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On Friday afternoon, while most students were hauling away their things and leaving campus, members of the Columbia baseball team were hauling in some prestigious postseason accolades.

This year, both the men's and women's golf teams were extremely successful,
with the culmination of their efforts being a first-place finish for the men
and second-place finish for the women at the Ivy League championships.

The Columbia softball team began the 2008 season with the hopes of attaining a winning record after finishing 22-26 in 2007.

All season long, head coach Brett Boretti called his baseball team a family, with its mix of youth and experience. In the deciding game of the Ivy League championship playoff, Boretti stuck by his convictions.

Though the Columbia lacrosse team may not have had the year it hoped for or anticipated, much of its season can be summed up in these few words: successful out of conference, unsuccessful in conference.

In what was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Columbia fencing program, but the Lions surpassed all expectations by running away with the Ivy League championship and a strong third-place finish at the NCAA Championships.

The Columbia track and field teams had an indoor season that left them well-trained for their outdoor competitions. The athletes continued their performance trends from the cross country season, with the mid-distance and distance cores of both teams lending a large amount of support and standout sprinters and jumpers contributing as well.

The Columbia wrestling team (7-7, 3-2 Ivy) enjoyed a solid season throughout the winter, competing in a large number of matches every weekend.

A .500 conference record is not always notable, but this year, it was a
major accomplishment for the Columbia women's basketball team, whose 7-7
record was the best Ancient Eight performance in the program's history.

Coming off a season that saw Columbia's men's basketball team post 16 victories (the most since 1992-3) and seven in the league, expectations were high going into this year.

The Columbia women's swimming team had one of the most memorable seasons in the its history. The Lions finished 10-2, only losing to Ivy League powerhouses Harvard and Princeton.

The Columbia men's swimming team entered the 2007-2008 season looking to build upon its winning potential from the previous year.

Columbia field hockey took second place in the Ivy League this year with a 5-2 Ivy record (11-6 overall) for the program's best finish since the 2000 season, when the Lions finished 13-6.

The biggest test facing the 2007 edition of the women's soccer team was always going to be living up to the standards set in 2006—that improbable, unstoppable season that saw the Lions romp to the Ivy League title undefeated.

Despite an infusion of talented freshmen and the presence of veteran experience, the Columbia men's soccer team had a disappointing 2007 season.

The 2007-2008 season was a time of rebuilding for the Columbia cross country squads. With 18 freshmen and two new assistant coaches, the Lions worked to develop team depth for upcoming years.

The Columbia volleyball team will hope to rebuild after another turbulent season that has come to characterize the program.

After finishing last season at .500, the Columbia football team could not seem to put together a full game in the fall, finishing 1-9 and winless in the Ivy league.

John Baumann’s first Ivy League start of the season was a one-run complete game victory over Dartmouth. In his final league start, with a chance to clinch the Ivy Championship, Baumann was pounded for 12 hits and 10 runs in the Columbia baseball team’s 16-15 loss Tuesday.

“Hippies. They’re everywhere. They wanna save the earth, but all they do is smoke pot and smell bad.”
—Eric Cartman

In 1963, the old New York Journal-American’s Jimmy Breslin wrote a wonderful book about a pitiful team.

The Columbia rowing teams that were in action this past weekend were unable to come away with wins against their opponents. Both the men’s sub-varsity heavyweight team and the women’s team fell short of victories. The crews had wished to end their dual meet seasons on a high note. However, they now hope that these losses will not impact their showing at the sprints coming up in several weeks.

This weekend’s final test run before Ivy League Championships next week proved fruitful for the Columbia track teams at the Princeton Elite Invitational. In the Lions’ last race tune-up, the Light Blue runners managed to nab some high-place finishes while keeping their legs in competitive shape.

As freshmen and seniors alike lumbered off the team bus to their respective dorms and houses, every member of the Columbia baseball team shared a collective sigh. If the Lions want to win their first Ivy Championship since 1977, they will have to wait a little bit longer.

This weekend, the Columbia women’s rowing team will compete against Northeastern for the Woodbury Cup.

