The Daily Princetonian
Spring Preview
Wednesday
february 19, 2014
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{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Top athletes to watch this spring
Men’s and Women’s Golf Preview
Baseball and Softball Previews
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MEN’S LACROSSE
BY THE NUMBERS
Deep roster looks to regain Ivy title
.239 Baseball team’s batting average in 2013, placing it last in the league.
4.84 Runs per game by the softball team last year, which was the best in the Ivy League.
By John Wolfe senior writer
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early 10 months after falling four goals short of an Ivy League championship, the men’s lacrosse team appears reloaded and ready to chase its first conference tournament title since 2010. The Tigers’ final game last May, a 12-8 loss against Yale, marked the second consecutive year they reached the championship game before falling to the Bulldogs. Leading up to the disappointing finish, Princeton (9-6 overall, 3-3 Ivy League) had become the league’s second-highest scoring team by churning out 11.5 goals per Ivy game with 28.6 percent shooting accuracy. The Tigers’ potent offense boasted such impressive numbers in large part due to their ability to control the ball: averaging just 15.17 turnovers per game, the team played the most mistake-free brand of lacrosse in the Ivy League. The squad’s defense had more difficulty finding success, however. Plagued by injury and inexperience (without the ailing junior defenseman Rob Posniewski, the corps comprised of three freshman, two juniors and one sophomore), Princeton posted a below-average 10.2 goals-against figure and trailed the entire conference with six caused turnovers per game. The team fared even worse in penalty situations: Opponents connected on a scorching 48 percent of their man-up shots, making Princeton the worst penalty-killing unit in the Ivy League. As a whole, the team’s 2014 roster looks
Year of Princeton’s participation in the first collegiate lacrosse tournament.
68.8 Meters sophomore thrower Julia Ratcliffe threw the hammer in 2013, the second best throw in the country.
8 National rank of the women’s water polo team, tied for highest ever in program history.
3.69 Kills per set by senior hitter Pat Schwagler, placing him second in the EIVA this year.
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ERIC SHI :: FILE PHOTO
By acclamation the best player in college lacrosse, senior midfielder Tom Schreiber ranks first all-time among Princeton midfielders in points scored.
WOMEN’S LACROSSE First round NCAA exit fuels fire for Tigers By Damir Golac senior writer
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he women’s lacrosse team is confident coming off a bit of a mixed season last year. Last year’s squad demonstrated it could compete with the best, recording wins against multiple ranked teams including then-No. 6 Penn State. However, the year did not end how it wanted with the Tigers losing both of their postseason contests in double-time, the latter of which was a 10-9 loss to No. 8 Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Tigers have put last season behind them, however, and are ready for a fresh start. They go into the season ranked 16th in the IWLCA preseason poll and will have many chances to move up in the polls as they have six other ranked teams on their schedule. Junior attack Erin McMunn is expected to be a huge part of the Tigers’ offense. She led the Ivy League in points last year with 69. Her 40 goals were fourth best in the league while her 29 assists were secondbest. This helped earn her first-team All-Ivy honors and the Ivy League Attacker of the Year award, making her only the second sophomore to ever win the award. Senior middie Sarah Lloyd, sophomore defender Liz Bannantine and senior goalkeeper Caroline Franke are all also return-
ing members who earned All-Ivy honors. Head coach Chris Sailer also mentioned sophomore middie Anya Gersoff as a player to watch. “We expected a lot of her as a freshman, but she missed the fall due to field hockey, and this year, with a season of lax under her belt, she’s really coming on strong,” Sailer said. “We’ve moved her position to
midfield, so she still has a lot to learn on the defensive side of the ball, but she should be a critical player for us.” Sailer also mentioned that senior attack Mary-Kate Sivilli and senior defender Liz Cutting are playing exceptionally well and have also stepped up as on-field leaders to help share the leadership role with senior See W. LAX page S2
CONOR DUBE AND SHANNON MCGUE :: FILE PHOTOS
A talented women’s team will compete in a competitive Ivy League and will attempt to continue their winning ways at 1952 Stadium
The Daily Princetonian
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Wednesday February 19, 2014
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL Despite rough start, talented side looks to stay competitive in EIVA
By Hillary Dodyk senior writer
