Preserving Princeton's Ivy supremacy

Consider the following statistics:

1.Since the formation of the Ivy League in 1956, Princeton has won more Ivy League Championships than any other school.

2.Princeton is the only member of the Ivy League to have won championships in all 17 men's varsity sports and all 16 women's varsity sports.

3.In the last 10 years, Princeton has more total titles than Harvard and Yale combined.

Though these facts have infinite ego-boosting potential for Princeton's students, coaches and alumni, we must not use such figures merely to congratulate ourselves. To assure continued success, we must first understand how Princeton teams have maintained this level of achievement for half a century.

Athletic departments are divided into three levels: athletes, coaches and administrators. As an administrator, Associate Director of Athletics Jerry Price is quick to point out that "a winning tradition builds upon itself." Such an assessment, though, probably falsely assumes that success becomes a passive continuation of previous accomplishments. Winning can breed winning (UCLA men's basketball), but championships can also lead to complacency and dramatic falls from glory (Notre Dame football).

Indeed, Price also points out that "the number one reason for our consistent success has to be great coaches across the board." Famous coaches such as basketball's John Thompson III and lacrosse's Bill Tierney support Price's assertion, but less famous coaches have also played a significant role in Princeton's success. Women's soccer coach Julie Shackford, for example, was not well known before coming to the University, but since her arrival she has led the team to four Ivy League titles and was honored as the 2005 NCAA Coach of the Year.

Assuming the athletic department continues to hire high-quality coaches, the next step is to assess the role played by athletes in perpetuating a winning tradition. The superficial analysis is that championships result in effective recruiting, and that this influx of talent guarantees continued success.

This logic, however, leads to the flawed conclusion that losers cannot overcome established winners. Since this is not the case — take Rutgers football, for example — there must be another explanation.

Many varsity athletes choose to come to Princeton because they know it will guarantee them a chance at success. Such an ideal, markedly different from a promise of victory, implies that Princeton athletes understand that though all University teams have the potential to achieve, dedication and hard work are still necessary to win championships.

But since effective coaching and dedicated athletes seem to be obvious components of building a successful team, why does the University, in particular, outperform the rest of the Ivy League?

Unsurprisingly, the answer lies in a previously established hallmark of the Princeton system—the team-first mentality. A quick scan of the University's athletics website reveals that teams prefer to highlight the strength of their recruiting classes as a whole rather than focus on individual prospects.

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It also appears that University coaches are more interested in recruiting athletes who have contributed to the success of their teams instead of merely compiling individual statistics.

For example, the women's cross country team boasts three recruits who led their high school teams to state championships. This carries significant weight in the University's program, where the main goal is to succeed as a team.

The big question still remains: Will Princeton teams continue to win more championships than any other Ivy League school? The simple answer is "yes," as long as we do not stray from our proven formula for success.

The more complicated answer is that winning is never guaranteed in the short term. Nonetheless, over the past 50 years, the University's philosophies have proven successful, and there is no reason to believe that this success will not continue in the future. Sam Dorison is a freshman in Whitman College from Longmeadow, Mass. He can be reached at sdorison@princeton.edu.