiiers. Despite the warm weather early in the season, both the men's and women's teams started practice shortly after fall break and start their competitive seasons in January.
With a number of strong returning racers, including last year's Princeton club sports female athlete of the year, senior Sarah Apgar, the Tigers are looking forward to another good season.
Men's lacrosse
The men's club lacrosse team recruited approximately 20 new members, played a rare fall game against Army Prep, and appointed new officers this fall.
Soon the Tigers will begin work on setting up a game schedule for spring, their primary season.
Rifle
The rifle team has welcomed a handful of enthusiastic new men and women to the team this year, all of whom are working hard and improving quickly.
So far the team, which consists mainly of beginners this year, has participated in one home match in which it beat John Jay, but fell to Kutztown and one away match in which the Tigers scored 1873 points to Trinity's 1959. The competitive season for the team will continue through March with the team looking for continued improvement.
The rifle team trains new shooters at all times throughout the year and practices five days a week in the Armory.
Equestrian
Due to some scheduling conflicts involving the beginning of the semester and fall break, it took awhile to get our new members competing, but now it is in full swing.
Junior Kelly Wells is three points away from being the top point-getting open rider in the region. The high point rider will qualify for a chance to compete for the Caccione Cup later in the year.
Princeton also hosted its own show this season which went off smoothly and finished in record time with the gate-keeping efforts of sophomore Amanda Klopf.
Not only did the logistics work out well, but the Tigers also finished third as a team overall.
While the fall season helped get the team into gear, the main competition starts in the spring when the team will attempt to qualify for regionals, zones, and nationals as well as another trip to Ivies at Dartmouth where Princeton aims to bring home the Ivy League title after finishing last year as reserve.
Men's and women's tennis
The club tennis team had a great fall season with a strong freshman turn out. The team practiced four times a week and competed in an inter-club challenge ladder that lasted the whole season. On Sept. 23, the team had an inter-club tournament that raised money for the New York Red Cross Relief Fund.
Approximately fifty people participated in a men's doubles and women's singles tournament. The high scorers of the day were freshmen Julie Kestenman and Laura Jones for the women and the team of sophomore Alec Schmaier and freshman Jon Berger and also the team of freshmen Robert Huber and Ryan Caughey for the men.
At the end of the season, Princeton hosted Penn State for a competitive match. The top 15 men and women played in a match against the Nittany Lions on Nov. 10, and although Princeton was defeated in the overall match, the team took some individual spots. Freshman Dave Vermylen won in the men's fourth singles position, freshman Anna Thoman won in the women's second singles position, and sophomore Lauren Marlowe won in the women's third singles position.
Tae Kwon Do
This fall the tae kwon do team was involved in several activities, particularly demonstrations. These demonstrations are organized displays of the many facets of taekwondo, including board-breaking, aerial kicks, forms (disciplined patterns of movement) and sparring (full-contact fighting).
In addition to the annual demonstrations held for the University, this year the team did two others — one for the KASA to show Korean youth in the Northeast a part of Korean culture; and the other for the Residential colleges who helped to fund last year's trip to the 2000 Collegiate National tournament — in which Princeton took first place.
In addition to the demonstrations, Princeton sent two competitors to the 2001 Collegiate National tournament, bringing home two gold medals.
The club is growing steadily with the addition of a large class of white belts and three new black belts to its ranks, as well as those who were promoted after the summer and over the course of the semester.
Field hockey
The club field hockey team competed in the National Field Hockey League. They compiled a record of 3-3, including wins against St. Joe's, George Mason, and the College of New Jersey and losses to the University of Delaware, Penn and Loyola.
Men's ultimate frisbee
After losing a strong senior class, Princeton has used the fall to build a powerful new team dynamic. The Tigers went 17-10 over the course of six tournaments, winning one championship and making several finals appearances. Princeton has also received a bid to travel to Athens, Ga. for the Classic City Classic on December 8 and 9.
This event, arguably the most competitive fall college tournament in the nation, will give Princeton the chance to compete against Nationals-caliber teams from across the U.S. The fall has allowed the Tigers to condition, work on fundamentals, and train new players in preparation for the main season in the spring.
Women's rugby
The women's rugby team continued its tradition of league domination this fall, finishing their season with a 7-0 record. With its strong defense and blistering speed, the Tigers rolled over their opponents, scoring oodles of points and shutting out almost all opponents.
Led by senior captains Laura Miller and Sarah Apgar, the Tigers proved their mettle by defeating West Chester in the hotly contested championship match of the EPRU tournament at the end of the season.
Returning four All-Americans from last year, including Miller, Apgar, Pauline Reader and Ginny Pitzer, the Tigers are sharpening their nails and gearing up for the spring season and the chance to return to the Final Four to settle old scores.
Table tennis
The table tennis club hosted a regional meet at Dillon Gym on Nov. 11. The Princeton teams placed fifth and sixth in the Mid-Atlantic Division. Two other meets were held at Maryland and Howard.
Figure skating
The figure skating club had a great start of the season with its annual intercollegiate competition hosted at Baker Rink. In all, nine universities from all over the east coast attended the competition which was held on Nov. 10 and 11.
Princeton competitors skated well, as juniors Kathy Lee and Sean O'Rourke both placed second in their events. Sophomore Christine Chang placed third and freshman Tania Esponda came in fourth.
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