Despite a slow start to the season, men’s volleyball claimed their first victory of the 2013-2014 season with a Valentine’s Day 3-0 victory over Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association rival Sacred Heart. After four straight 2-3 losses to open the season, the Tigers were in desperate need of some momentum as they played their second league opponent of the season. The Tigers have played matches tight all season, and Friday night was no exception. Though all three sets were tight, with the Tigers winning 25-23, 25-22 and 2522, their first victory of the season put them on the path to what they hope will be a successful second half of the season. “The win was good to get,” junior hitter Cody Kessel said. “Even though our record doesn’t show it, this is the best Princeton volleyball team in more than a decade, and we’re really excited to continue our season.” The Tigers hit .371 for the match, and Kessel gave his strongest performance of the season. Leading the team with 13 kills, six digs and four blocks. Senior hitter Pat Schwagler also had six digs,
and sophomore hitter Devin Stearns added twelve kills and four blocks. Freshman blocker Junior Oboh lead the team with six blocks, while senior Davis Waddell started at setter and recorded 35 assists. The win could not have come at a better time, as the Tigers are set to begin a series of six home EIVA matches over a 12-day period starting Feb. 18. The series will include Sacred Heart, whom the Tigers beat on Friday night, and will conclude with Harvard, whom the Tigers fell to the day before in five sets. “We actually play at the Hall of Fame Classic [before we begin league play] so we can’t focus solely on EIVA just yet, but we are still where we need to be in the conference,” Kessel added. “And, moving forward, we’re focused on continuing to play good volleyball.” Before the Tigers return home to attempt to build a streak of EIVA wins they will travel to Springfield, Mass., where they will try to keep momentum from their first victory of the season alive as they compete in the Hall of Fame Classic. As part of the tournament they will face Concordia on Friday at 6 p.m. and Springfield-Santa Cruz on Saturday.
MALENA DE LA FUENTE :: FILE PHOTOS
Clockwise, from top left: Princeton’s six meet in between points; the Tigers, who ranked 14th nationally in kills per set, work a point at their home Dillon Gymnasium; senior setter Davis Waddell, who leads the team in assists per set, sets up a spike for junior blocker Will Siroky.
Experience should yield on-field results McMunn leads dangerous attack unit W. LAX
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ERIC SHI :: FILE PHOTO
According to InsideLacrosse.com, Princeton boasts the nation’s top midfield unit, led by Schreiber above.
M. LAX
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deeper, healthier and more experienced than last year’s. After graduating just five seniors, Princeton added 11 freshmen and welcomed back four upperclassmen who missed the 2013 season with injuries. Junior midfielder Will Himler, junior Rob Posniewski, senior midfielder Tucker Shanley and senior midfielder Forest Sonnenfeldt have all returned to full health and should make immediate individual impacts on the team’s performance. During their most recent complete season two years ago, Shanley, Sonnenfeldt and Himler racked up 28, 23 and 15 points, respectively. In the eyes of three-time AllAmerica senior captain and midfielder Tom Schreiber, the reemergence of these four veterans provides a solution to one of the team’s most troubling problems. “One of our biggest issues last year was lack of depth, so having those guys back is big,”
he said. Offensively, the most debilitating blow to this year’s roster comes through the loss of graduated middie Jeff Froccaro ’13, whose 46 points last season were third only to Schreiber’s 60 and junior attack Mike MacDonald’s 59. In Froccaro’s absence, junior midfielder Will Rotatori should see an opportunity for increased playing time and point production. On the other side of the field, freshman defenseman Will Reynolds is expected to earn significant playing time and become a key contributor right away. Schreiber, who was selected first overall in the 2014 Major League Lacrosse Draft this January, offered his praises for the rookie’s display of talents this preseason. “He’s just as college-ready as somebody can get,” he said. “He’s extremely solid, he’s strong, he’s fast, he’s got a good stick, he covers well, he picks the ball up well. As young as he is, it’s pretty impressive. He’s somebody who I think can even cover the opposing team’s number one guy.”
For Schreiber, whose three consecutive first-team All-Ivy honors have yet to culminate in a league title, the most important facet of this season will be ensuring his team’s level of play remains consistent throughout the course of its 13-plus game schedule. Schreiber pointed out that in both the Ivy League and NCAA tournament, the semifinal and final games call for two contests in just three days. He feels that more than any one tangible facet of his talented roster’s execution, staying focused and avoiding burnout will prove to be the most crucial factor in pushing his team from a second-place finish to a first-place one. “We’re trying to peak at the right time and not really peak early in the season like the last couple years,” he said. “We’re really trying to take it one week at a time and not get too high or not get too low after a win or a loss.” Schreiber and his Tigers will have their first chance to begin improving their record this Saturday at 11 a.m., when they host Hofstra at Sherrerd Field.
