Winter 1999-2000 Season in Brief

FENCING

It was a season of uncharacteristically mediocre results for Columbia's winningest program this year.

Out of Ivy League title contention early, the Lions made something of a comeback in the postseason. But all in all, fencing failed to garner the sort of results one would expect from a Columbia sport whose women tied for the Ivy title last year and whose men won it just two season ago.

The men's season began with the usual Harvard romp, a 20-7 win in December. But that was to be their only Ivy win, as the men struggled through a 5-7 (1-3 Ivy) season.

Meanwhile, handicapped by the absence of premier foilist Erinn Smart, who was busy making the 2000 U.S. Olympic team, the women 10-6 (3-2 Ivy) had a better record than their male counterparts but also fell short of an Ivy title.

Going into the postseason, Columbia had little chance to compete with big "scholarship schools" (as Columbia's coaches often call them) like Penn State, Notre Dame, and Stanford.

That turned out to be true. But Columbia still surprised the collegiate fencing world by claiming sixth place in the nation for the second year in a row at the NCAA Championships. It was fine ending to a disappointing season.

Next season, the return of Smart to action for the women will be offset by the loss of senior Susan Jennings to graduation. Jennings capped a brilliant collegiate career with her fourth first-team All-Ivy selection this year. But the women's foil team will need the support of épée and sabre if it hopes to regain its elite status.

And so will the men, whose three best fencers--sabre fencer Patrick Durkan and foilists Raphael Bruckner and Jed Dupree--will have their last shots at another Ivy title.

--Max J. Dickstein

MEN'S SWIMMING

Uris Pool over at Dodge must be enjoying its short break.

Men's swimming and diving practiced and played there all winter to produce a 4-8 record overall and only a 1-7 mark in the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League.

But some of these losses were painfully close. Brown beat Columbia 123-117 in the Invitational with Yale. The deciding event was the 800-yard freestyle relay that was captured by Brown with only three seconds giving them the win. Navy's fleet provided a similarly close battle. At only 125-116 Navy conquered, once again winning the final deciding relay, this time it was the 400-meter.

The diving contingent once again went undefeated in dual meets. The trio dominated the pool-junior Mark Fichera, departing senior "Downtown" Dan Brown, and first-year Josh Juffe.

The sprinting squad showed their talent this season. The departures of seniors Gered Doherty and Russell Perkins departure will affect the speed of the almost untouchable relay with junior Matt Schultz and first-year Arpad Sebe.

More than a few pool records were broken throughout the season, many by Doherty. Fichera likewise put up an all-time high Columbia score in the three-meter diving event.

And then there was the pinnacle of the competition--Eastern Championships. Columbia brought home sixth place out of ten formidable foes, Coach of the Year awards for swimming Coach Jim Bolster and diving Coach Gordon Spencer, and the satisfaction of having stunned the crowd at Princeton into silence as the team stormed the 400 medley relay.

Doherty and Fichera got to go on to NCAA's, both finishing in the top 30. There were victories for Columbia in awards and honors and some excellent races and dives. The improvement in the team is evident in the speed, depth, and agility of the men, but it loses some of its key players to Commencement. Uris will have to see if the aquatic experts that work in its water next year will continue the improvements and how the new Class of 2004 will fit into the picture.

--Bethany Holmstrom

WOMEN'S SWIMMING

Despite a somewhat disappointing fifth-place finish at the Ivy League Championships, the consensus is that by all other measures, the 1999-2000 season for the women's swimming team was a success.

At the outset of the year, Head Coach Diana Caskey set the team's goal at finishing in the top three in the Ivy League. Given that the league champion is decided at the end of year Ivy League Championship meet, however, this feat would require an impressive three-day showing.

The final league results showed Princeton on top, followed by Brown, Yale, and Harvard, but Columbia, in fifth, amassed the most points in the Championship that a Lion team has produced since the League switched to the championship format in 1995.

The dual meet season produced mixed results for the Lions, who started off impressively with a rare tie against rival Yale at Uris Pool, followed by a closer-than-expected loss to Harvard. This meet showed one of Columbia's ultimate weaknesses; a lack of depth.

Against Harvard, as well as in other dual meets and in the Championships, the Lions fared well at placing swimmers high in events, but struggled to place multiple swimmers high in events. After running off five consecutive wins against Penn, Fordham, Seton Hall, Dartmouth, and Army, the Lions dropped consecutive contests against Princeton and Brown, showing an inability to beat the League's elite. The Lions finished the season with a win against Cornell.

