Harvard Varsity Club NEWS & VIEWS of Harvard Sports Volume 50, Issue No. 6 www.varsityclub.harvard.edu January 30, 2008 Men’s & Women’s Swimming Rank Among Nation’s Best by Casey Hart So goes the schedule for Harvard’s swimming and diving Assistant Director of Athletic Communications teams. Their toughest competition is most often saved for February and March. That stretch gets underway this It’s true that both the weekend, as both teams visit Yale for the annual HYP meets Harvard men’s swimming and against the host Bulldogs and the rival Princeton Tigers. diving team and the Crimson As in the case of the mid-major rankings, to call HYP women’s squad are ranked as the biggest dual meet of the year is to deal in understate- the nation’s No. 1 “mid-major” ment. Harvard and Princeton’s teams enter both HYP meets teams in their respective genders unbeaten, and the Tiger men are ranked second behind by CollegeSwimming.com. Harvard in the mid-major poll. Brown’s Ivy women’s title But don’t be fooled by the in 1998-99 was the last not won by Princeton or Harvard. “mid-major” qualifier, an indica- Only one men’s team (Penn in 1971) from a non-HYP school tion of Harvard’s status as a non- has ever won the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League scholarship program without the championship. funding from lucrative television The meets only get contracts that benefit so-called bigger from there. The “major” athletics departments. women’s team sea- The tag does not do justice to the son culminates Feb. Crimson squads’ accomplish- 28-March 1 in the Ivy ments so far this season and cer- Captain Sam Wollner ‘08 League Championships tainly doesn’t accurately describe dspics.com at Princeton, while the the teams’ aspirations for the rest men are in action a of the season. week later in the EISL The Crimson men’s team is off to a 6-0 start, while Championships, at the Harvard women have won all five of their dual home at Blodgett Pool. meets. Combined, the squads have outscored their op- Both sides will be send- ponents by an average margin of nearly 74 points. ing teams to the ECAC Their coaches couldn’t be happier. Championships Feb. “We’re where we want to be right now,” says wom- 29-March 2, and both en’s head coach Stephanie Wriede Morawski ‘92. “We’re Captain Jaclyn Pangilinan ‘08 dspics.com have had swimmers swimming fast, we’re confident and we’re in good shape qualify for the NCAA physically and mentally.” Championships in late March. Of his swimmers and divers, men’s coach Tim Murphy says, While both teams are in familiar positions—the Harvard men “They’ve done a good job. They feel good about themselves and are seeking their 20th Eastern title and the women are going after the work they’ve done as a team.” their ninth Ivy crown—each year brings a new team and new He adds, “They know they have a lot of hard work ahead of them.” continued on page 3 Winter Sports Updates Women’s Hockey (17-1-0, 14-0-0 ECAC, 6-0-0 Ivy) • The Crimson has continued on its blistering pace after suffering its lone loss to New Hampshire, outscoring its opponents, 24-2, in six straight wins since. Harvard has maintained a perfect 10-0 home record and an unblemished 14-0 mark in ECAC Hockey af- ter a dominating 4-0 win against rival and 10th-ranked Dartmouth Jan. 27. Harvard is currently ranked first in both national polls. • Junior Sarah Vaillancourt remains the catalyst for the Crimson offense as the nation’s second-ranked player in points per game (2.00). She also ranks second in assists per game (1.39) and joins teammates Jenny Brine, Caitlin Cahow and Sarah Wilson in the top 17 in goals per game. • Cahow also leads the nation in power-play goals with eight, and is second in scoring for defensemen (1.06 points per game). Fresh- man Lyza Ryabkina is ranked third in scoring among rookies (1.00). • Goalie Christina Kessler continues to dominate the national stat rankings and opponents with the country’s best goals against av- erage (0.88), save percentage (.957) and winning percentage (.941). Her shutout of Dartmouth was her fourth in the last five games and her eighth of the season, breaking Ali Boe’s school record set in 2003-04. • The Dartmouth win completed Harvard’s second season sweep of a ranked ECAC rival. The Crimson picked up its second win against No. 7 St. Lawrence, 2-0, Jan. 11. Harvard visits Brown Caitlin Cahow ‘08 and plays