Jonathan August

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 baseball team is the Ivy League champion. In the decisive third game of the Ivy League championship series, the Lions defeated the Big Green 7-5, earning the Light Blue its first Ancient Eight title since a split title in 1977 with Cornell. The victory gives Columbia the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Team and individual success at every level of collegiate competition defined the 2007 season for the Columbia fencing team. The women's team went undefeated in the regular season against the toughest schedule in the nation, while the men's squad took home the NCAA Championship in March.

The Columbia men's club lacrosse team took home the National College Lacrosse League Division II national championship on Sunday, defeating SUNY Cortland 10-6 in the finals. The Lions led the game start to finish in the championship match, jumping out to a 3-0 lead over the Red Dragons after the first quarter and never looking back.

Walking around the Columbia campus, it is generally easy to identify members of the football or basketball teams given their larger size and builds compared to normal students. For some athletes there is the unique opportunity to blend in with the crowd. But for Sara Ovadia, her days of staying below the radar are dwindling.

It isn't often that in one issue of Spectator, we are able to run two articles referring to Columbia as Ivy champions. It also isn't often that, in one year, Columbia can claim to have five Ivy title teams, but that is the case for the 2006-07 season.

Of the Ancient Eight schools, only three reached the number five in terms of Ivy titles this past season, and given that those two other universities are perennial powerhouses Penn and Princeton, Columbia is in some elite company.

On Tuesday, Ibrahim Jaaber was presented with the Geasey Award, honoring him as the Big 5 Player of the Year. Being named the best collegiate basketball player in Philadelphia is quite an accomplishment given the city's competition, and it hasn't happened on the Penn campus since Tony Prince received the honor in 1979.

As a UCLA fan, saying that Saturday night's Final Four game was a disappointment would be an understatement. Watching the Bruins get crushed by Florida in the Final Four for the second year in a row and seeing UCLA continue to stall at 99 NCAA team titles yet again was more than just difficult to tolerate.

Columbia got some wood at the 2007 NCAA Championships, and although the event may not have ended up in a national championship, the Lions' third-place finish was the program's best since the field expanded to include all three women's disciplines. To cap off the tournament, sophomore women's sabrist Daria Schneider took the individual national title in a 15-11 victory in Columbia's final match.

For the first time since 1993, the Columbia men's fencing team is national champion.

At the NCAA Championships in Madison, N.J., the Lions took the men's crown with a total of 93 points accumulated over the two-day round-robin tournament. Columbia finished ahead of Penn State by four points, Notre Dame by eight and Ohio State and St. John's by 11.

For the Columbia fencing team, the 2006-07 season has been a set of goals. First, compete well throughout the nonconference schedule. Second, win the Ivy League. Third, qualify 12 fencers at the NCAA Regionals. Fourth, come back to Morningside Heights with the national title.

In a surprising offseason move, Princeton men's head basketball coach Joe Scott has decided to step down from his position with the Tigers to become the new head coach at the University of Denver.

Scott confirmed the move to ESPN.com's Andy Katz Tuesday, stating: "It's about me feeling this is a good situation.

Twelve is the Columbia fencing team's lucky number.

During spring break, the maximum of 12 fencers from Columbia qualified for the NCAA Championships, putting the team in a prime position to contend for the national title this Sunday. Only two other teams, St.

Columbia fencing's quest toward a national title begins this Sunday at the NCAA Northeast Regionals as the Lions attempt to qualify a total of 12 fencers in six weapons.
"Our goal is to qualify the maximum number of 12 this weekend," head coach George Kolombatovich said.

Coming into Saturday's IFA Championships down six of their starting fencers, Columbia's fencing team wasn't expected to emerge victorious. But even with some fencers nursing injuries and others off competing around the globe, the remaining Lion fencers took to the strips and earned both individual and team titles.

In its first tournament since capturing the Ivy League championship last weekend, the Columbia fencing team travels to the nation's oldest collegiate fencing competition, the Intercollegiate Fencing Association Championships.

