Feature Story: Figure Skating Harvard Varsity Club and Harvard... NEWS & VIEWS of Harvard Sports A Perfect Pair Page 4 Vol. 46, No. 6 January 20, 2004 Crimson Swimming & Diving Teams Headed for Record Setting Seasons by Chuck Sullivan often than not and the Director of Athletic Communications much-needed depth to compete against It’s not that Harvard women’s swimming and diving head coach the league’s toughest Stephanie Wriede Morawski ’92 isn’t proud of her school record teams. in the 200-yard breaststroke. The seventh-year Crimson coach, quite The top per- the contrary, takes great pride in her school mark, which has stood former thus far has for 11 years now. Still, Morawski has made no secret about her de- been freshman sire to see that record broken this season, and with the strength of LeeAnn Chang her team this year, she is convinced it’s only a matter of time. (Bethesda, MD), a true That’s how this year’s seasons have been for Harvard’s women’s phenom who is mak- and men’s programs. From the teams’ standpoint, things literally ing a bona fide run at could not have gone any better thus far. The women stand at 6-0 Morawski’s aforemen- following an easy win against Northeastern on January 10, while tioned record in the the men are 4-0 overall after stunning a nationally ranked North 200 breaststroke. Carolina squad in the Tar Heels’ own pool on the same day. Chang is unbeaten in On the individual side, both Morawski and men’s head coach that event this season, Tim Murphy are well aware that they might need to update the and was unbeaten in massive records board that adorns the wall at Blodgett Pool. And any event in Harvard’s the countless All-America plaques that paper the hallway of the first three meets, which pool’s office area could have some more company in late March, included a pair of Freshman LeAnn Chang following the NCAA championships. double-dual competi- For the women’s team, this year’s early success is merely a natu- tions. ral progression of the squad’s improvement through the past three Junior Emily Stapleton (Milwaukee, WI) has been a consistent years. Harvard has improved its place in the Ivy League in each of winner in the backstroke events, while sophomore Jane Evans those seasons, including a second-place finish to Princeton in both (Madison, WI) has owned the butterfly events. the league’s dual-meet standings and in the Ivy/Eastern Champi- Harvard’s divers likewise feature a nice combination of skill onship meet. and depth. Freshman Annika Giesbrecht (Mercer Island, WA) en- The Crimson enters this year’s annual Harvard-Yale-Princeton joyed a terrific meet against Northeastern, defeating the Huskies’ meet with a legitimate chance to capture its first goal of a regular- NCAA qualifier in both the one- and three-meter events, while se- season dual-meet championship. A solid group of veterans has been nior Renee Paradise (Chapel Hill, NC) and junior Anne Osmun augmented by the most highly regarded freshman class in years, (Palos Verdes East, CA) have both taken first-place finishes as well. giving Harvard both the skill to claim the first-place points more Continued on Page 3 New Year Brings Tough Competition for Winter Teams by Chuck Sullivan lenging schedule for her team, but the Crimson’s toughest oppo- nent of the young season appears to be consistency. MEN’S ICE HOCKEY (8-9-2, 5-6-1 ECAC) Harvard enters the exam break following back-to-back losses, Harvard has endured a roller-coaster-type season to date including an overtime heartbreaker against Dartmouth that as the Crimson struggles to find consistency. ended the Crimson’s 26-game Ivy League winning streak. The team enters the exam break on the heels of a 3-1 win The good news for Harvard is the fact that the Crim- against Colgate, which gave Harvard a season sweep against son has not dropped three straight games since the Raiders. That win left the Crimson a game under the 2000, indicating that Coach Delaney-Smith .500 mark. knows exactly how to right the ship. The good news for Harvard is the upcoming sched- The Crimson is led by senior All-America ule that will give the team a chance to get right back into candidate Hana Peljto (Brooklyn Park, MN), who the race for home ice advantage in the postseason. A date is averaging 23.2 points per game and is poised with first-place Brown awaits Harvard on Jan. 31, fol- to become a four-time First-Team All-Ivy selection. lowed by the annual Beanpot tournament on Monday, Junior center Reka Cserny (Budapest, Hungary) February 2. The tournament