captains middie Sarah Lloyd and defender Colleen Smith. The team lost five players this year, including their third- and fourth- leading scorers in attack Jaci Gassaway ’13 and middie Charlotte Davis ’13, respectively. The team took in seven new freshmen, three of which are expected to start the Tigers’ first game. The group of freshmen includes three defenders, three midfielders and a goalkeeper. “We had high expectations for this year’s freshman class, and they have certainly lived up to the advance billing,” Sailer said. “Our freshmen are an athletic group, and they’ve been doing a great job learning from the upperclassmen and the coaching staff, picking up our systems and contributing on the field.” “I’d say this team is pretty different from last year’s team, but in a very good way,” McMunn added regarding how the team has changed as a whole. “We were a very talented, driven team last year with great leadership in our senior class, and
I think that is something that this year’s returners have been able to carry over, but I think we’ve done it with a different mentality.” Both McMunn and Sailer mentioned the team’s new motto of “The Power of Now.” “This year is all about loving the game and being in the now, and I think that’s a mentality that our senior leaders have really embraced,” McMunn said. “We’re driven this year very much so by our love of playing the game, and I think that’s what’s going to be the difference maker for us.” Sailer mentioned that while the team does have long-term goals such as winning a 10th Ivy League title and being a factor in the national championship race, it is approaching these goals by focusing on the day-today processes that are important in achieving these goals. Sailer also mentioned that the attack and midfield units are looking particularly good this year. “We are playing very well together and looking for each other a lot in our attack sets,” she said. “I expect we’ll have a lot of assisted goals again this year,
with a team that loves to set each other up. Our stick work overall is solid, and we have some talented finishers on the team.” The Tigers dominated at home last year, going undefeated in all seven contests at Sherrerd Field. If the Tigers can continue their home dominance, they could be in very good shape by the end of the regular season as they have home games against powerhouses such as Virginia, Maryland and Penn. The Tigers are looking to improve upon their defense – an area in which the team is normally strong. “Getting our middies playing more with the first D unit, and having that group really begin to play together as a fierce team – communicating more directly, executing the slide packages and reading the game,” Sailer mentioned as things the team needs to do. “Defense has always been a strength of our team, and this group will be ready.” The season will start for the Tigers when they take on Loyola in Baltimore, Md. this Saturday at 1 p.m. The team’s home opener will then be the following Wednesday at 6 p.m. against Rutgers.
CONOR DUBE :: FILE PHOTO
A mix of young players and veterans should produce another successful women’s lacrosse season.
The Daily Princetonian
Wednesday February 19, 2014
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FIVE MEN TO WATCH
• TOM SCHREIBER, Sr., Lacrosse | Schreiber has earned first team All-Ivy honors in each of his first three seasons and was recently the first overall pick in the Major League Lacrosse draft.
• ALEC KELLER, Sr., Baseball | A unanimous first team All-Ivy selection, the Tigers’ center fielder led the Ivy League in batting average in conference play while also stepping to the plate a league-leading 4.05 times per game.
• DAMON McLEAN, Sr., Track and Field | McLean is a six-time Ivy League champion (including indoor and outdoor competition) in the triple jump and long jump and earned first team All-America honors in 2012.
• DEVIN STEARNS, Soph., Volleyball | His 192 kills and 212 points ranked second on the team in 2013 In a 3-1 win over No. 12 UC Santa Barbara, Stearns notched 14 kills and hit .323 for his collegiate debut.
• ZACK McCOURT, Jr., Tennis | Currently playing in the top spot on the 6-1 men’s team, McCourt has reach a national rank of 119 and beat two ranked opponents in the fall en route to a 12-8 record.
FIVE WOMEN TO WATCH
• ASHLEIGH JOHNSON, Soph., Water Polo | A gold medal came to this standout goaltender in the 2013 FINA Junior World Championships, where she was named Goalie of the Tournament.
• KELLY SHON, Sr., Golf | Shon was last year’s Ivy League Player of the Year and had the highest ever finish at the NCAA Finals for an Ivy Leaguer. Additionally, she was awarded 2012-13 WGCA honorable mention All-America honors.
• ERIN McMUNN, Jr., Lacrosse | The Ivy League Attacker of the Year led a high-powered Princeton offense and tallied 40 goals and 29 assists over 17 games.
• IMANI OLIVER, Sr., Track and Field | School recorder in the triple jump at 42ft 2.75in, Oliver qualified for the 2013 NCAA Championships where she earned honorable mentioned All-America status.
• LINDSAY GRAFFE, Jr., Tennis | Playing in last year’s number one spot, Graffe returns in the same role in which she went 5-2 in league play and earned first team All-Ivy honors.
