March Madness ? a time to agonize over filling out brackets, cheer on local underdogs in vain and inevitably lose a few (or more than a few) bucks to the lucky friend who entered the pool but doesn't know a thing about sports.
Seven, they say, is a lucky number. This past weekend, the fencing team certainly hoped this old saying would hold true as it sent seven members to compete in the NCAA National Championship finals.The men started the national competition Thursday afternoon, with each Tiger representative fencing a 14-bout round robin.
The No. 18 women's water polo team spent its spring break in sunny California. But far from a vacation, the squad's eight-day trip was a tuneup for the rapidly approaching postseason.
Fresh off crowning three All-Americans in the indoor season, the men's and women's track and field teams went to Florida during spring break to open the outside season.On March 21, at the National Training Center in Clermont, Fla., senior pole vaulter Andrew Park and sophomore hammer thrower Alex Pessala both qualified for NCAA Regionals while the team claimed five first-place individual finishes in the next two days at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex.Not only did Park qualify for May's NCAA Regional competition in Gainesville, Fla., but he also vaulted his way to second place in program history with a jump of 17 feet, two-and-a-quarter inches.
Wanted: Princeton men's basketball head coach.You might not think that a job that has been so closely guarded within the Princeton family would be so widely advertised.But if you check out part of the NCAA website, you will see what essentially amounts to a want ad for the Princeton coach. Anyone who submits a resume and a cover letter has a shot, now that Joe Scott '87 has picked up and moved camp."Obviously, based on my background both as a former player and a former coach ? somebody who's been active in college basketball all my life, I clearly am wired into the world of college basketball," Director of Athletics Gary Walters '67 said.
After winning six matches in a row, the No. 64 women's tennis team (7-5) faced a rude awakening on the West Coast against some of the best teams in the nation.
The problem with being on the wrong side of a walk-off home run isn't the walking off; it's that it leaves you standing there.The Princeton baseball team (4-10 overall) found itself standing shocked over spring break, as it lost three heartbreakers on the final batter of each game ? including two walk-off home runs ? in the midst of an intense spring break schedule that saw the Tigers play eight road games in nine days and return to campus with three wins and five losses.The first of Princeton's three series took place at Greensboro, N.C., where the Tigers could not match the Spartans (12-11) ? who perhaps took inspiration from a recent blockbuster movie release ? in the series' first matchup, losing 10-12.The Orange and Black put in a strong offensive effort, scoring eight runs through the first four innings and ultimately finishing with 10, but Princeton's pitchers couldn't keep Greensboro from scoring 10 runs of its own.With the game tied at 10 and entering the bottom of the ninth, senior pitcher Gavin Fabian walked the lead-off man, and then centerfielder Scott Schneider immediately made Fabian pay by slamming a walk-off home run to win the game for the Spartans.The second contest was a much quieter affair.Princeton starter Steven Miller pitched a solid game, surrendering only five hits and two earned runs in five innings, but Greensboro's Alex Shelton pitched even better, allowing only one run to hand the Tigers their second defeat, with a final score of 1-2.Princeton seized its first victory of the break in its Monday game against the Spartans.
As hundreds of students fled the snowstorm at the start of spring break to find haven in warmer climates, junior Stuart Malcolm did just the opposite.
The men's volleyball team defended Dillon Gym against league rivals St. Francis and Juniata to sweep its last conference home stand of the regular season over spring break.Princeton (8-6 overall, 6-3 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tait Division) went into the week tied for second place in the division with just a month left in the season to separate itself from the pack and earn coveted postseason byes over closely trailing foes St.
The softball team (9-16 overall) was busy over break, with 16 games over the past 10 days in Tampa, Gainesville and DeLand, Fla.
When the news broke on ESPN.com late Tuesday night that Joe Scott '87 was resigning his position as the head coach of the men's basketball program, only a few people ? including Director of Athletics Gary Walters '67 ? knew about Scott's decision.Unfortunately for the members of Scott's former team, they were not among those previously informed.
In the end, Joe Scott never found his guys.From the moment in Scott's debut season when a clear gap developed between the talent on the men's basketball team's roster and the results on the court, optimists began to urge patience until Scott '87 had stocked the Tigers full of "his guys."These were the kind of players with whom Scott had managed to surround himself at Air Force over his four years as head coach there.
It was a frustrating spring break for the women's lacrosse team, with only a midweek thrashing of lowly Loyola to provide relief from a pair of tight losses to higher-ranked opponents.The first Saturday of break, No.
Over spring break, news of Joe Scott '87's exodus to the University of Denver spread through the Princeton athletic community like a shot heard 'round the world.
Third time's the charm. As trite as this old adage may sound, the men's lacrosse team (4-2) proved it to be true during last Sunday's thrilling, 5-4 victory over Hofstra (1-3). After suffering two heartbreaking 7-6 losses to Johns Hopkins and Virginia in the preceding weeks, the Tigers refused to lose a third one-goal game.
It was a tale of two teams this spring break, as the men and women's golf squads were both in action but finished with very different results.