will give the team a sec- has been a solid inside-outside threat as well as ond crack at a tough Boston College squad. she is averaging 18.5 points per game. Junior center Tom Cavanagh (Warwick, RI) has a team-high 12 goals through 19 games and is the MEN’S FENCING (0-1, 0-1 Ivy League) leading scorer with 20 points on the year. Se- The Crimson, which had registered nior forward Tim Pettit (Seattle, WA) has six Rob Flynn ‘05 started an upset of perennial Ivy League power Co- goals and 13 assists, while senior forward the scoring in the lumbia last season, dropped an 18-9 decision Tyler Kolarik (Abington, PA) has four goals Crimson’s 3-1 win to a hungry Lion squad in December. and 14 assists. over Colgate. The top performer for the Crimson is Junior goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris sophomore Julian Rose (Denver, CO), who (Evanston, IL) has solid numbers that include placed fourth in the epée at the season- a .913 save ratio and a 2.43 goals-against average. opening Penn State Invitational. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (6-7, 0-1 Ivy League) Head coach Kathy Delaney-Smith annually assembles a chal- Continued on Page 2 Winter Sports, Continued from page 1 WOMEN’S FENCING (3-1, 1-1 Ivy League) The Crimson is off to a solid start in the 2003-04 season with wins in three of its first four bouts, including a solid 18-9 Ivy League win against Cornell. The team enjoyed an excellent trip to Ithaca as Harvard coupled an Ivy win against Cornell with a 23-4 decision against Sacred Heart in the following meet. Harvard then fell, 20-7, to a veteran Colum- bia squad to even its Ivy League record at 1-1. Freshman Jasmine McGlade (Boulder, CO) turned in an im- pressive performance against Columbia as she won all three of her bouts in the epée bracket. WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY (13-1-1, 5-1-0 ECAC) Harvard ran its unbeaten streak to 14 games to start the sea- son, which set the stage for a main-event matchup against Dartmouth on January 11. That game put two of the nation’s top- ranked teams on the Bright Hockey Center ice. Harvard tuned up for the game with a 3-0 win against Ver- mont on January 10. A packed house of more than 1,900 fans came to Bright to see the Crimson take on the Big Green. The crowd was treated to what some deem the best women’s game in the history of the Bright Center, but in the end, it was Dartmouth that came away with a 2-1 victory. Still, Harvard enters the exam break ranked third in the na- tion and second in the ECAC, with a rematch against Dartmouth on the horizon. The Crimson has been led by junior forward Nicole Corriero Louisa Hall ‘04 (Thornhill, ONT), who has scored 21 goals with 15 assists for 36 points through 15 games. Senior defenseman Angela Ruggiero the exam break, is ranked third in the College Squash Association (Harper Woods, MI), who holds the unofficial title of “World’s Best national rankings, trailing only Trinity and Yale. Player,” has 10 goals and 13 assists on the year, giving her career Sophomore Will Broadbent (Greenwich, CT) is the third-rated totals of 81 goals, 140 assists and 221 points. player in the nation, according to the CSA rankings. MEN’S BASKETBALL (2-13, 1-1 Ivy League) WOMEN’S SQUASH (2-0, 2-0 Ivy League) It’s a rebuilding year for head coach Frank Sullivan and his Harvard has not been tested through its first two matches of team, who are dealing with the loss of all five seniors from last the season, as the Crimson heads into the exam break following year’s team. 9-0 wins against Brown and Cornell. Harvard, which has nary a senior on its 12-man roster, has Harvard is ranked fourth in the College Squash Association been far more competitive than its record would indicate. Follow- national team rankings, while senior Louisa Hall (Haverford, PA) ing a seemingly endless streak of close calls, the is the third-rated player in the na- Crimson picked up its first win of the season with a tion, according to the rankings. solid 58-53 decision against San Jose State on De- cember 30 to close the 2003 calendar year. WRESTLING Junior guard Kevin Rogus (Brookeville, MD) (0-5, 0-0 Ivy League) is ranked third in the Ivy League in scoring with Harvard has been victimized 16.1 points per game on the year. Sophomore for- by a rash of injuries and a chal- ward Matt Stehle (Newton, MA) has emerged as lenging schedule that has left the an excellent everyday player, averaging 12.7 points Crimson in search of its first dual and a team-high 5.6 rebounds per game.