TOP THREE MEN’S GAMES
• Men’s Lacrosse | North Carolina at Princeton, March 7
No. 9 Princeton will get a chance to avenge last year’s 16-15 loss in Chapel Hill. The contest with the No. 3 Tar Heels will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
• Men’s Crew | IRA National Championships, May 30 - June 1
Collegiate men’s national championships will take place this spring at Mercer Lake. Men’s heavyweight has not won a national since 1998, while the lightweights last captured a title in 2010
• Men’s Volleyball | Penn State at Princeton, February 28
No. 12 Nittany Lions have long dominated EIVA volleyball, but the Tigers have played them close of late. The best recent matchup came in 2012 in five sets where Princeton led 2-1 after three sets.
TOP THREE WOMEN’S GAMES
• Women’s Lacrosse | Penn at Princeton, April 16
No. 16 Penn currently sits one spot above No. 17 Princeton. The Ivy League title could very well come down to this matchup between traditional league powers.
• Women’s Water Polo | Harvard at Princeton, March 2
This rivalry game between CWPA Eastern Division and Ivy League foes will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
• Women’s Tennis | Columbia at Princeton, April 20
Ivy League favorite Columbia comes to the Lenz Tennis Center in the regular season finale that could determine the postseason fate of both teams.
CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDERS • Men’s Lacrosse
The Tigers start the year ranked ninth nationally, ahead of league foes No. 13 Yale, No. 16 Penn and No. 19 Cornell. Princeton is seeking its first Ivy League Tournament Championship since 2010.
• Women’s Water Polo
Eighth ranked Princeton looks to three-peat as CWPA Eastern Champions and return to the NCAA tournament, where last year they placed fifth.
• Women’s Lacrosse
Princeton returns first team All-Ivy performers in senior midfielder Sarah Lloyd and junior attack Erin McMunn from a team that placed second in the Ivy League and made the NCAA tournament.
SHOES TO FILL • MIKE FORD, Baseball | Ford, an undrafted free agent, was recently signed by the New York Yankees. His presence on the mound and at first base will be sorely missed in a relatively unexperienced Princeton lineup.
• MATIJA PECOTIC, Tennis | First ever three-time Ivy League Player of the Year, Pecotic reached the round of 32 at the NCAA Championships.
• GRETA FELDMAN, Track and Field | Feldman holds the school records in the 800m and and 1500m. She was also a first team All-American and Olympic Trials qualifer in 2012.
ERIC SHI, JOESPH LASETER, CONOR DUBE, MERRIL FABRY, MEREDITH WRIGHT AND KRISTIE LIAO:: FILE PHOTOS
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TENNIS
The Daily Princetonian
Wednesday February 19, 2014
Talented freshmen lead men to hot 6-1 start
By Eddie Owens associate sports editor
New look men’s team off to best start since 2007 Junior number one Zack McCourt says this team is among the best Princeton has ever had, and so far the stats back him up. The Tigers have not lost a step from last year, despite the departure of Princeton legend Matija Pecotic ’13, as well as solid contributors Matt Siow ’13 and Matt Spindler ’13 and the loss of sophomore Jonathan Carcione and senior Dan Richardson to a year off. Ranked 55th, they got off to a 5-0 start, the program’s best since 1979. Even with a close loss to 40th-ranked Columbia in the ECAC tournament, Princeton still has its best record in seven years at 6-1. “Luckily we have three really good freshmen this year,” McCourt said. “They are all really talented and compete really well. There’s a certain fearlessness that young players have with nothing to prove, just fighting and playing. The only thing missing from their game is experience.” A fearless, competitive mindset is something McCourt says coach Billy Pate has stressed to his players this year. “We try to always be positive and be our best and fight our hardest in every match. We give our opponents no mental advantages, take advantage of opportunities and compete down the stretch. There hasn’t been any emphasis on winning, just competing.” The three aforementioned freshmen are Thomas Coulatti, Alexander Day and Joshua Yablon, who have settled into the two, three and four spots. Day and Yablon have been especially dominant with a combined 11-2 spring record, though the trio sported identical 8-4 fall records.
