"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift."Words spoken by Steve Prefontaine, perhaps the most talented American runner ever.
Dartmouth, like the rest of the teams Princeton has played this year, was probably trembling in its turf shoes when the attack trio of senior BJ Prager, junior Sean Hartofilis, and sophomore Ryan Boyle got off the bus in Hanover.
With his seventh-inning single to centerfield, senior shortstop Pat Boran became the sole holder of the all-time hits record at Princeton with 203, after taking possession of the runs-scored record when he scored his 141st career run in the top of the third.
Nineteen days. Sixteen teams. Fifteen upsets. One champion.These are just a few of the numbers wracking the women's lacrosse team's mind as it prepares for the 2002 NCAA tournament, which, beginning May 9, will ultimately culminate in the national championship May 19.Among the 15 other contenders, the top teams Princeton will have to watch out for are Georgetown, Loyola, Virginia, North Carolina, Duke, Cornell, and Maryland.Fortunately for the Tigers, they have already played six of those seven opponents ? and won five of those six games ? so they will be entering the first round of the tournament with a good idea of what to expect from the other top teams in the nation.Fortunately for the Tigers, they have finished the season ranked No.
Some seasons end with dramatic finishes to determine who goes to the postseason, or who gets home-field advantage.
This weekend, the Princeton crew teams raced twice and recorded two triumphs for the first varsity eight squads.In a clean sweep, the open women's team claimed a total of six victories over Northeastern and Dartmouth, both Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges adversaries, in Hanover, NH.
Unexpected players provided the power for Princeton this weekend, but the Tigers' usual workhorses carried them to two victories in the rain-shortened Princeton Invitational.In the four-team tournament, Princeton played Manhattan and then Seton Hall on Saturday.
The men's lacrosse team came away from Hanover, NH with a 13-7 victory over Dartmouth this weekend.
The start of a race is usually marked by reverential silence, particularly if that race includes world 100-meter record holder Maurice Green.
A week ago, life did not look so good for women's golf. The Tigers finished second at the Ivy League Championship ? and without the automatic bid to the NCAA Regional.This past weekend, things looked better as the team was in a familiar place ? at the top.
To run your best, you have to run against the best.Or so the general theory goes, at least.
The Princeton sports world is in balance again.Penn remembered it had more talent than the men's basketball team, the men's lacrosse team remembered it was good and 'Prince' sports beat WPRB sports Saturday night in the annual basketball game between the campus's two sources of athletics news.The 44-40 win at Jadwin Gym for the 'Prince' was its first in the last three years, but the sports scribes still hold a 82-3 all-time series edge.Holder Hall bookies put the athleteics announcers as early 22.5-point favorites, but the gap closed when the gaps started opening in the radio station's once-formidable lineup.Freshman Zack Pierce, a baseball beat writer and WPRB play-by-play man, decided Thursday to compete with the 'Prince.'"It's just a better group of people," Pierce said.
There's an old sports saying: "It's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game."Luckily for women's lacrosse, that saying isn't exactly true.
It's always sweet to win a championship, especially at home. Winning it is even better if it gets you a bid to the NCAA Championship.
The Tiger baseball team wanted to go to bed Sunday night above .500 for the first time since coming back from its spring trip 4-11, and senior captain Pat Boran played the role of Sandman.Boran's one-out double in the bottom of the ninth inning in game two of Saturday's doubleheader with Pace (10-30) scored sophomore utility man Steve Young and capped a 5-4 victory and two-game sweep of the visiting Setters.In the first game, freshman Ross Ohlendorf shook off a rocky third inning to lead Princeton (19-18 overall, 11-5 Ivy League) to a 9-3 win.
With the Ivy League season coming down to the wire, the baseball team puts it all on the line this weekend when it takes on:Pace University?The Tigers (16-18 overall, 11-5 Ivy League) and the aptly-named Setters (10-25) square off in a doubleheader Saturday at Clarke Field before a Sunday finale at Pace.
With only one game left in the regular season, women's lacrosse has checked off almost everything that would appear on any team's to-do list.
The climax of most Division I sports is competing in the NCAA Tournament.The Tournament gives the team a chance to prove that it is among the nation's elite, but in order to get that chance the team must play well and earn a berth.
Just as the men's football team traveled to Dartmouth this fall to take on the Big Green, the men's lacrosse team will do the same this weekend.
On Sunday, the women's softball team returned to prominence in the Ivy League by capturing its first league title since 1996.It was the team's 14th overall in the 23 years the sport has been a part of the league.The Tigers finished with 13 league wins, which is the most in the history of the program.
