HARVARD VARSITY CLUB NEWS & VIEWS of Harvard Athletics www.harvardvarsityclub.org Volume 56, Issue No. 5 March 18, 2014 Livin’ Lavietes Loca! by Amy Barry, Athletic Communications Assistant so since Keith Wright ’12 in 2011. The unanimous All-Ivy Photos Courtesy of Athletic Communications League first team selection was recognized along with second team selections Siyani Chambers ’16, Steve Moundou-Missi The Harvard men’s and women’s basketball teams ‘15 and Laurent Rivard ’14, and honorable mention picks broke and set records in 2013-14 to rewrite the Crimson’s Kyle Casey ’13 and Brandyn Curry ’14. hardwood history books... Rivard, Harvard’s leader in games played (121), will After capturing its fourth straight Ancient Eight crown graduate this spring as the program’s all-time leader in with a convincing 70-58 victory triples and the second-best over Yale on March 7, Tommy sharp shooter in Ivy League Amaker and Harvard are headed annals with 282 career three’s. back to the big dance for the third The senior co-captain and his consecutive year and fifth time classmate Casey each eclipsed the overall. The Crimson is the first 1,000-point plateau against Green team to win four consecutive Ivy Bay November 29 to bring the League titles since Penn did so program’s 1,000 point scorers to from 1993-96. 30, while senior co-captain Curry Harvard closed the “14-Game is also on the cusp of the milestone Tournament” on March 8 with a with 932 points. thrilling overtime 97-93 victory at Kathy Delany-Smith was at the Men’s basketball reacts to Selection Sunday announcement forefront of the women’s team’s Brown to improve to 26-4 overall, at party hosted by the athletics department. matching the program record for historic ways. The 32-year head wins, while giving the team a coach earned her 500th career 13-1 ledger in the league, its best victory by downing Colgate 91- ever. Harvard finished the regular 76, November 23 and went on to season 7-0 on the road against Ivy win 15 additional games en route League opponents, a feat it had to become the all-time winningest never accomplished. coach in Ivy League history with The Crimson has a chance to 515 wins, surpassing Pete Carril. improve on these numbers when Harvard finished its regular it travels to Spokane, Wash., for season with a 21-7 overall and the second round of the NCAA 11-3 against Ivy competition to Tournament against fifth-seeded record its 11th 20-plus win season, Cincinnati. Harvard looks to Women’s basketball celebrates with Coach Kathy Delaney- all under the guidance of Delany- continue its historic season Smith on her 515th career win vs Yale (69-65). Smith who owns a career record when it takes on the Bearcats on of 516-347 all with the Crimson. Thursday, March 20 at 2:10 p.m. EST live on TNT. She is one of just six active Division I coaches to spend 32 Harvard also excelled individually on the court as years at one institution. six different Crimson picked up All-Ivy League honors Senior captain Christine Clark finished her final year in matching the 1994-95 Penn team for the most all-conference Cambridge by leading the Ivy League in scoring to pick up accolades in Ancient Eight history. The total surpasses first-team All-Ivy League honors as a unanimous selection. Harvard’s previous record of four set by the 2011-12 and Clark sits fourth all-time in scoring at Harvard with 1,664 2012-13 squads. points that includes 25 20-plus point games. Junior Temi Wesley Saunders ’15 collected Ancient Eight Player of the Fagbenle joined Clark on the Ancient Eight first team Year honors after stuffing the stat sheet on both ends of the after posting 11 double-doubles this season, the most for a floor for the Crimson. The junior is the third member of the Crimson player since Hana Peljto ’04 posted 15 in 2003-04. Crimson to earn the conference’s top award and first to do Farag and Sobhy lead the Way to Titletown by Meghan Moore, Athletic Communications Assistant Photo Courtesy of Athletic Communications The Harvard Squash teams solidified themselves as national powerhouses after completing one of the most successful campaigns in program history. The men’s and women’s teams combined for one team national championship, two individual national champions and two Ivy League titles in 2013-14. At the top of the two teams, sit arguably two of the best college squash players. Ali Farag ’14 and Amanda Sobhy ’15. A decorated collegiate athlete, Farag concluded his collegiate career with a 47-2 record, two Ivy League titles, two