Yablon and Coulatti have also shown themselves to be a force in doubles, sitting on a 5-0 record out of the third slot. McCourt, who played mostly in the two spot last year, has inherited top dog status from Pecotic. He had a solid fall season, defeating two ranked players en route to a 12-8 record and an appearance in the final of the Lakewood Ranch Invitational in Sarasota, Fla. These feats were enough to garner him a national ranking of 119 coming into the spring, although he hardly feels it does him justice. “I believe I should be ranked top 20 or 30 in the country. I definitely don’t think my ranking is representative of my ability.” Leadership on the team comes courtesy of senior captains Augie Bloom and Dan Davies. Both were used primarily in doubles last year, though never in the same pair. It took until three weeks ago for them to finally unite, but it has been a fruitful relationship, as the duo sports a 6-1 record playing mostly in the second spot. The two will also round out Princeton’s singles lineup this spring. The Tigers went 5-2 in the Ivy League last spring and beat a whole slew of good teams both in and out of conference, including 4-3 victories over the 40th and 45th-ranked squads and 5-2 wins over 51st and 54th Cornell and Yale, all on the road. Princeton reached as high as 43rd in the ITA rankings but lost a crushing 4-3 season-ending decision to Columbia at home and missed the NCAA tournament. The team will have its hands full in the Ivy League this spring, as an incredible six teams have made their way into the ITA Top 75. As of February 18, defending champion Harvard is highest at 24th. Columbia and Dartmouth follow in 34th and 52nd, respectively. Princeton, Cornell and
Yale all took slight falls this week to 60th, tied for 65th and 75th, respectively. Harvard remains ahead of Columbia, despite the Lions’ 4-0 sweep of the Crimson in the ECAC final last weekend. Individually, the league has five ranked singles players, led by number 11 Winston Lin of Columbia. Ashok Narayana and Max Schnur, two more Lions, are the tenth-best doubles duo in the nation, leading three ranked Ivy League pairs. Despite its competitive league, Princeton has its eyes set on an NCAA bid, which can be earned by either winning the Ivy League title or earning an at-large bid to the 64 team tournament. “We want to be one of the best squads in the country,” McCourt said. “The Ivy League championships are not the end goal. They’re more like a mini-goal as part of the big picture, although in past years they’ve been the primary objective.” Paradoxically young and experienced women’s team has high hopes for spring season With only seven girls and one senior on last year’s team, these Tigers are in the enviable position of having many returners and just one senior. Only Monica Chow ’13 graduated from last year’s 4-3 fourth-place Ivy League squad that ranked as high as 62nd in the country. Princeton has alternated wins and losses thus far this season, losing all three games to ranked opponents and comfortably beating four unranked opponents. The then-69th ranked Tigers most recently placed third at the ECAC tournament, beating Dartmouth and Brown, but falling 4-1 to then-52nd ranked Columbia. “We’re playing well,” junior Lindsay Graff said. “We played Columbia closer than the score
ERIC SHI AND JULIA WENDT :: FILE PHOTOS
Top photo: a member of the women’s team lunges for a ball on the Jadwin Courts. Bottom left: senior Dan Davies has worked his way into the singles rotation after being a consistent doubles player last year. Bottom right: junior Zack McCourt inherited the number one slot upon graduation of Matija Pecotic ’13.
indicates. It showed us we’re right there with the top Ivy League teams.” Graff is unquestionably Princeton’s best player, having garnered unanimous first team All-Ivy honors in 2013. She went 10-7 last spring at the top spot and holds a 5-2 record there so far this year, with her only losses coming against ranked opponents. She
was out for two months this fall with a knee injury and lost her national ranking, but is determined to get it back. “It was disappointing to miss the fall season, but it didn’t derail me at all. The spring dual season is more important to me anyway. Individually, I’d like to be one of the top players in the league, but it’s hard to think about individual
success when you’re so focused on the team. I just want to set a good example for my teammates.” Sophomore Amanda Muliawan was on her way to a fantastic rookie campaign with an 8-1 record out of the two slot, before injury ended her season before Ivy League play. She remained sidelined for the fall, beSee TENNIS page S5
TRACK AND FIELD Men look to defend league title, women face uphill battle By Katie Glockner contributor
Men’s team will have to overcome strong Cornell squad to achieve fourth straight outdoor crown On a Sunday afternoon last May, Princeton men’s outdoor track and field dominated the Ivy League, including chief rival Cornell. This year they hope to do it again. “Our goal is always to win,” said head coach Fred Samara. “It will be a big challenge. Cornell is a lot stronger this year than last year, but we’ll see how it pans out.” Co-captains senior Tom Hopkins and junior Scott Rushton echo his sentiment. “We’re playing to win here,” Rushton says. Rushton notes that a heartbreaking one-point loss to Cornell during the indoor season Ivy League championship last winter has motivated the team since then, both for last year’s outdoor championship meet and during training this fall and winter. “Cornell won [the indoor Ivy League championship] last year, and this year that’s motivated us to put a lot of work in in the fall. We lost by a point last year, so now we really know that every point counts,” he says. Hopkins adds that the team hopes to send as many men as possible to nationals. “While winning both [the indoor and outdoor] HEPS Meets is the ultimate goal, there are several athletes on the team with national aspirations. A lot of us are right on the “bubble” of qualifying for the meet (top 16 in the nation per event), so we’re all crossing our fingers for key performances at our conference meet-up at Dart-
