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‘Sports’ Category
Kyle Merber sets all-time collegiate record for an American
This Monday night, while competing in the Swarthmore Last Chance Meet, senior Kyle Merber put the icing on his incredible Columbia track and field career. Merber set the all-time collegiate record for an American in the 1,500 meter run with 3:35.59. Read more about Merber’s amazing run, and watch a video after the jump. More »
Athletic directors: No postseason basketball tournament
Today, the athletic directors of the Ivy League released a statement dismissing the idea of a postseason basketball tournament to decide which team from the Ancient Eight would get a bid to the NCAA tournament.
“After careful consideration of these proposals, the athletics directors decided that our current method of determining the Ivy League Champion and our automatic bid recipient to the NCAA Championship is the best model moving forward,” said Robin Harris, the Ivy League executive director.
The proposal, written by Columbia men’s head basketball coach Kyle Smith, had unanimous support from the men’s coaches in the conference, but will not be discussed further by the athletic directors whose approval was needed to continue the process in executing a tournament.
Coming soon to your living, errrrr, dorm room
In a recent press release, the Ivy League announced that it was renewing its national television rights agreement with the NBC Sports Network, previously known as Versus.
Those with an unfortunate addiction to Ivy League sports (we totally exist, all 30 of us) will have more opportunities to get their fix from the comfort of their own room.
The deal says that the NBC Sports Network will televise a minimum of six but no more than 10 games for both basketball and football, and up to four men’s lacrosse games. While Columbia won’t have any cracks at screen time for lacrosse since it doesn’t have a varsity team, it certainly could end up with airtime for football or basketball—especially when you consider who’s returning for Light Blue basketball.
The release also guarantees that the network will air “The Game”—the annual football game between Harvard and Yale—in 2012 and 2013. Check out the full press release after the jump. More »
Junior tennis player’s talent unmatched in Ivy League
Junior Nicole Bartnik was unanimously selected as the Ivy League Player of the Year, announced yesterday. Bartnik was the first Lion to ever receive the award for women’s tennis since it was first presented following the 1994-95 season. She proved undefeated in the conference and went 14-3 over the course of the season.
And you thought Linsanity was over…
Great news coming out of the men’s tennis team, as the Lions learned on Tuesday night they received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Ranked No. 42 in the country, it clearly would have been a great injustice to leave the Lions out of the 64-team tournament.
The Light Blue will begin its quest for a National Championship by squaring off against No. 31 VCU (22-4) in its first match next Saturday, May 12 at the University of Virginia.
Should the Lions win, they’ll face the winner of the match between Virginia (24-1) and Fairleigh Dickinson (15-8). The host school, Virginia, is the overall No. 3 seed in the tournament—but that’s why they play the matches. Just ask Duke.
Continue reading after the jump for an update.
She may hit the books hard, but Iani Alecsiu hits tennis balls even harder
Though she’s only a sophomore, Iani Alecsiu, CC ’14, has demanded on-court attention since her first appearance in the fall of 2010. The Bucharest, Romania native arrived at Columbia with numerous junior titles, such as the Romanian National Junior Team Champion in both 2007 and 2008, and she’s since lived up to her potential.
Alecsiu’s subtle wit shined through as she sat down to answer some questions for Spectrum. Want to know how she preps for the big match? Or have you ever noticed that she looks a lot like a certain celebrity?
Read on after the jump for the latest installment of “five questions” with this tennis sensation. More »
Lions finish the season by thrashing Penn’s pitching
The Lions closed out their season with a bang, taking three out of four games from the Penn Quakers to finish with a 21-24 overall record and a 12-8 record in Ivy play. Despite having the fourth-best record of all eight Ivy teams, the Lions finished in third place in the Lou Gehrig division, behind Cornell and Princeton.
It was a good season for the Lions, overall, as they finished with 20-plus wins for the third time in the last five seasons. Of course, the team would have preferred to be playing next weekend in the Ivy League Championship Series, but with so few Ivy contests, each one is so important to determining the eventual division winners. So with that, let’s take a look back on this past weekend with the final “three quick thoughts” of the season. More »
Off to Dallas Jeff Adams maybe goes
Although senior offensive tackle Jeff Adams didn’t get drafted this weekend, he was apparently signed by the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday night.
Based on the strength of his past workouts, which included one for the Jets at their private facility, it was thought possible that Adams could have been a late-round pick.
If Adams had been drafted, he would have been the first to do so in the NFL since Marcellus Wiley, who was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the second round in 1997. Still, getting signed by the Cowboys, even if it wasn’t during the draft?
Not a bad graduation present.
For Stella Zhao, if there’s a lane there’s a way
Columbia College freshman Stella Zhao recently fulfilled a lifelong dream by competing in the Canadian Olympic trials. The swimming star and Ontario native recently sat down with Spectrum for an interview covering her life and what role swimming plays in it.
Spectrum: When did you first start swimming, and could you tell me about how you first got into it?
Stella Zhao: I started swimming through lessons because my sister took lessons. Later I joined a club.
Spectrum: What is your favorite memory of your swimming career?
SZ: My first race after I sustained a really bad injury that put me out of competition for a year. When I finally got to race again, it was an amazing feeling. More »
Spectator SportsCast: Out with the old and in with the new
Welcome back! We’re proud to present the 19th episode of the Spectator Sportscast, a weekly offering about Columbia varsity sports.
Hosted for the final time by Spectator columnists and varsity soccer players Ronnie Shaban and Zach Glubiak, with fellow columnist and Spectrum daily editor Mrinal Mohanka, this week’s edition of the Sportscast includes a quick summary of the recent baseball, golf, softball, tennis, rowing and lacrosse, and looks ahead to all the action coming up.
However, the preview of next weekend comes after the trio reveal and introduce their successors, who will carry the torch in the fall.
Tune in to find out whether the new hosts prefer Beyonce or Rihanna, what will be magical about the fall, what’s the best dining hall on campus, what a doubleheader is, whether Mrinal’s accent will be adequately replaced (it certainly will), and whether the new hosts prefer Powerade or Gatorade.
download this podcast (14.1 MB)
Email questions and suggestions for the new boys’ first edition to podcast@columbiaspectator.com.