The Columbia men’s and women’s track teams head into their final meet before the Ivy League Championships at this weekend’s Princeton Elite Invitational.

The Columbia men’s and women’s track teams head into their final meet before the Ivy League Championships at this weekend’s Princeton Elite Invitational.

The Columbia men’s tennis team found itself well-represented on the All-Ivy squad, with sophomore Jon Wong making first-team All-Ivy and senior Mark Clemente and junior Bogdan Borta earning second-team All-Ivy nominations.

My biggest regret after three years of writing for the Spectator is that I never learned what the “M” in Athletic Director Dr. M. Diane Murphy’s name stands for. Maude? Myrtle? Murphy? The failure will haunt my days.

With the men’s golf team securing an Ivy League championship two weekends ago, the Columbia baseball team hopes to add more trophies to the Athletic Department’s collection when it travels to Dartmouth this weekend for the Ivy Playoff.

For most sports at Columbia, winning a league title at any level should merit some level of recognition from both the student body and the athletic administration, but in the case of the Columbia lacrosse club, neither of these has been given.

By virtue of hitting .507 against Ivy League opponents, senior outfielder Noah Cooper was awarded the Blair Bat, which is given to the batter who ends league play with the highest batting average and a minimum of 2.2 at-bats per game.

Three years and a bunch of friends later, here I am writing my last column for the Spec.

For most sports at Columbia, winning a league title at any level should merit some level of recognition from both the student body and the athletic administration, but in the case of the Columbia lacrosse club, neither of these has been given.

This weekend the Columbia baseball team will square off against Dartmouth in a best-of-three series to determine this year’s Ivy League champion.

Craig Hormann is a typical SEAS senior with only a few weeks left in his college career—he’s got meetings to attend, final exams and projects, and he just finished getting his first out-of-college job settled.

Although Columbia (20-24, 15-5 Ivy) and Dartmouth (24-14, 15-5) clinched the Lou Gehrig and Red Rolfe Division—respectively—on Saturday, there was still plenty of excitement in the final weekend of Ivy League play.

As senior co-captain Liam Boylan-Pett toed up at the Penn Relays Championship of America 4x800-meter relay heat, he awaited his handoff from freshman Jeff Moriarty with what could only be trepidation.

During my time at Columbia, various parties have made efforts to improve what some see as a lacking athletics program.

Timm Baur, CC ’10, is a 23-year-old heavyweight rower at Columbia University, formerly of the German army and national rowing team where he and his teammates won a gold medal at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships in 2004. To say he brings “experience” to the Columbia varsity eights would be an understatement.

On the first day of his seminar, Writing Film Criticism this spring, Andrew Sarris, a longtime Columbia University professor and columnist for The New York Observer, gave his honest view of the craft in which he has made his living for over a half-century.

With half of this year’s roster consisting of freshman players, the Columbia softball team has focused its young players all season.

After tremendous play at the Ivy League Championship last week, the Columbia men’s golf team has earned a bid at the 2008 NCAA regional qualifier.

All of the Columbia University rowing teams were in action this weekend. The heavyweight squad looked to continue its winning ways, while the women’s and lightweight teams searched for victories to add to their seasons. This was the last competition for all teams until they compete in the Eastern Sprints (EARC) in the middle of May. This past weekend leaves the Lions well-situated for this upcoming major competition.

According to ESPN.com, Columbia senior quarterback Craig Hormann has signed with the Cleveland Browns organization as an undrafted free agent.

Columbia track experienced success during the final two days of Penn Relays. While the Lions did not perform as outstandingly as they did last year, they managed to defeat tough Ivy League teams and place highly among nationally ranked competitors. The Light Blue then went on to compete in the Yale Springtime Invitational with some of its nascent athletes.

In the final weekend of Ivy League play, Penn (26-20, 10-10 Ivy) swept the Columbia softball team (15-33, 3-17 Ivy) in four games.

Long hours, dull work, no pay. What activity fits this description? Prison work? No—writing and editing for Spec Sports.