mouth,” he explains. The team graduated some exceptional seniors last year, including Peter Callahan, Russell Dinkins and Austin Holliman of the NCAA national championship-winning distance medley squad and outdoor Ivy League 10,000m and 5,000m champion Michael Franklin. However, with continued strong performances from returning team members, including several 2013 NCAA championship competitors like Hopkins, senior distance runner Chris Bendtsen and junior sprinter Dan McCord, as well as the addition of 16 freshmen, the team is prepared to take on whatever challenges the season may bring. “We’re doing very, very well. We have one of our strongest teams ever. I’m very proud of the team so far and what they’ve done,” says Samara. Currently, the track team is most of the way through its indoor season and is less than two weeks away from the HEPS meet, which determines the indoor Ivy League champions. Some highlights of the indoor season so far include this Saturday’s domination over Harvard and Yale, which marked the 23rd consecutive victory for Princeton at the HarvardYale-Princeton meet, and an especially strong individual performance by senior Michael Williams at the Boston University Valentine Invitational in becoming the fourth-ever Princetonian to break a fourminute mile. However, Samara stresses that, while important, individual successes are much more valuable when placed in the team context. “We have 36 guys. We really need to be strong across the board. We have a couple of guys who are hav-
ing really exceptional seasons right now, but track is a team sport. We’re only as strong as our weakest link.” Samara, Hopkins and Rushton have identified a few challenges the team will face in the upcoming spring season. Hopkins notes that in the past 10 years, the Ivy League has set an increasingly high standard for tough competition both internally and nationally. “Ten years ago, conferences like the SEC and the Big Ten would consider the Ivies as noncompetitive at their level. Five years ago they’d view us as underdogs on the national stage. Nowadays, they just give us a curt nod. With this in mind, I believe that the biggest challenge that we will face in the spring season, and in two weeks at the conference meet, will be surpassing the bar that the rest of the league has helped set in nearly every event,” he says. Rushton feels that Cornell will provide some of the toughest competition yet, and Samara agrees. “Cornell has been probably our biggest challenge for the past 10 years,” he said. He credits part of Cornell’s success to the sheer number of team members, which far surpasses that of Princeton. “If [Cornell] gets somebody hurt, they can replace them with somebody.” What Princeton lacks in numbers it must make up for by maintaining athletes’ health as best as possible. “The secret of being a good coach and having a good program is being able to develop the athletes and keep them healthy all year, because our season is the longest season,” notes Samara. “It’s challenging for both athletes and coaches.” Despite these challenges, the team is looking forward to returning outdoors for the spring
season. When asked about what he was most excited for, Hopkins replied, “First, running outside. Second, running half as many laps (makes a huge psychological difference).* Third, not running inside.” He and Rushton also said that they are looking forward to watching their teammates who excel outdoors perform at their best and are also looking forward to the spring break Florida training trip that kicks off the spring season. *The indoor track is 200 meters around while the outdoor track is 400.
ner Abby Levene. Also missing from this year’s roster is junior Cecilia Barowski, who won the 400m at the HEPS meet as a sophomore last year. However, the team remains strong with top-notch athletes such as sophomore Julia Ratcliffe, previously one of the top junior hammer-throwers in the world. Other athletes with promising seasons include senior javelin-thrower Ashley Vandolah, sophomore discusthrower Brielle Rowe, senior 10K runner Marisa Cummings and steeplechasers senior Clare
Gallagher and junior Emily de la Bruyere. Freshman Megan Curham is also expected to make a splash in the 10,000m race this spring. “We’re looking to get these kids to nationals,” says head coach Peter Farrell. Currently, the track team is over halfway through their indoor season and is less than two weeks away from the HEPS meet, which determines the indoor Ivy League champions. “It’s an interesting time right now. We’re a little under two See TRACK page S5
Women’s Track & Field hopes for Ivy championship this spring Last year, Princeton women’s track and field was edged out by Harvard, coming in fourth at the HEPS Ivy League championship meet. This upcoming season, they hope to beat the competition entirely and win the title. “I know that our team has the capability of winning HEPS, so our goals are just being healthy and getting our training up to the level we need to be at,” says senior co-captain Imani Oliver, returning HEPS triple-jump champion, a 2013 NCAA championship competitor and Princeton’s triple-jump record-holder. She adds, “Our goal would be having everyone do their personal best.” They may have a challenging road ahead. Recently, Princeton lost to Harvard at the H-Y-P meet on Saturday, Feb. 15. Since last spring, they have graduated eight-time pole vault Ivy League champion Tory Worthen, 800m Ivy League champion Greta Feldman, third-place steeplechase competitor Mel Newberry and 10,000m run-
MEREDITH WRIGHT :: FILE PHOTO
Senior decathlete Brad Pelisek placed third in the javelin in last year’s outdoor HEPS. In outdoor competition, Princeton men will look to earn their fourth straight league championship.
