Top Tigers shouldn't be anonymous

Considering that I spent my spring break shuttling between the less-than-exotic locales of Firestone and Frist in a futile attempt to get my JP under control, it didn't surprise me that I heard a lot of complaining from the fellow upperclassmen who'd stuck around to slave away.

But the moaning and groaning wasn't limited to the usual thesis miseries. I also heard from numerous friends who were annoyed that they didn't get the chance to root for the men's basketball team in this year's NCAA tournament.

"We never have any good teams here," they declared with an assortment of whining and harrumphing. "Why aren't we good at anything other than lacrosse?"

Well, with all due respect, those people have utterly no clue what they're talking about.

Over the break, a handful of Princeton athletes competed with the nation's best — and turned in quite impressive performances.

And yet, the average student can't pick any of them out of a police lineup.

Would you, for instance, recognize senior Stephanie Hsiao?

She closed out her Princeton swimming career Saturday at the NCAA championships in West Lafayette, Ind., the third straight year she has qualified.

No, she didn't bring home any medals, but then again, she did more than enough of that earlier this season. Three weekends ago, at the Ivy League championship meet, Hsiao won gold every single time she dove into the water — three individual races and four relays.

Sounds exciting, huh? If you had ventured down to DeNunzio Pool, you could have seen it yourself.

Would you recognize junior Jake Butler?

A few weeks before men's basketball's Final Four arrives in St. Louis, a contingent of wrestlers who descended on the city for its own national championship.

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Wrestling at 197-pounds, Butler got knocked out in the first round, but the loss was far from an embarrassment — it came at the hands of Oklahoma State's Jake Rosholt, who went on to win the national championship for the second straight year.

If you missed out on seeing Butler this season, at least you'll get another chance to stop by Dillon Gym and see him next year. Cheering for him is probably a good idea — I'm guessing he's the kind of guy you want on your side in a fight.

Would you recognize any of the six fencers who spent the weekend in Houston competing at their NCAA championships, lunging and jabbing the Tigers to eighth place in the nation?

Senior Soren Thompson led the men's squad, taking bronze in the épée competition. If Soren's name sounds familiar, it's probably because you heard about him finishing seventh at the Olympics this summer, the best finish by an American male épée in a half a century.

But you didn't have to fly to Athens to see him compete; you could have just dropped by the C Floor of Jadwin Gym anytime over the last four years.

I promise, the Tigers use their weapons to stab their opponents, not to attack fans.

Would you recognize junior Cack Ferrell?

She burned up the track in Fayetteville, Ark., last Saturday, finishing third in the nation in the 3,000 meter race, just two seconds — two puny little seconds — away from becoming a national champion.

It took her just nine minutes, 24 seconds to cover the distance, which works out to a little less than two miles. At this point, I'm thrilled if I can run one mile in that time.

Luckily, Ferrell is a heck of a lot faster than the rest of us are. Her time easily earned her All-America status, the second straight indoor track season she's been so honored. And, by the way, she's also been an All-American in cross country the past two years.

Ferrell doesn't even get to catch her breath. Outdoor season starts this week, and she'll be gunning for yet another All-American season.

So, one weekend this spring, instead of running on the treadmills at Dillon, you should think about jogging down to Weaver Stadium — you might learn a thing or two.

Would you recognize the single most accomplished athlete currently at Princeton?

I'm referring, of course, to Yasser El-Halaby. The first weekend in March, the junior from Cairo, Egypt won his third consecutive individual national title.

Over the past three years, he's so completely dominated his sport that it would have been bigger news if he'd lost. Assuming he keeps rolling next year and picks up a fourth national title, he will, indisputably, go down as the greatest college squash player.

Ever.

A few days after he won this year's title, El-Halaby was honored at half-court during halftime of the men's basketball game against Penn. As the P.A. announcer read out his absurd achievements and the student section cheered, an Office of Athletic Communications staff member kept encouraging him to wave to his adoring fans.

But instead of giving the sort of hearty wave of thanks most star athletes are accustomed to flashing, El-Halaby only halfheartedly raised one hand a few times.

It looked like the reaction of a guy who couldn't believe the cheers were for him, a guy who was shocked that a large crowd of students knew who he was.

Perhaps El-Halaby is just quiet and modest by nature, and perhaps he prefers to hone his craft in relative anonymity.

But if you ask me, he deserves to hear wild cheering — from his peers — a bit more often.