Senior Cristina Teuscher [see back page], who again completed an undefeated season, obliterating all opponents in all her events, led personal performances. In addition, she was named the Ivy Championships' Outstanding Swimmer, won NCAA gold metals in the 400-meter freestyle and 400-meter individual medley, and was named the Honda Award recipient, as the nation's top collegiate swimmer.

The team was also given a boost by the performance of the first-years, most notably Lucy Eccleston, who finished sixth in the 100-yard butterfly and third in the 200-yard fly at the Ivy Championships, and Joanna Kolb, who captured fifth place in both the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke at Ivies. Additionally, sophomores Amy Blume and Katie Lynch were steady contributors throughout the season.

The team seems to be going in the right direction, getting closer to challenging for a league championship. As a credit to this, Caskey was given the Swimming Coach Peer Recognition award at Ivies. While the team will lose a world-class swimmer in Teuscher, the returning core will surely continue to train hard and help the Lions claw their way to the top.

--Josh Fay-Hurvitz

WRESTLING

Injuries defined the 1999-2000 edition of Columbia wrestling. After beginning the season with a promising group of returning wrestlers and the triumphant return of major wrestling tournaments to Levien Gym, the wheels fell off. Nearly every starter missed some time at one point or another.

And when the regular season ended on a Thursday night in mid-February, wrestling had compiled its first losing dual meet record since Head Coach Lou Montano took over the program nine years ago.

"First semester we started off well; we had a good, solid lineup," Montano said. "Second semester injuries hit us hard."

The Lions' season opened on a high note.

November's Ivy Classic marked the return of major wrestling tournaments to Morningside Heights. The kick-off meet for the six Ivy teams was the first tournament held at Columbia since 1941.

First-year Matt Greenberg (197 lbs) was Columbia's most consistent winner. He was runner-up Ivy League Rookie of the Year and the only Lion to place at Easterns.

"He did an outstanding job as a freshman," Montano said. "He can compete with anyone in the country."

The Lions won only one league meet, 19-15 over Princeton.

If there is a bright side, it is that everyone in Columbia's roster saw time this season.

And with a good recruiting class coming in next year, there is again reason for optimism in the wrestling room.

"I'm very excited for next year," Montano said. --Michael Mirer

TRACK

With the year approaching a close, Columbia men's and women's track will bid a tearful farewell to some very prolific runners and competitors.

Seniors Sarah Feeley, Kara Kerr, Ray Biersbach, and Jason Gibbons highlighted another season strong in individual events but lacking overall as a team. The men's squad needed a strong showing of support from its lesser-known runners to repeat its impressive performance at the 1999 Heptagonal Championships. And despite the break-out season of sophomore Evan Zeisel and a number of remarkable performances by underclassmen, the Lions could not put it together when it mattered as a team and finished a disappointing eighth place. The women, conversely, finished seventh to record their best performance at Heps in most people's memory. The myriad young runners and the outstanding consistency of first-year pole vaulter Michelle Kercado should promise success for coming seasons.

What has hurt the Lions in this spring's outdoor season was the early retirement of senior Cie-Jai Brown after a broken foot. Besides that loss, both teams are in virtually the same condition as they were in the indoor season. There are two meets left--the Springtime Invitational and Princeton Invitational--before Heptagonals on May 13 and 14.

With a strong stock of underclassmen and a solid recruiting year, both teams should improve on this year's performance next season. --Kevin Strouse

ARCHERY

If archery coach Alex Rodriguez could control the weather, spring would start in February. We would not have seen an April snowstorm, and the team would have more time to practice shooting outdoors. Needless to say, the clouds stayed, but a few bright spots emerged from the team's 1999-2000 season.

The team did very well in indoor competition this season, recapturing its first place ranking in the East, and moving up one spot to second in the nation. At the indoor nationals, 15 personal bests were recorded, and four archers shot over 1000.

"I had no doubt that our shooters could shoot as well as they did [at nationals]," Rodriguez said. "They had shown this at various times before, but having most of them shoot personal best scores at the same tournament was not something I was expecting."

There were three new additions to the roster that, in Columbia archery-like fashion, quickly got a handle on shooting. Sophomore Amanda Sneider and first-years Roxanne Atienza and Shelby Peak competed and did well in some of the larger meets. The returning members continue to improve, while the seniors are on track to end their college archery days on an upswing. Senior Christina Jung has a legitimate chance of becoming a two-time All-American shooter, and junior Namrata Tripathi just may join her.

According to the calendar, it really is spring, so the team can finally practice outside. It has until May 17 to prepare for outdoor nationals, where it hopes to improve upon its fifth-place ranking from last year.

--Esther Oh