Columbia softball is seeking consistency in 2007.

This past weekend's second leg of the Ivy Championships saw the Columbia fencing team reclaim both the men's and women's titles after overcoming one of the most common pitfalls in the sport.

"They put a lot of pressure on themselves that they shouldn't have," head coach George Kolombatovich said specifically of the men's match against Harvard.

It's been a good year for Columbia athletics. The football team had its best season in a decade, the women's soccer team won its first-ever Ivy title, and now the fencing team has reclaimed both the men's and women's Ivy championships. Even given this success, Columbia has a chance to cement 2007 as one of the best years in the school's athletics history thanks to the fencing program.

For the first time since 2002, Columbia once again has the top fencing program in the Ivy League.

Both the men's and women's teams claimed the league championship yesterday in a fitting end to the women's perfect 15-0 season. The men's squad won its sixth title in seven years but could not avenge last year's defeat to Harvard and had to share the championship with the Crimson.

Columbia fencing head coach George Kolombatovich is more than confident about his team's chances of taking home the Ivy championship this weekend.

The Columbia fencing team is in a very familiar spot heading into the second weekend of the two-part Ivy Championships-win, and the title will be theirs.

After a surprising part one of the event, the Lions cruised to an easy undefeated record on both the men's and women's sides in Philadelphia.

Game of the Week: Yale (9-10, 5-1 Ivy)at Cornell (11-9, 4-2 Ivy)

Saturday night's contest between Penn and Cornell could end the Big Red's hope of a Ivy title, or potentially put three teams in a tie for the league lead with only four games to play.

Cornell has been in a number of close league contests and, if a couple of bounces had fallen to its opponents, the Big Red could have been nowhere near the top of the standings.

After Columbia football's most successful season in a decade, head coach Norries Wilson and his staff have been busy recruiting members for the class of 2011. Those players who have already verbally committed to coming to Morningside Heights address many of the Lions' problems from last season and display Wilson's ability to find talent in the Northeast.

The Columbia fencing team dominated the first day of Ivy Championship competition in Philadelphia, squaring off against Brown, Yale, and Cornell. The wins put the Light Blue at the top of the standings heading into the championship's next round two weekends from now.

The Columbia fencing teams begin their true season this Sunday in Philadelphia along with the first part of the Ivy Championships at Penn.

Every season the schedule for the teams changes and in the 2007 edition, the Lions will face the three weakest teams in the Ancient Eight-Brown, Cornell, and Yale-first, with the top powers coming in two weeks.

Harvard

When Brian Cusworth graduated before last weekend's games against Columbia and Cornell, neither fans nor Ivy experts knew what to expect out of the Crimson. After last weekend's 20-point thrashing at the hands of the Lions and an unexpected one-point victory over Cornell, Harvard still seeks an identity.

The Columbia fencing team went undefeated at the Coles Center on the campus of New York University last night, as both the men's and women's sides went 3-0 against the Violets, Sacred Heart and Vassar. The Lions are now 15-1 in the dual season, with their only loss coming against the Ohio State men's team at the NYU Duals two weekends ago.

The Columbia fencing team renews its long-standing rivalry with downtown neighbor NYU tonight, in addition to facing some upstate competition from Sacred Heart and Vassar.

The matchup promises to be a competitive one, as the Violets come in with one of their best teams in recent memory, and the Lions sit near the top of the national rankings.

The last time Columbia swept a road Ivy weekend was in Joe Jones' first year against the same two teams they defeated this past weekend-Harvard and Dartmouth. Although the win against the Crimson was a blowout from start to finish, the victory over the Big Green was one that just last year the Lions would have thrown away down the stretch.

Brown

Last weekend's trip to upper New England ended twice in heartbreak for the Bears as in both games Brown fell by four points to Dartmouth and Harvard.

Junior guard Damon Huffman led the way for Brown, scoring eight points against the Big Green and a game-high 26 points the next day against the Crimson.

