Kristin Del Calvo was not always a softball player.The sophomore first baseman began her career on the diamond in the pressure cooker of boys tee ball at a young age."My little brothers played baseball," Del Calvo said.
About two months ago, I started reading Sports Illustrated every week. Not just skimming, reading.
The Columbia women's lacrosse team had a lot to worry about going into yesterday's match against Princeton in New York.The two teams have had a lop-sided history; Princeton has won every game between them by an average margin of 16 points.Before yesterday's match-up, Princeton had already won five straight games, including a solid 13-5 victory over Duke ? which had originally been ranked No.
As the Ivy League season draws ever nearer, and the road-weary Tigers look forward to a nice stretch of games in New Jersey, the baseball team will start its season with one of its two key starting pitchers?junior right-hander David Boehle.
An Ivy League Championship. The Ivy League Pitcher of the Year. Princeton's first NCAA Tournament victory since 1965.The baseball team will have a difficult time matching last year's achievements, but that does not mean it will fall into mediocrity."Of course it would be nice [to get back and win in the NCAA tournament], but that's almost too far away to even think about," head coach Scott Bradley said.
Last year, after a depressing 14-8 loss against Syracuse in upstate New York, the Tigers returned to the armpit state to trounce Rutgers 14-5.
College students love to travel, and women's lacrosse is hoping to take a long ride this year ? as far as they can go through the national tournament.But you don't get a ticket to ride unless you first take a successful trip through your conference.The Tigers began their season with a little sight-seeing.
The men's and women's golf teams opened their spring seasons with some fun in the sun, as they both headed south for weekend invitational tournaments.The men traveled to Pottsboro, Tex.
Wrestling junior Greg Parker was not the only Tiger to garner national attention over this past weekend.While Parker was wrestling his way through a rib injury in the NCAA championship tournament, sophomore Soren Thompson also competing for a national championship.Unfortunately for Thompson and the men's fencing team, he ? like Parker ? came up just short of the national title.The good news, however, was that Thompson did manage to win second place and a silver medal at the 2002 NCAA Fencing Champ-ionship held at nearby Drew University.The Tigers finished eighth as a team in the national competition.Thompson lost out in the championship bout of men's epee to Arpad Horvath of St.
"Well, I guess there's only one thing left to do.""What's that?""Win the whole [darned] thing."Though it 's cleaned up slightly for publication purposes, this classic scene from one of the great baseball movies of all-time, Major League, will soon become the mantra for eight Ivy League teams looking to share in the glory of Jake Taylor, Willie Mays Hayes, and Rick Vaughn.
The Tigers headed out west for spring break. There, the men's and women's tennis teams got a taste of California tennis and a chance to face-off against some of the best teams in the country before taking on the teams of the Ancient Eight later this week.The men finished with only one win after a grueling week of playing four matches, but other than being swept by Minnesota, the Tigers played a number of close matches.The team started the week going up against Brigham Young.In doubles, senior co-captain Judson Williams and sophomore Tim Kofol won a close match at the number two spot against Jeff Olsen and Jeff Harbach with a final score of 9-8.
Combine eight days in southern Florida with 18 good friends, two trips to South Beach and a trip to the Everglades, and it sounds like the recipe for one terrific spring break.Throw in two hard-nosed coaches, however, and note that South Beach was viewed while running in sweltering heat and the Everglades were observed while completing an early morning workout, and you have the sort of "vacation" that could only be enjoyed by the women's track and field team.A week of intensive training wrought the desired outcome both in terms of the ending race results and improved individual fitness as the team begins the outdoor season."We accomplished what we came down here to accomplish," head coach Peter Farrell said.Those accomplishments were most tangibly manifested last Saturday on the Florida International track, where the majority of the Tigers competed against a cross-section of schools including Miami, Clemson and Oklahoma.Despite feeling the culminated rigors of the week, there were several solid early-season performances, while others used the meet as an opportunity to run off-distances or perfect technique in field events.Heptagonal champion and school record holder Lauren Simmons, a provisional NCAA qualifier in the 800 meter indoor event, moved up in distance to run her first-ever 1500m.Running an intelligent, patient race and using her strong middle-distance kick to overcome a deficit from 400m-out, Simmons placed second in a very respectable four minutes, 37.02 seconds.Freshman Brooke Minor ? who earned second-team all-Ivy honors during the indoor season in the high jump ? improved her personal best with a leap of 1.73m (five feet, eight inches) to capture second place.Princeton was well represented in the throws as sophomore Betsy Kennedy placed fourth in the discus (41.68m) and freshman Amy Krilla placed second in the javelin (36.24m) despite using a modified approach ? taking three steps rather than six ? as coach Ed Roskiewicz eased his talented recruit into the rigors of college throwing.A frustrating malfunction of the timing system meant that sophomore Hasina Outtz did not receive an official time for her strong run over the 400m hurdles.
Men's volleyball has a record of 10-10, an impressive mark given all that the team has been through this season.
All year, wrestling head coach Mike New promised that the tough regular season would pay off in the end.
Going into spring break with an 11-1 record, the women's water polo team traveled to California to face some of the top ranked schools in the country.The Tigers were prepared to battle University of California at Irvine, San Diego State, University of California at San Diego and most importantly No.
While many Princetonians were gliding down the ski slopes or lounging on the beaches this past week, the women's lacrosse team was hard at work.
In what was more of an endurance test than spring training, the Princeton softball team substituted at-bats and game experience for wins.
Since the sojourn of the Deltas in the classic "Animal House," the road trip has become a means for college students to "discover" themselves with their classmates.Over spring break, the baseball team took its own road trip down south to North Carolina and Virginia.
In boxing there is Ali and Frazier. In basketball, Bird and Magic. Baseball has the Red Sox and Yankees.
Leaving the cold and wet weather of New Jersey for the week, the softball team is traveling to warm Atlanta for Spring Break, where it will compete in two tournaments and play in nine games.The Tigers (4-2) began the season strong with three straight wins, but they lost their undefeated record a week ago when Kansas defeated them at the Kansas Invitational.Pitching and defense are both strong suits for the team.
