I started writing for the Daily Princetonian Sports section my sophomore year. Having just been thrown off the crew team, I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be doing that beat.
As the impressive 2003-2004 regular season comes to a close for the swimming and diving teams, the Tigers are beginning to set their sights on several postseason accolades that are now within their grasp.
Women's squash now sits at No. 3 in the country, up from its No. 6 ranking last week, and everyone wants to know why.A big part of it is the recent and unexpected win over Harvard.
Needless to say, committing 15 turnovers was not part of the game plan drawn up by men's basketball head coach John Thompson '88.
Saturday's near loss to league-last Harvard had some people questioning whether men's basketball deserved its status at the top of the Ivy League.Tonight's contest gave everyone further reasons for doubt.The Tigers (11-7 overall, 4-1 Ivy League) could not find their rhythm against Penn (10-8 overall, 3-2 Ivy League) when they hosted the Quakers last night at Jadwin.
Let's get it out of the way right up front.I know that Penn lost to Yale and Brown. I am also fully aware of the fact that Princeton has yet to lose an Ivy League game.But the last time the Quakers headed to Princeton with their backs against the wall, 2000-01, they went on to demolish the Tigers, 62-38, en route to an Ancient Eight title.With that out of the way, let the glorious bashing of Princeton begin.Princeton has a lot going for it.
Aren't hat tricks in hockey supposed to be rare?Apparently, but not for senior forward Gretchen Anderson of the women's hockey team.
The men's track team had a strong showing in a tri-meet against Penn State and Connecticut. Although the Tigers placed third with 112 points, compared to 112.5 for Penn St.
This yearly column is getting tougher and tougher to write. This whole thing is based on Penn making fun of Princeton and vice-versa.
For 15 years, only one letter has mattered in the Ivy League ? 'P.'Princeton and Penn have combined to win every men's basketball championship since 1989.
The women's fencing squad regained traction within the Ivy League over the weekend, fighting their way to a sweeping victory over Cornell, 24-3, and James Madison, 25-2, in the Stifel Fencing Salle.Princeton was led by the undefeated foil and sabre squads, who swept their respective matches against both Cornell and James Madison.
An upset of Brown and a win over Yale last weekend put women's basketball (5-13 overall, 2-3 Ivy League) in excellent position in the scramble for the Ivy crown leading into this weekend's games against Dartmouth and Harvard.
"Make Hobey Proud!" proclaims the huge banner hanging at one end of Baker Memorial Rink, and the quality of play in Friday night's contest between Princeton (5-10-1 ECAC, 5-17-1 overall) and Brown (12-3-1, 14-5-4) surely must have had Hobey smiling.Although the Bears finished the evening with a 5-2 victory, the level of intensity and parity between the teams, particularly in the first two periods, was exemplary of competition at its best.The Tigers, currently ranked 11th in the ECAC, surprised both their fans and their opponents in the early stages of the game by abandoning their slow-starting habits and beginning strong.
The wrestling team journeyed to Cambridge, Mass. and Providence, RI this weekend to face off against Harvard, East Stroudsburg and Brown.
With the race for the men's basketball Ivy League championship in full gallop, I started thinking about the importance of a championship.Obviously, it's a monumental team accomplishment, but what does it mean for how players are viewed, especially professionals?
DeNunzio Pool was abuzz this weekend as the men's swimming and diving team hosted its final home dual meets of the 2003-2004 season against Kenyon College on Friday evening and the US Naval Academy on Saturday afternoon, sending both visiting teams home winless.Princeton towered over the Kenyon Lords with a 157-107 win.
Wrapping up an impressive season of dual meet competition, women's swimming traveled to New York last Friday to take on Columbia in their last regularly scheduled dual meet of year.Having beaten a very talented and highly-ranked Harvard team just a week beforehand, this weekend's meet against a weaker Lions squad seemed at first to be a bit of an anticlimax."From the numbers, Harvard was expected to beat us, but we really stepped up and won by a considerable amount," senior captain Katie Kuga said.
Princeton men's basketball now owns bragging rights as the only Ivy team undefeated in league play.
Following last weekend's match-ups against Cornell and Columbia, the wrestling team (2-7 overall, 0-2 Ivy League) finds itself up against East Stroudsburg, Harvard (0-8, 0-0) and Brown (3-7, 0-0) this weekend as it travels to Massachusetts and Rhode Island.Last weekend's results proved disappointing for the Tigers as they entered into the real meat of the season, beginning their Ivy League competition and starting to gear up for the approaching the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association meet at the end of the season.A pair of pins enabled Columbia to gain a quick advantage over the Tigers, including a pin of senior co-captain Brian Kirschbaum in the 133-lb.
Junior guard Will Venable's three-point play in the last seconds of Saturday's game against Yale, which gave Princeton a 49-47 win, was a dramatic finish to a close contest.That finish may have given the Tigers huge confidence in their ability to come through in close games.
