Harvard Varsity Club NEWS & VIEWS of Harvard Sports Volume 49 Issue No. 7 www.varsityclub.harvard.edu March 28, 2007 Women’s Basketball Caps Season with Ivy Title by Heather Palmer been in the starting five before. So heading into the season, every- Assistant Director of Athletic Communications one knew it was going to be tough. Harvard started the season 0-6, before coming up with a When the Harvard women’s basketball team gathered to victory. Harvard faced back-to-back nationally ranked oppo- watch the Selection Show and learn its fate in the 2007 NCAA nents in Brigham Young and California. The Crimson hung with Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament, everyone expected to No. 23 BYU for most of the game but BYU came up with a 66-51 play a No. 1 seed. But when all four 16 seeds were announced and win. At the Contra Costa Times Classic, the Crimson met up with the Crimson’s name was not called, the team jumped for joy. They No. 16 California. Harvard was no match for the Golden Bears would be a 15 seed playing the No. 2 seed, Maryland, in Hartford, who dominated in an 83-62 win. Harvard’s first win, which came CT, March 18. For the players, the opponent didn’t seem to ma�er, against San Jose State, 83-62, was an offensive party in which all it was what the team had overcome to get there. five starters scored in double figures and all 12 players on the The Crimson went just 2-11 in nonconference games, but roster saw action. Senior Christiana Lackner recorded her first ba�led back to win 12 straight games for its 10th Ivy League title Women’s Basketball, continued on page 6 and sixth trip to the NCAA Tournament. The 2006-07 season, which was supposed to be a transition year, was an uphill ba�le. The Crimson was young, starting three Julie Chu ‘07 Wins Kazmaier Award sophomores, a junior and a senior. Two of those players had not As Nation’s Top Player Senior women’s hockey player Julie Chu — a two-time Olympic medalist and member of the U.S. national women’s ice hockey team since 2000— added another distinction to her resume as she was chosen as the winner of the 2007 Pa�y Kazmaier Memorial Award as the nation’s top collegiate player. The award, given annually by the USA Hockey Foundation since 1998, was presented at a brunch ceremony at the Hilton Lake Placid in Lake Placid, NY. Chu was chosen for this year’s award from a group of three finalists that included 2006 winner Sara Bauer of Wisconsin and Mercyhurst freshman Meghan Agosta. It is chosen by a 13-member selection commi�ee that includes coaches, media members and a represen- The Harvard women’s basketball team made its first NCAA Tournament tative from USA Hockey. appearance since 2003. photo by Gil Talbot Chu, continued on Page 6 S����� U������ W�������� (5-8-1, 4-5-1 EIWA) W����’� H����� (23-8-2, 17-4-1 ECACHL) • It was a historic weekend for Harvard wrestling at the 2007 • The women’s hockey team also made history, competing NCAA Championships March 15-17. Three wrestlers finished in the second-longest game in NCAA history in the NCAA as All-Americans, while Harvard scored its highest NCAA tournament quarterfinal against top-ranked Wisconsin. The point total (29) and tied for 22nd in the team standings. Badgers won, 1-0, in quadruple-overtime to end the game • Freshman J.P. O’Connor took fi�h at 149 pounds and be- a�er 127 minutes and nine seconds of hockey and 67 saves came the first freshman All-American in program history. He by Harvard sophomore Bri�any Martin (Torrance, CA). The was one of just two true freshmen to earn All-America honors. Crimson completed the season with a No. 7 national ranking. O’Connor posted a 37-8 record to set a school record for wins • Harvard swept rival Yale in two games to reach its ninth by a freshman. He was named EIWA Freshman of the Year straight ECACHL semifinal, where the Crimson fell in another and shared Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors. tight game, 4-3 to No. 5 St. Lawrence. The Crimson earned an • Sophomore Louis Caputo earned All-America recognition at-large bid for its fi�h straight NCAA berth. with a seventh-place finish at 184 pounds. He went 5-2 over • Senior Julie Chu, an Academic All-Ivy pick, was the co- the weekend and finished his season with a 32-9 mark. recipient of the Ivy League Player of the Year award and was • Senior Max Meltzer, a three-time NCAA qualifier, took joined on the All-Ivy League