The men’s swimming and diving team looks to have a strong start to its season, especially with the promising talent of its incoming freshmen. Despite the loss of Adam Powell and Hyun Lee to graduation, the team thinks it could have the strongest squad ever. “The incoming class continues to get faster and faster, and our entire team is thereby pushed to perform on a high level,” senior captain Alex Smith said. “It’s going to be great to finally get everyone in the water to compete, see this team put it all in the pool and really race.” Races to look forward to include the 50 freestyle and the 100 backstroke. Freshman Stanley Wong broke Powell’s high school state record in freestyle and hopes to continue his success as a Columbia swimmer. The Light Blue travels to Penn on Friday and returns home to take on Yale at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
—Eric Wong
Wrestling
After three years as an assistant coach, head coach Carl Fronhofer will take over the helm of a very talented Columbia wrestling team. Once again, the Lions look to be competitive after going 6-6 overall and finishing third in the Ivy League with a 3-2 conference record last year.
Seniors Eren Civan and Kevin Lester, who both qualified for the NCAA tournament last year, headline the 2011-2012 roster. Civan was named second team All-Ivy for the third straight year at 165 pounds, and the heavyweight Lester was a unanimous first team All-Ivy selection after going a perfect 5-0 in conference duals last season. Junior Nick Mills was also a key contributor, earning second team All-Ivy honors while narrowly missing out on qualification for the NCAA tournament. The Lions also have a number of talented freshmen who will be competing for starting spots. Both the 141 and 197 pound positions are likely to go to freshmen, with Elijah Sullivan and Ryan Ponte contending for the 141 spot and Matt Idelson and Austin Akins competing for the 197 spot.
The Light Blue will open its season this Saturday at the Michigan State Open in East Lansing, Mich.
—Eli Schultz
The men’s squash team will dive into its 2011-2012 season with the Ivy Scrimmages this weekend from Saturday, Nov. 12 to Sunday, Nov. 13, held at Yale.
This annual friendly competition will give head coach Jacques Swanepoel and his players a good preview of what the Ivy League season may look like, along with the Light Blue’s stance within the league. At the scrimmage, the other Ivy schools will participate with similar expectations as those of Columbia, making the competition an important first step before plunging into the actual season.
This year, the men’s team has recruited four new players from the class of 2015, including Thomas Galluccio from Greenwich, Conn., Kyul Rhee from Phillips Academy, Daniel Saleem from Alpharetta, Ga., and Ramit Tandon from Kolkata, India. With the support of the experienced upperclassmen, the new Lions will get their first chance to prove their talents this weekend.
The season opener for the men’s squash team will be an Ivy League match against Cornell on Dec. 4 in Ithaca, N.Y.
After an amazing inaugural year as a varsity sport, women’s squash will commence its second season as a varsity team this weekend. The women’s squash team is scheduled to play three matches on the road. It will travel to Yale, Dartmouth, and then finally to Brown. On Saturday the Lions will face Yale and Dartmouth, and on Sunday they will play Brown. The team will play its first home match of the season next Friday, Nov. 18, against Toronto. The team has an exciting season ahead of them. It will host a total of eight home matches this winter. The Lions will also participate in the Pioneer Valley Invitational later in January. Last year, Columbia performed impressively at the Invitational, finishing 5-0 by beating Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Colby, Wellesley and Wesleyan.
The Columbia men’s and women’s cross country teams will look to continue their postseason success when they compete at the NCAA Division I Northeast Regional at Audubon Golf Course in Amherst, N.Y. Both teams qualified for the tournament through their strong second place performances at the Ivy League Cross Country Heptagonal Championships on Oct. 29.
The regional tournament is the last hurdle remaining for the Lions to qualify for the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championship, which will take place on Nov. 21. Both teams will be looking to finish in the top two of their region, which would assure them a spot in the championship. If the Light Blue fails to place in the top two, it could still qualify for the tournament by being selected as one of 13 at-large teams by the Division I track and field subcommittee.
Even if the teams themselves do not qualify, Light Blue players will still have an opportunity to compete in the NCAA, as the first four individuals of nonqualifying teams will also get to race in the tournament.
The NCAA Division 1 Northeast Regional will be held this weekend on Saturday, Nov. 12. The men’s 10K race will begin at 12 p.m., while the women’s 6K race will start at 1:15 p.m.
—Josh Shenkar
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