Columbia men's basketball ended a pair of losing streaks on Friday night with a 90-70 blowout victory over Harvard, snapping their current Ivy skid and quashing a second against the Crimson dating back to the 2004-05 season.

Columbia senior James Williams took his position on the fencing strip in front of a raucous crowd, nothing out of the ordinary for one of the top men's sabrists in the U.S. He lunged toward his opponent, arm extended, aiming for the upper shoulder. A clean strike would win the bout and move his team up in the standings.

During Sunday's New York University duals, it was apparent that one of Columbia's most notable fencers, junior women's epeeist Morgan Midgley, was not competing in the event.

After sweeping the first eight matches at the NYU Duals on Sunday, Columbia's fencing team came out of the lunch break looking to unseat national power Ohio State in a potential preview of the NCAA Championships in March.

With the women defeating the Buckeyes 15-12 in reasonably quick fashion, sweeping all five meets on the day, all eyes were pointed towards the men.

Sunday's NYU Duals is guaranteed to be a clash of the nation's top fencing talent in an early-season preview of the NCAA Championships, as the Columbia fencing team takes on three of the collegiate ranks elite teams in Ohio State, Notre Dame, and St. John's, with the women's side additionally facing national powerhouse Northwestern.

The wrestling team's surprising run to 24th in the nation has provided more than just a nice story about a historically underachieving team making its way to national prominence.

With its first national ranking in program history, the team has been brought out of many decades of obscurity behind perennial Ivy and Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association powers Penn, Cornell, and Harvard.

The Bears opened their Ivy League season last weekend at home against the Yale Bulldogs and were soundly defeated 56-42. The departure of junior swingman Keenan Jeppesen at the beginning of the season has certainly had an impact on the team, despite the fact that Jeppesen never fully adjusted to the Princeton-style offense new head coach Craig Robinson instituted.

The men's and women's fencing teams, once again expected to compete with the top squads in the country this year, opened their seasons at the North American Cup in Richmond, Va. with a weekend of mixed results.

The team's first day of competition on Friday was Columbia's best over the three-day meet as women's sabre and men's foil competed.

Columbia men's and women's fencing opens its season today in Richmond, as they participate in the North American Cup. The event will be used by Lion fencers and coaches to see how the team's lineup will look in the upcoming season.

The only two weapons in which Columbia has set its starters are men's and women's sabre, where senior James Williams will look to defend his first place finish from last year, while fellow starters Alex Krul and Alex Diacou aim to improve on their 10th and 19th place finishes, respectively.

Second place is unfamiliar territory for Columbia fencing and, for the past 10 months, last season's runner-up finish to Harvard in the Ivy Championships has lingered with the team. This season, the Lions will rely on returning starters in addition to one of the best recruiting classes in the country in an attempt to regain the Ivy title and compete for a national championship.

After eight games, Columbia's men's basketball team is 5-3, and while the play of power forward John Baumann and center Ben Nwachukwu has certainly been strong, the team's record of over .500 can be attributed in large part to head coach Joe Jones' strategy of playing freshmen in the guard position.

The Brown basketball team will have to play the rest of this season without their top player from last year, as junior guard Keenan Jeppesen left the team earlier in the week. Jeppesen left the program for personal reasons, according to reports made by Brown's radio commentators during the broadcast of the game with Qunnipiac.

The Brown basketball team will have to play the rest of this season without their top player from last year, as junior guard Keenan Jeppesen left the team earlier in the week. Jeppesen left the program for personal reasons, according to reports made by Brown's radio commentators during the broadcast of the game with Qunnipiac.

Home field advantage is that mental edge of being able to rely on cheering fans, shorter bus rides, and a familiar setting where you know all the breaks. But at Columbia Soccer Stadium, the surface only makes for home field disadvantage.

"It's the worst [field] we played on this year," junior forward Tom Davison said.

Dominance has been the tradition in recent years for the Columbia cross-country program. 2006 was expected to be a rebuilding year for both the men's and women's teams, but the Light Blue shocked much of the Ancient Eight and the Northeast with its performances at the end of the season.