first team and All-ECACHL first eighth at 141 pounds and earned All-America honors to close team by junior Caitlin Cahow. Sophomores Martin and Sar- out his collegiate career. Meltzer finished his senior campaign ah Vaillancourt made the second team in both leagues. Fresh- with a 25-7 mark and his career with an 88-29 record. man goalie Christina Kessler was named to the ECACHL • Caputo won the 184 title at the EIWA Championships as all-rookie team. Harvard placed sixth as a team and had at least one individual champion for the 10th straight season. Want to receive email Meltzer and Caputo earned updates on your first team All-Ivy League honors, while O’Connor and favorite Harvard sophomore 157-pounder teams? Go to: Andrew Flanagan made the second team. Senior Robbie Preston earned honorable www.gocrimson.com mention at 133 pounds and competed at NCAAs for the third time. and sign up for E-NEWS. Max Meltzer ‘07 photo by Dspics.com M��’� H����� (14-17-2, 10-10-2 ECACHL) W����’� S������� (7-2, 6-1 I�� L�����) • Freshman Alexandra Clarke finished 17th in the 1,650-yard • The Crimson missed the ECAC Hockey League championship freestyle, missing All-America honors by one spot, at the game and NCAA tournament for the first time in six years, but NCAA Division I Championships. She broke her own 1,000- closed the season playing well. yard school record by starting the race in 9:50.58. Clarke also • Harvard swept Yale, 5-2 and 2-1, in an ECACHL Champion- placed 41st in the 500 free (4:50.44) and 58th in the 200 free ship first-round series and continued its strong play in its quar- (1:49.98). terfinal series at fi�h-ranked Clarkson. However the team was • Senior Noelle Bassi swam at NCAAs for the fourth straight undone by the heroics of Golden Knights goalie David Leggio, season, placing 32nd in the 200 bu�erfly in 2:00.89. She also who stopped 27 Crimson shots in a 3-0 win in the opening game earned Academic All-Ivy recognition for the second consecu- and 37 in a 2-1 victory a night later. tive year. • Senior captain Dylan Reese was named to the All-Ivy League • Junior Samantha Papadakis placed 29th in the three-meter first team and All-ECACHL second team for the second straight diving (290.50 points) and 30th in the one-meter (279.05). year and will finish the season with the American Hockey League’s Hartford Wolf Pack. • Senior Ryan Maki and junior Mike Taylor garnered All-Ivy M��’� S������� � D����� (7-2, 5-2 EISL) honorable mention, while Alex Biega was an ECACHL all-rook- ie pick and senior Justin Tobe earned Academic All-Ivy honors. • Junior Geoff Rathgeber earned All-America accolades at the NCAA Division I W����’� T����� (1-9, 0-0 I��) Championships as he took 11th place in the 200- •The Crimson has been the victim of a killer schedule to start yard individual medley. the spring season, with eight of its losses coming at the hands Rathgeber swam the event of ranked opponents. in 1:45.37 to place third in • Harvard took out its frustration on Massachuse�s, blanking the B Final of that event, the Minutewomen, 7-0, March 13. Harvard did not lose a set gaining All-America in the six singles matches against UMass, and freshman Eliza- status for the first time beth Brook did not drop a game at No. 4 singles. Freshman in his career. Rathgeber Lena Litvak won, 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 singles. also placed 20th in the • Sophomore Beier Ko is 6-2 at singles this spring, while she 400 IM (3:50.38) and was and Litvak are 5-3 at No. 1 doubles. 22nd in the 200 backstroke • Harvard finishes out March with a California trip featur- (1:44.42). Geoff Rathgeber ‘08 ing matches at Pacific, UC Davis and Sacramento State before returning to open Ivy League play April 6 at Cornell. C��� � W����’� S������ • Harvard got its spring season off to a winning start by tak- M��’� V��������� ing the Sharpe Trophy Team Race March 3-4 at Brown. The Crimson posted a 17-3 record over the course of Saturday and • If the results are any indication, the Crimson has not been Sunday. Harvard led wire-to-wire, going 5-0 in the first round bothered much by moving to Lavietes Pavilion during the reno- robin and 4-1 in each of the three sets of races that followed. vation of the Malkin Athletic Center. Harvard has won all four of The Crimson finished four wins ahead of the rest of the six- its matches (three at home) since shi�ing its home, and has won team field.