The Daily Princetonian
Wednesday February 19, 2014
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GOLF Senior leaders hope to repeat last season’s Ivy tournament success
JOSEPH LASETER, LU LU AND MEREDITH WRIGHT :: FILE PHOTOS
Senior Greg Jarmas won last year’s Ivy League Individual Championship and seeks his second first-team All-Ivy selection.
By Andrew Steele sports editor
A
three-hour drive along Interstate 95 separated the men’s and women’s golf teams on April 28, 2013. On that Sunday of the Ivy League championship weekend at Maryland’s Caves Valley Golf Club, five shots separated the first-place men from runner-up Yale. At Trump National Golf Course, one shot in aggregate team score separated the champion Harvard women from the runner-up Tigers. That day, Princeton produced two Ivy League Individual champions: then-juniors Greg Jarmas and Kelly Shon. “It was a really fulfilling weekend last year, for me and my teammates,” Jarmas said. “And it was great to see everyone put it together and come out on top after three hard days.” Now seniors, Jarmas and Shon will look to lead their teams on courses across the country and ideally to a second consecutive year of success at the Ivy championships in nearby Springfield, N.J. Coach Nikki Cutler has been at the helm of Princeton women’s golf since the 2010-11 season. She spoke about the exceptional year that the program experienced in 2013. “I think it’s really special that we had the two individual cham-
pions, and we had both of our teams contending for the championship last year,” Cutler said. “[The women’s team] just about got it done. We came up one shot short. But I’m really proud of the effort that we had. And our focus is really on playing well and putting ourselves in that position.” Rankings and stats do not necessarily back up the high expectations for the reigning champion men’s team and runner-up women’s team. According to Golfstat, the official statistics tracker for NCAA golf, Princeton men rank fourth out of eight for this upcoming year based on average scores per round this past fall season. The women rank third in the league by the similar metrics. For the men, Jarmas currently occupies the sixth spot in the league individual rankings. His closest teammate in the rankings is freshman Alex Dombrowski, who Jarmas described as “a really talented player and a really hard worker. He’s really committed to doing what he wants to do.” Jarmas also described the offseason dedication of sophomore Matt Gerber as likely to pay dividends. Women’s Golf Coaches Association honorable All-America Shon remains the standout player on her team. Among her accomplishments, she managed the highest finish in Princeton
and Ivy League history at the NCAA finals, sitting at a tie for 37th with a score of +10. In her fourth and final season, the sky will be the limit for this remarkable Tiger athlete. Two freshmen join Shon this year. According to their coach, rookies Jordan Lippetz and Hana Ku have made an immediate impact, beginning with their first intra-squad tournament, which is used to determine lineups. Of particular note, Lippetz and Ku, nationally ranked in their junior careers, finished fourth and 11th in the season-opening Princeton Invitational. Sophomore Alex Wong often features in the Prince’s Tweet of the Day. Her coach describes her as a hard worker who leads the team in the weight room and on the driving range. “Alex is not all talk,” Cutler explained. “She delivers. Angie Bramley-Moyer, our strength coach, will back that up.” While a successful collegiate golf program relies on outstanding performers, Coach Cutler expounded on the value of a deep lineup. “We’ve worked really hard in the last couple of years to add depth, overall,” she began. “The level of competition in the league is higher than ever. So in order to contend, you have to have a very deep team from one to five. So that’s been a big priority for us. We have a number
of great players throughout the years, and we had a really solid team last year. But it’s been a really big focus for us to have that depth. Ideally, you want to be in a position where any given week, any player on your team can be at the top of your lineup.” In many ways, collegiate golf varies substantially from any other varsity sport. College golfers enter any given event simultaneously competing as a team, where the lowest aggregate team score determines the winner, and as individuals, where the lowest individual scorer earns first place. According to Cutler, this stroke play scoring system, as one might see in almost any professional event, remains standard in collegiate golf. “The national championships will be going to a matchplay format in 2015,” Cutler explained. “But this school year, all the events that my team will play in will be stroke play, so they’ll have a chance to compete for individual and team championships at every event.” Cutler talked about her team’s broad and specific goals for improvement in a sport where competition is unpredictable and margins are incredibly thin. “Our goal is to get better every day, to play the best golf that we can and to strive for excellence in everything we do,” Cutler said. “The thing about it is