individual national championships, and one team championship. Farag’s success is more widespread than his record The Cairo, Egypt native posted a perfect 20-0 record his would indicate. Prior to the men’s national championship senior season and reclaimed his spot as the nation’s best title match, the senior was honored with the 2014 Skillman with his second Pool Trophy, which came following a 3-1 Award, the highest individual honor in men’s college squash. win over defending national champion Amr Khlaed Khalifa The award is given annually to a senior men’s squash player of St. Lawrence. who has demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship during Squash continued on page 2... Squash continued from page 1... his entire collegiate career. While Farag and Sobhy had similar individual seasons, In a sport where being the first to accomplish something their teams’ success differed slightly during the 2013-14 new compares to walking on water, Sobhy became the first campaign. Crimson student-athlete to take home the Ramsay Cup three Both teams posted perfect records in Ivy League play to years consecutively. help the men clinch its 36th Ancient Eight crown and the The junior boasts an impressive 47-0 career record, women’s 19th title. defeating 46 of her opponents by a, 3-0, margin. Sobhy The men’s team can call themselves National Champions dropped just a single game to Trinity’s Kanzy El Defrawy for the first time since 1998, blanking defending National on Feb. 6 2013. Champion, Trinity, 9-0 to claim its 31st Potter Cup. Senior “I am super pleased to win the Ramsay Cup for a third captain Brandon McLaughlin won the pivotal fifth match, straight year” said Sobhy. “It’s always tough having to play 3-2, in the No. 2 position to put the Crimson up 5-0. the same people over and over again, and being in that top The women’s team came up just short of its third spot definitely puts some added pressure on me, but I try consecutive national title, narrowly falling, 5-4, to Trinity in not to think about it. I just go in there and take it one match the 2014 Howe Cup finals. The Crimson opened up with a 2-1 at a time.” lead after the first flight, but the Bantams won four of the next The pressure will be on next year as Sobhy attempts to cap six matches to secure the win and deny the Crimson what her collegiate career with a fourth individual title. The junior would have been the program’s 15th national championship. would become just the second student-athlete to accomplish The stand out success of the 2013-14 season does much to the feat. Former Penn State standout Gail Ramsay, after win the Crimson the respect they deserve and secures them whom the Ramsay Cup is named, is the last to claim the cup as a force to be reckoned with. for four straight years, from 1977-80. Ivy League Champions 2013-2014 With Harvard currently holding 11 Ivy League titles for the 2013-2014 season, the possibility of breaking our own school record of 14 titles earned back in 2004-2005 is on the horizon. Better yet is the potential to break the highest Ivy League record held by Princeton of 15 titles during the 2010-2011 season. Below are our current Ivy League titles for the 2013-2014 season. Men’s Basketball Women’s Soccer Men’s Fencing Men’s Squash* Football Women’s Squash Women’s Ice Hockey Men’s Swimming and Diving Women’s Track and Field Women’s Swimming and Diving Women’s Rugby * 2013-2014 National Champions Crimson Scoreboard Sports statistics and highlights as we go to press. Click on sport for more information or visit gocrimson.com Overall Percent Conference Percent Streak Home Away Neutral Basketball - M 26-4 .867 13-1 .929 W9 11-1 11-3 4-0 Basketball - W 21-7 .750 11-3 .786 W4 9-2 9-4 3-1 Fencing - M Men’s team qualified six fencers to compete at 2014 NCAA Championships on March 20 in Columbus, OH. Fencing - W Women’s team qualified five fencers to compete at 2014 NCAA Championships on March 20 in Columbus, OH. Ice Hockey - M 10-17-4 .387 6-12-4 .364 L3 5-8-1 4-7-3 1-2 Ice Hockey - W 23-7-4 .735 16-3-3 .795 L2 13-3-2 9-2-2 1-2 Skiing Places 14th out of 23 at 2014 NCAA Championships. Rebecca Nadler ’14 earned her third All-American in Skiing - M/W the Giant Slalom. Swimming & Diving - M Eric Ronda ’17 and Mike Mosca ’15 qualify for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. Ivy League Champion in both the 100 and 200 backstrokes, Danielle Lee ’16 qualifies for the NCAA Division I Swimming & Diving - W Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships.