Fall Competition Helps Prepare Golf and Tennis

Though the temperature is falling and the days are getting shorter, three of Columbia's spring teams are getting in some action before the harsh winter weather comes to Morningside Heights.

The women's tennis squad will be in action this weekend at the Cornell Invitational. Despite the recent tragedy, as of Wednesday afternoon there were no plans to cancel or reschedule the event. Todd Kennedy of the athletic department said that he was "90 percent" certain that the tournament would continue as scheduled.

Though this is an individual event, the entire squad will be making the journey. The tournament features competition at four singles levels as well as two double levels. The makeup of the team will be different this season because last season's number one, Laila Shetty, will not be returning to the team after joining the pro tour.

Coach Rob Kresberg has not yet named who will assume Shetty's spot, though he named sophomore Melissa Nguyen and junior Shelly Mittal as possible candidates. He was quick to add, however, that "nothing is set. We have five new players and two or three of them could be among the top six."

After the Cornell tournament, the team will next be in action on Sept. 28 when four members of the squad will travel to Penn and seven members will travel to Princeton.

The men's squad retains its top player, junior Oscar Chow, but loses three of its integral members--Akram Zaman, Donny Opici, and Steve Millerman--to graduation. Chow will look to defend his title when the team opens it season at the Princeton Invitational on the Sept. 21.

Like their female counterparts, the men's squad has yet to set its rotation for the season. Coach Bid Goswami said that numerous factors played into his indecision.

"It's a tough semester. We are without a facility right now. Being at Riverside Park for practice in the early morning hours has made it difficult to evaluate. There are also seven freshmen," Goswami said.

After the Princeton Invitational, members of the team will partake in individual tournaments. The Brown Invitational is scheduled for Sept. 28-30 and will feature eight members of the Columbia team. The East Coast Athletic Conference Tournament at Harvard will be played on Oct. 6-8. That is the only team event during the fall and is considered to be "the peak event" of the fall season for Coach Goswami.

On the links, the Lions' golf team was scheduled to participate in a tournament at Myrtle Beach, S.C. this weekend. As of Wednesday afternoon, it was unknown whether the Lions would be able to make the trip due to the nationwide grounding of flights. The Lions' next tournament will be Sept. 21-23 at Army.

The starting lineup is far from set. Two starters from last season--James Massey and Omer Salamat--graduated in the spring. To offset the loss are four new members including USC transfer sophomore Ali Haji. Additionally, the team has been unable to practice this week due to the travel difficulties in Manhattan.