Author Archive
Which athletes made an impact this Fall?
The fall season for the Lions has come and gone. This past weekend, football finished its final game of the year at Brown while the men’s cross country came away with a 17th-place finish at Nationals. To close out the fall season, Spectrum decided to highlight some of the top Light Blue athletes. Check out the slideshow here (or click the photo below) to see who made our list. Feel like someone’s missing? Tell us in the comments!
We go together like football and poetry
The Light Blue football team heads to Harvard this weekend to take on the defending Ancient Eight champs at 1 p.m. And what better way to prepare for the matchup than to read some alum-written poetry?
Alvin M. Fountain, MA ’71, Ph.D ’76, recently sent Spectrum a couple of poems he penned in the late 80s, during the Lions’ infamous 44-game losing streak. Curious about his backstory, as well as his basis for writing the poetry, Spectrum decided to reach out to Fountain to find out more. More »
Homecoming through the years
When you’re a current student, it’s really easy to only associate homecoming with football booze, booze, and more booze. And despite how truly awesome booze might be (I wouldn’t know, I’m just a wee lass of 20 years), it completely disregards the importance of welcoming back alumni and examining at old traditions along with the rich history of our school.
Spectator recently launched an awesome way to access our archives—well, a fraction of them. And, to be honest, some parts of our history are pretty cool. Even the ones that involve school spirit (which Columbia once had, evidently) and sports.
Back in 1958, to celebrate Columbia’s 11th annual Homecoming, there was not only a super fancy ball, but also a Homecoming carnival. Apparently, the steep price of $3.75 was enough to drive people away from buying tickets to the carnival and made the idea of bringing a date quite unappealing. More »
Heyyyyy, sexy Roar-ee
Homecoming is less than a week away and Columbia athletes are quite literally dancing in anticipation. Check out the video below, posted on the ColumbiaSpirit account, of Light Blue athletes going Gangam Style. See if you can spot one of Spectator’s very own Sportscast hosts.
Harvard, you can keep Call Me Maybe.
Hate Princeton? Then head up to Baker Field tomorrow to root against them
Columbia football kicks off its Ivy season this Saturday at 12:30 against Princeton at Baker Field. Spectrum checked in with the marching band to see how they felt about our Ivy brothers over in New Jersey. We discovered what everyone pretty much already knows: Jersey sucks.
This week, our Columbia Lions take on Princeton at Baker Athletics Complex. Head coach Pete “the Man” Mangurian has the Lions playing real meat-and-potatoes football, full of tenacious defensive line play and a strong running game.
The Tigers, on the other hand, favor caviar-and-Chardonnay football, full of white privilege and whining to referees. Of course, the Band will be at the game to boost the Light Blue to victory, but we can’t give our boys a home-field advantage all by ourselves.
Here’s a short history lesson why it’s your duty as a Columbian—and an American—to come to the game and cheer your guts out for the Lions. More »
Healthy diets, happy athletes
As I’m sure most of you would agree, eating is awesome. Sometimes, though, eating right in college can be hard. And when you’re an athlete, it can be that much harder.
But recently, a nutritionist and Columbia coaches have started working with athletes to make sure that they get full, balanced meals. Men’s soccer head coach Kevin Anderson in particular makes sure his team is well-fueled by catering a full meal at V&T’s before each game. Check out the video below to see the men’s soccer team dining before a game and read more about athlete nutrition in a full-length article by Rachel Turner.
Video filmed and edited by Jacqueline Morea.
Kofi Agyapong: soccer player by night, artist by day
The men’s soccer team has some interesting characters. Sophomore forward Kofi Agyapong transferred from powerhouse squad Wake Forest a year ago to be closer to his family, and, as advertised, has dazzled on the field with his ball skills. But it’s his effusive, caring personality that makes him especially valuable as a team member. Not only that, but Agyapong is an accomplished artist and has been invited to several art exhibitions. Read the full story here and check out some of his art after the jump. More »
Win a gold medal, get stalked by the paparazzi
Spectator and Spectrum made sure to bring you updates and interviews from Columbia Olympians in our #LondonLions series. Today, we wrap up our coverage with an interview with one of our #LondonLions, gold medalist Caryn Davies.
Getting into and attending Columbia Law School? Pretty impressive.
Doing so while becoming a repeat gold medalist at the Olympics? Wow.
Caryn Davies, Law ’13, received her bachelor’s from Harvard, and is an 11-year veteran of the national rowing team. Davies added a gold medal to her collection this year at the 2012 Olympics in the women’s eight; in 2008, she won a gold in Beijing, and in 2004, she won a silver in Athens.
Davies answered a few of our questions via email. Read more and find out when you can work out with her at Dodge!
1. What was your internal reaction immediately after winning another gold medal and what did you do to celebrate later?
My initial reaction after crossing the finish line was relief. The USA women’s eight has gone undefeated since 2006 and thus we were favored to win gold. I knew we were indeed capable of gold, and I was glad that we were able to execute the race the way we had been practicing.
I actually had a quiet evening with my family after the race. We went out to dinner at a nice restaurant on the Thames and I was back in the Village asleep by midnight. I was too exhausted for any more celebration than that! More »
#LondonLions: Do you have to be insane to run the marathon?
Spectator and Spectrum are here throughout the next two weeks to bring you updates and interviews from Columbia Olympians in our #LondonLions series. Today, we profile one of our #LondonLions, Lisa Stublić. Follow @CU_Spectator and @CUSpecSports to make sure you’re up to date.
Lisa Stublić, CC ’06, is a Croatian marathoner. At Columbia, she trained under head track and field coach Willy Wood, where she made NCAA championships all four years for cross-country, and placed 10th her senior year to earn All-American status. Though American-born, post-graduation she immigrated to her father’s homeland country of Croatia, subsequently joining a track club where she began training for longer distances. In her marathon debut in 2010, Stublić set a Croatian record and earned the Olympic ‘A’ standard to allow her to compete in London.
Stublić is set to race on Sunday, August 5 at 6 a.m. We reached out to Stublić over email and got her to answer a few questions before she left for London.
1. What Olympic athlete are you gonna ask to call you maybe?
I am not going to ask any Olympic athlete to call me. I am already in a very serious relationship, so this is not an interest of mine. More »
#LondonLions: From leading Lions to leading Olympians
Spectator and Spectrum are here throughout the next two weeks to bring you updates and interviews from Columbia Olympians in our #LondonLions series. Today, we profile one of our #LondonLions, fencing head coach Michael Aufrichtig. Follow @CU_Spectator and @CUSpecSports to make sure you’re up to date.
Michael Aufrichtig made a large impact in his first year as head fencing coach at Columbia. Besides helping the men’s team achieve their best finish at the Ivy League Championships in four years, he led the women’s team to be runner-ups for the league title. But before he begins his second season at the helm of Columbia’s fencing program, he has some work to do in London.
Named the fencing coach for the USA modern pentathlon team, Aufrichtig is participating in the Olympics for the first time. Though he won’t be coaching any Lions, Aufrichtig will be seeing Light Blue fencers in the Village, such as foilist Nzingha Prescod, CC’15.
Aufrichtig took time before heading off to London to answer five questions from Spectrum. Look for his answers after the jump. More »