Yale at home before opening the Beanpot Feb. 5 against dspics.com Northeastern at Boston University. Men’s Hockey (7-9-3, 6-6-2 ECAC, 3-1-1 Ivy) Men’s Basketball (6-12, 1-1 Ivy) • After enduring a trying winless streak through December, • The Crimson has kicked off its conference schedule, splitting a Harvard got back on track with a convincing 3-1 win over Ivy home-and-home series with Dartmouth. A solid 77-57 win over rival Dartmouth on Jan. 26. Harvard stands in a tie for fifth in Colgate at Lavietes Pavilion gives Harvard two wins in its last league play, just two points out of second. three games. • With two goals in the Dartmouth game, senior Jon Pelle re- • Harvard has had the luxury of a handful of go-to players in established himself as the team offensive leader, improving his the frontcourt. Sophomore Jeremy Lin leads the team with 13.2 team best point total to 6-8-14. points per game and paced the Crimson with 20 points and • Freshman Michael Biega continues to lead the Crimson in 13 rebounds in an overtime loss to UC Irvine. Classmate Pat goal-scoring. Biega shares the league lead with five-power play Magnarelli netted 17 in the league opener against the Big Green goals and his nine total goals lead all ECAC rookies. and added a double double (21 points, 11 rebounds) three nights • Sophomore goalie Kyle Richter allowed a goal for the first later against Colgate. time in three outings against • Junior Evan Harris joined Lin in scoring 16, leading the Dartmouth but lowered his Harvard scoring effort in the loss in Hanover, N.H. Games at impressive statistics in ECAC Penn and Princeton Feb. 1-2 begin a stretch of four straight road games to a 1.78 goals-against games for the Crimson. Harvard returns home to host league- average and .937 save percentage. favorite Cornell Feb. 15, with Columbia in town the following Both numbers rank second in the night and Princeton and Penn visiting Lavietes Pavilion the next league. weekend. • Harvard opened the month with a 3-3 tie at No. 18 Quin- nipiac Jan. 2 and then suffered Men’s Squash (4-0, 3-0 Ivy) & narrow losses at Princeton and at (5-0, 3-0 Ivy) home against St. Lawrence and Women’s Squash No. 11 Clarkson before the exam break. The Crimson visits Brown • Both the men and the women take on Trinity on Feb. 6 to begin Feb. 1 and begins play in the 56th their 2008 dual match schedule. Beanpot against Northeastern Jon Pelle ‘08 • The men’s squad picked up wins against Yale and the U.S. Feb. 4. dspics.com Junior Men’s Team and placed fifth at the U.S. Squash Five-Man Championships at the beginning of December. Crimson No. 1 Women’s Basketball (8-8, 1-1 Ivy) Colin West won all three of his matches in the event, pulling out a hard-fought 3-2 win in the fifth-place match. Niko Hrdy also • After a 21-day break for final exams, the Crimson found the captured three wins playing in the No. 3 spot for Harvard. conference magic from last season and leveled its league record • The women’s team placed second at the first ever CSA Five- with a 47-34 win over Dartmouth. In only allowing 34 points, Women Team Championship on Jan. 6. Freshman Alexandra Harvard held the Big Green to its lowest offensive output of the Zindman led the Crimson from her No. 3 spot with a perfect 4-0 season. record on the tournament, while Katherine O’Donnell posted a • Freshman Emma Markley recorded a game- and a career-high 3-1 record in the top spot for Harvard. The Crimson bested Bow- 13 points in the win in Hanover and also nabbed eight boards in doin and two squads from Williams before falling to Dartmouth, just 15 minutes of court time. 4-1. • Junior Katie Rollins has established herself as a major threat in the paint, posting team-high point totals of 22, 20 and 18 in Wrestling (0-6) consecutive games. • Junior Emily Tay dished out • Sophomore 149-pounder J.P. O’Connor continues to be a ma- five assists against Holy Cross jor bright spot for the Crimson, compiling a 15-1 overall record, on Dec. 18, moving her into including a 6-0 mark in dual meets. O’Connor picked up wins seventh place on the Harvard in both ends of a doubleheader Jan. 26, taking down his oppo- all-time assists list with 276. nent from Lehigh in the first match of the day and scoring a win Senior Lindsay Hallion paces against Army in the second match. Harvard with 10.6 points per • O’Connor is ranked third nationally in his weight class.