Harvard Varsity Club NEWS & VIEWS of Harvard Sports Volume 52, Issue No. 5 www.harvardvarsityclub.org January 27, 2010 Jeremy Lin ‘10 and Men’s Basketball Team Making National Headlines by Kurt Svoboda one-sided defeat of nationally- Director of Athletic Communications ranked Boston College – which was just 72 hours removed from “I heard you have a really good Asian player on your team.” the Eagles’ victory over number- It was early on a mid-December morning. And it was shaping one-ranked North Carolina. up to be a bad day for me as I lay in the doctor’s office. In the hours prior to that In the course of friendly conversation, the inevitable question game, I was speaking with arises about what one does for a living. Answering that I work in my counterpart at B.C. as we college athletics more often than not draws intrigue and further prepared each other for the questions. contest. He asked which player The statement from my doctor caught me off guard, I he needed to know about and suppose, because I had not given Jeremy Lin’s background much without hesitation I mentioned prior thought as our team is filled with good players from all Lin, explaining the specifics of backgrounds. I looked up and exclaimed that, indeed, we did his game. have a very good basketball player who was of Asian descent Understanding the type of – Chinese in fact. The rest of my visit was better than projected athletes that B.C. plays against as my doctor – also of Chinese decent – and I talked all things on a regular basis, I noted that Harvard basketball. he was taking down my notes Less than a week later, Lin, who hails from Palo Alto, CA, in a professional – albeit clearly had a terrific game in a victory at Colgate. Early in the contest he unimpressed manner. put forth one of those great sports displays that quiets fans for a Knowing it would grab his brief moment as they comprehend what just unfolded. Just attention, I mused that Lin was moments after connecting on a tough 3-point basket, Lin making a name for himself as Jeremy Lin ‘10 dspics.com collected another pass, shot-faked his defender and took three the best Chinese-playing steps before throwing down a big dunk to silence the home collegiate player in the country. That raised his eyebrows crowd. At halftime, the public address announcer came up to me. momentarily and he was soon on the phone telling somebody “The Lin kid is incredible – I’d vote him onto the All-Asian- to get over here and watch tonight’s game. I chuckled and went American team if one existed.” about my pre-game duties. In early January, Lin took center stage in the sports world Twenty seven points, eight assists, six steals and two blocked along with his Harvard teammates following the Crimson’s Continued on page 6 Winter Sports Recaps Women’s Swimming & Diving (5-0, 5-0 Ivy) Men’s Swimming & Diving (7-0, 5-0 Ivy) • Harvard took third at the Georgia Invitational while the div- • Harvard finished second at the Georgia Invitational behind the ers competed at the Big Al Open at Princeton. After swimming host Bulldogs while the divers competed at the Big Al Invitation- against the University of the Virgin Islands before the holiday al. Harvard defeated Arizona State out west andContinued followed onwith page 6 break, Harvard defeated Penn and Brown at home to take a wins against Navy and Penn at home to begin the new year. In perfect record into the annual HYP meet. its last competition, the team knocked off Brown to stay unde- • Records fell on each day of the Georgia meet. Sophomore Kate feated overall and in Ivy action. Mills broke school records in the 500 free, 100 fly, 200 fly and 200 free. • Sophomore Jordan Diekema won the 200 backstroke title at • Sophomore Katherine Pickard set the school record in the 400 Georgia and helped the 200 free and 200 medley relay teams take IM and 100 free and broke Mills’ 200 free mark, just after Mills second. He posted two wins against both Navy and Penn. had set that record. Pickard’s 100 free record came on the first leg • Sophomore Zac Ranta has won nine of the 10 diving events – of the Crimson’s new school record in the 400 free relay. She was the one- and three-meter – in the five meets against Ivy foes. named ECAC Swimmer of the Week for her efforts and then won • Senior Bill Jones recorded an NCAA ‘B’ qualifying time in the the honor again in mid-January, following the Penn meet. 200 fly at Georgia and has won six different events in the four • Sophomore Jenny Reese was named ECAC Diver of the Week meets since. after the Penn win. • Harvard will host rivals Yale and Princeton Jan. 31-Feb. 1, look- • Harvard will welcome Princeton and Yale Jan. 30-31 and then ing to wrap up a second straight unbeaten season. wrap up its dual schedule against Northeastern Feb. 13. Women’s Basketball (8-7, 0-1 Ivy) Men’s Volleyball • The Crimson defeated New Hampshire before dropping consecutive games to Providence and BU. Harvard then ran off • Under the guidance of first-year head coachBrian Baise, three straight wins against Vermont, Maine and UC Santa Harvard is looking to capture the EIVA Hay Division title in 2009. Barbara. Harvard lost both games at the Women of Troy Led by a pair of captains, junior setterGil Weintraub and senior Basketball Classic, to Siena and Southern California, before outside hitterBrady Weissbourd, the Crimson is looking to im- defeating Northeastern, New Year’s Eve. Harvard opened Ivy prove upon last year’s 6-4 conference mark. League play by falling to Dartmouth. • Weintraub led the nation last season with 0.56 service aces and • Senior Emily Tay joined the 1,000-point club Dec. 14 against was 16th with 11.29 assists per set. Weissbourd, meanwhile, was Maine, becoming the 13th player in program history to do so. seventh in the nation with a .439 hitting percentage and eighth in • Freshman Brogan Berry has been named Ivy League Rookie of blocks per set (1.35). the Week five times this season, including three straight weeks in • Junior Erik Kuld led the Crimson with 4.05 kills and added December. Berry and Tay average over 10 points per game. 1.29 digs per set in 2008 while senior Jeff Nathan returns after • Sophomore Emma Markley garnered Ivy League Player of the averaging 1.38 digs per set. Week honors Dec. 15. She leads the team with 13.3 points and 6.8 • Junior Soren Rosier and sophomore Shaun Mansour join rebounds per game. Weissbourd at the middle blocker position. Freshman Nikola • Harvard heads into the meat of conference play, beginning Jan. Ivica will also provide depth at the position after the Crimson 30-31 at Penn and Princeton, followed by another road swing at finished third in the league in 2008. Yale and Brown Feb. 6 and 7. Men’s Hockey (4-11-4, 4-6-4 ECAC, 1-3-3 Ivy) Women’s Hockey (8-7-3, 8-4-2 ECAC, 5-2-0 Ivy) • Harvard dropped a pair of decisions to North Dakota to begin • Harvard tied New Hampshire to open December, dropped December and then fell to Lake Superior State and Alabama- a game at Connecticut but rebounded with a win at rival Dart- Huntsville at the Badger Hockey Showdown in Madison, WI. mouth to finish the month. Harvard then lost home matches to The Crimson then lost to Quinnipiac and Princeton on the road, Princeton and Dartmouth with a win against Quinnipiac in be- tied Brown and lost to Yale at home, and tied No. 18 Dartmouth tween. In its most recent action, Harvard won at Brown and Yale. in Hanover, N.H. • Senior Sarah Vaillancourt continues to lead the team in scoring, • Senior Brian McCafferty was named one of 20 finalists for the totaling nine goals and 11 assists. She scored her 200th career Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. point against Dartmouth Dec. 17 and will also be attending the • Junior Doug Rogers recorded a hat trick in the tie at Dartmouth. training camp for Canada’s National Women’s Team. • Junior Alex Biega leads the team with 12 points on three goals • Senior Sarah Wilson shares the team lead with Vaillancourt and nine assists. Senior Nick Coskren and freshman Daniel with nine goals. Moriarity lead the Crimson with five goals each. • Christina Kessler anchors the defense with a 1.93 goals-against • Freshman Matt Hoyle has seen the most action in goal, posting average and a .918 save percentage. She was also named ECAC a 3.23 goals-against average and a .894 save percentage. Goaltender of the Week Jan. 12. • After facing Union at home Jan. 30, Harvard will take part in • Katey Stone, the Landry Family Head Coach for Harvard the Beanpot Feb. 2 and 9, looking to make a repeat appearance in Women’s Ice Hockey, is currently third all-time in career wins for the final, with a game at Yale, Feb. 6, in between. Division I women’s hockey with 308. • Harvard next plays at Union and Rensselaer Jan. 30-31 before Men’s & Women’s Fencing the first round of the Beanpot Feb. 3 against Boston University. (5-5 men, 11-1 women) Women’s Squash (5-0, 3-0 Ivy) • Both teams opened up December by sweeping all three match- • The No.