In a coincidental end to an up-and-down season, both the Columbia men's and women's cross country teams finished in eighth place at the I.C.4-A/ECAC Championships with 207 points.

Since the Lions' top runners were recovering from NCAA Regionals two weekends ago, Columbia fielded their second-line competitors for the meet at Van Cortlandt Park.

With Columbia cross country finishing its season this Saturday in the I.C.4-A/ECAC Championships at Van Cortlandt Park, the second-line runners get one final chance to impress the coaching staff in hopes of moving up into the top group next year.

The 2006 campaign has been one filled with ups and downs for the Light Blue, as both the men's and women's teams started off slowly, but made significant strides at the end of the season.

Dartmouth (2-7, 2-4 Ivy) at Princeton (8-1, 5-1 Ivy)

The Big Green comes off of an improbable overtime victory over Brown and is looking to play spoiler against 18th-ranked Princeton.

With the exception of a 28-0 blowout loss to Harvard two weeks ago, Dartmouth has stayed close in most of their Ivy contests this season.

STORRS, Conn., Nov. 10-What failed the women's soccer team during their 2-1 loss to UConn in the first round of the NCAA tournament was what got them to that game in the first place-the play of the defense.

Columbia entered the contest having put up six clean sheets in their past seven matches, and through the first 45 minutes in Storrs, the streak held.

For the second time in three weeks, another four-year streak was snapped for Columbia cross-country. The women's and men's teams finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively, at the NCAA Regionals at Van Cortlandt Park. Both teams failed to qualify for the NCAA Championships, as they did not finish in the top two slots necessary to earn an automatic bid, and also finished too low to garner an at-large spot.

Brown vs. Dartmouth

Dartmouth returns back to the friendly confines of Memorial Field on Saturday where they will face a revamped and re-energized Brown team that has had mixed success in the aftermath of last season's Ivy championship.

The Bears began their season at 1-4, losing four consecutive contests, including two to Ivy foes Harvard and Princeton.

One of Columbia's longest athletic streaks will be in jeopardy this weekend when the cross-country teams compete in the NCAA Regionals at Van Cortlandt Park.

The Light Blue women's team has finished in the top two at this event the past four seasons, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, while also earning at-large bids the previous two years.

This past season, the Villanova Wildcats reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 1988, bringing smiles to anguished fans who had seen their team underachieve for almost two decades. Those Wildcat players share a connection with Columbia head coach Joe Jones-he recruited them.

Last Saturday, Columbia's second-line men's and women's cross country teams traveled to Princeton to participate in the Old Nassau Run, where both squads finished in second place.

On the men's side, the Lions fell to Princeton by one point, 27-28, in a very tight race that saw the Light Blue finish five runners in the top 10.

After dismissing Princeton last weekend, Cornell awaits the Big Green at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca with a chance to bring their record to .500 and salvage started out as a rough season.

Dartmouth has continued to struggle in stringing offensive drives together, getting shutout by Harvard last weekend in Hanover.

After last week's surprising second place finishes at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships, the men's and women's cross country teams will take a breather this weekend, sending their second-line runners to Princeton to compete in the Old Nassau Run.

Saturday's meet will showcase those runners who did not get a chance to compete at Heps by allowing them to race against comparable athletes in a large setting.

Craig Hormann has more than just opposing defenses to worry about.

After posting another dismal offensive performance in the football team's 21-3 loss to Yale on Saturday, and with Columbia still struggling to find momentum moving the ball down field, it's time for a change behind center.

Last Sunday the Columbia men's water polo team took the New York state crown, defeating Army 6-5 in the championship game at Uris Pool.

The Lions were ranked as the number-one seed coming into the tournament and won all four of their contests against Binghamton University, New York University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Army.

Despite running a flawless race in which Columbia cross country exceeded all expectations, both the men's and women's teams took second place in the Ivy League with runner-up finishes to Princeton at the Heptagonal Championships last Friday.

Both squads came into the race off positive finishes at the Pre-Nationals at Indiana State but were still not considered legitimate contenders for the Ivy title.

After months of training and minor meets around the country, the Columbia men's and women's cross country teams host the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships today at Van Cortlandt Park.

The Lions have seen much success recently at this meet, which determines the league champions.

After bouncing back from a four game losing streak with a dominating performance over Cornell last weekend, Brown travels to Philadelphia to take on the Penn Quakers.

Brown was selected to finish near the top of the Ivy standings, but an inability to stop the running game cost them victories against Harvard and Princeton and put them out of contention for a repeat at an Ivy title.

This weekend the Columbia men's water polo team hosts the New York State Water Polo Championships and expects nothing less than the title.

The Lions enter the tournament as the favorite, having earned the number one seed after compiling an 8-0 record throughout the regular season.

Although the match was highlighted by two second-half goals from senior forward Shannon Munoz, it was the play of the Columbia defense that stood out during the women's soccer team's 2-0 shutout of 13th-ranked Dartmouth.

Much of the credit in the defense's success goes to seniors Cassie Hamar and Emma Judkins, who in their final Ivy home match closely marked every Big Green player, forcing Dartmouth to take awkward shots all night from outside the 18-yard box.

Something is going to have to give in the battle of ranked Ivy teams as the Crimson make the trip to central New Jersey to take on Princeton.

Harvard is sparked by All-Ivy and All-American running back Clifton Dawson who is currently on pace to break legendary Cornell running back Ed Marinaro's rushing record by season's end.

Football head coach Norries Wilson and Athletic Director M. Dianne Murphy apologized for Wilson's tirade at the Penn postgame press conference last Saturday in a joint statement released Monday evening.

"I realize that some of my comments may have been interpreted as critical of Ivy League football game officials, as well as athletics personnel at Penn," Wilson stated in the release.

In a meet that could play a large role in determining Columbia's postseason prospects, the top women's and men's cross country runners competed at the Pre-Nationals, placing 13th and 20th out of 37 teams, respectively. The rest of the Columbia men and women traveled to Lafayette, Ind.

In a race that could make or break their postseason, Columbia's premier cross country runners head to Terre Haute, Ind. on Saturday for the NCAA Pre-Nationals. The rest of the team will compete at the Leopard Invitational in Eason, Pa. on the campus of Lafayette College.

Brown (1-3, 0-1 Ivy)

at Princeton (4-0, 1-0 Ivy)

PRINCETON stadium

In the first-ever Ivy League football game to be played on a Friday night, a struggling Bears team limps into Princeton Stadium to face the Tigers.

Brown has dropped three consecutive games after opening their season with a rout of Georgetown.

It is on rare occasions that we have the ability to say with 100 percent certainty that an event will occur in the near future. That certainty is diminished significantly if you are talking about the year 2022.

What is certain about the year 2022, however, is that it is the next time Columbia might not face the Princeton Tigers in week three of the football season.

In their first home meet of the 2006 season on Friday, Columbia continued their yearly dominance as the best New York City cross country team at the Metropolitan Championships. The Lions, who used their second-line runners, easily swept away the competition at Van Cortlandt Park in a feat that even head coach Willy Wood found surprising.

After facing some of the nation's elite competition last weekend, Columbia's cross country team comes home to lesser opponents at the Metropolitan Championships to determine the best in the New York metro area.

The event has been kind to the Lions in recent history: the women have dominated this event for the past eight seasons, and the men have taken the title seven of the last 10 years.

After losing to Princeton at homecoming last Saturday 19-6, Columbia finishes up their nonconference schedule against Iona in their final game of a four-game homestand.

The Gaels have a difficult road ahead of them if they are to beat Columbia on the road, as Iona is 0-2 away from home this season.

Close games were the story throughout the Ivy League this past weekend with five of the six games decided by a touchdown or less, including two games settled by fewer than a single field goal. Both Harvard and Yale survived late runs by traditional Patriot League powers Lehigh and Lafayette to win by two and three points, respectively.

Dartmouth at Penn

After being defeated at Franklin Field last weekend by cross-town rival Villanova, Penn opens up their Ivy season against the Dartmouth Big Green.

Dartmouth comes into the game off a 56-14 beating by number-one-ranked New Hampshire last weekend at home.

After three weeks of training, the Columbia cross country team will go on the road to face national competition in two events on Friday.

The top seven women's runners will head to South Bend, IN to compete in the Notre Dame Invitational. The event hosts six nationally ranked teams and will be an early test for this year's squad.

A long-standing tradition of Harvard football-Skit Night-was permanently abolished after senior wide receiver Keegan Toci was called out in front of his teammates for a "disrespectful" skit and immediately released from the program. This incident, just another in a multitude of offenses that have taken place during the offseason and the beginning of the 2006 campaign, has left many wondering what state the Harvard football program is in.

Winning doesn't start with spring practices, game tape, two-a-days or sprints. It doesn't begin with new playbooks, schemes, or set formations.

Winning begins in the houses of recruits years before they arrive on campus to begin play.

In Saturday's 37-7 victory over the Fordham Rams, head coach Norries Wilson highlighted some of the new talent Columbia picked up in the off-season, showcasing defensive end Andy Shalbrack and wide receiver Austin Knowlin.

An unassisted goal in the middle of the first half propelled Columbia to a much-needed road win and their second in succession as the Lions prepare to return home to Baker Field this week.

The 2-0 victory over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks pushed the Lions' record to 2-3 on the year, while dropping Lehigh's to the same mark.

After securing their first win of the 2006 season on Sunday with an 8-1 rout of St. Francis, Columbia field hockey heads to Bethlehem, Pa. to take on the Lehigh Mountain Hawks.

In their last contest, the Lions came out with an intensity not seen in their first three games.

There is only one thing certain about the Columbia football offense in 2006: many names and different schemes.

Head coach Norries Wilson and offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Vinny Marino have brought much of the University of Connecticut offense that was successful in Storrs to Morningside Heights in an attempt to retool a system that failed to produce on many occasions last season.

The hiring of Norries Wilson in December 2005 brought a change in attitude and work ethic to the football program, and since then, the Columbia roster has seen some familiar names disappear.

A total of 13 players from last season's opening day roster have left the team for personal or injury related reasons in the past summer months, five of whom were expected to see significant minutes under Wilson: Bryce Marshall, Jordan P.

Columbia cross country has two well-worn pairs of shoes to fill this season as the Lions seek to continue their dominance both nationally and in the Ivy League.

The women's team loses one of the best distance runners in school history in Caroline Bierbaum and a nationally ranked top-25 runner in Lisa Stublic.

Columbia cross country opened up its 2006 season with an easy tune-up victory at the hilly Binghamton Invitational on Saturday. Head coach Willy Wood was pleased with how the men's and women's teams ran in pack formations at their predetermined paces.

"I was really happy with the way the team came out," Wood said.

Uncertainty has hit the Dartmouth football team hard as they come into the 2006 season. The Big Green has to fill gaping holes at every position on the field, as many of their best players from last season's 2-8 squad have either graduated or will not be playing this season.

A weekend trip to the California Bay Area to open up the 2006 season ended in two defeats as the Columbia field hockey team fell to Pac-10 powers Cal and Stanford, 6-0 and 5-1, respectively.
In their season-opener, the Lions faced a dominant Bears team, who came into the game with a 2-1 record, scoring wins over UMass and number-five ranked American.

Last season, the football team wasn't the only thing making headlines at Baker Field.

The Athletic Department's controversial alcohol policy was equally, if not more, noticed by students. And on June 23, the University announced a reworked 2006 policy which will provide tailgaters with free beer.

Although the season did not turn out as well as Columbia had hoped, a fifth-place showing at the NCAA Championships in Houston salvaged the year. The Lions came in second at the Ivy Championships, behind the Harvard Crimson, who also took the national championship.