you never know from one day to another what score it is going to take to win an event or what your competition is going to do. So we focus on ourselves.” Whether by match or by stroke, the Princeton men’s and women’s golf teams are still teams in every sense of the term. They have collective goals, work hard in the off-season and share in the camaraderie that pervades Princeton athletics. Baltusrol, the site of this year’s league championship, is located approximately an hour north of Princeton. This will be the only event in which both the men’s and women’s teams will be playing at the same place and time, but Princeton’s male and female golfers share a particularly strong bond, considering their small numbers and shared practice spaces. “We take a lot of pride in the fact that our men’s team won. We had a great dinner the evening of the final round of the Ivy League championship when we were both back on campus. It was really fun, and there was a lot of camaraderie between the two teams. We see each other at practice a lot. The players spend a lot of time together on campus socially as well.” Cutler conceded that at this date in time, she looks forward to the team’s spring break trip to Florida. Incidentally or not, Jarmas agreed on this matter. How-
ever, the work of Princeton golf looks foremost toward the Ivy League championship weekend. “Everything for us points toward the Ivy League championship at the end of this spring,” Cutler said. “It’s going to be at Baltusrol [Golf Club] this year. It’s really exciting for us. We are very much looking forward to playing at Baltusrol. It’s an amazing club with a lot of history. We’re going to be playing the upper-course, which hosted a U.S. Women’s Open. And the men’s and women’s championship will be taking place simultaneously at the same club.” In spite of the blanket of snow over New Jersey, a simulator and putting green in Dillon Gymnasium allows for mechanical work on campus. According to Cutler, the winter provides an opportunity for ramped-up conditioning and strength programs. Jarmas places lofty goals for himself, and he looks to win every time he tees up. Yet, he emphasized the process-based approach that Princeton golf follows. “Having put in the work and the time in the off-season, I feel there’s a certain freedom in going out there and pursuing those goals,” he explained. “And whether they’re achieved or not, there’s no failures if you’ve put the time in and everybody’s done what they can do.”
Runners look forward to returning outdoors Seven returners lead deep women’s side TRACK
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weeks away from the Ivy Championship for the indoor season. We’ll look at how that week goes and hopefully use it as a springboard for the outdoor season,” says senior co-captain and star mid-distance runner Molly Higgins. She adds, “I hope the freshmen can gain experience with big meets at HEPS and can apply that experience to outdoor competition.” Farrell and the captains have identified several challenges that the team will face in the upcoming spring season. “The biggest challenge is always trying to beat your personal best, and stepping up training is
always going to be harder. It can be a daunting task,” says Oliver. Higgins provides an additional perspective, identifying capitalizing on a winning strategy as one of the more difficult tasks ahead. “We don’t have as many luminaries this year (people who would be winning individual races), so a lot of HEPS will come down to the smaller points: people stepping up and getting fifth place, people stepping up and getting third place. It’s just a matter of trying to get points anywhere you can get them,” she says. Above all, Farrell feels that maintaining his athletes’ health is the top concern. “Keeping people healthy is really the charm because all the girls run cross country, indoors
and outdoors, and that’s a lot. Three seasons is difficult.” Even with these challenges ahead, the team is excited to move back outdoors. “A new season is always exciting,” says Farrell. He continues, “I think people are made to compete outdoors. I prefer it over indoors and I look forward to getting outside.” Higgins agrees, also observing that the team tends to be stronger outdoors. Both captains are looking forward to the spring training trip and their final season with Princeton women’s track. “It’s my last season with the team, and I know I’ll never have a team like I have here. I’m excited to share more experiences and have fun with these girls,” says Oliver. “I really love them.”
Hermans, Ford leave big shoes to fill BASEBALL Continued from page S6
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ers, would find his way into the starting rotation. “I think our bullpen’s actually going to be a lot better than last year,” Mingo said. “I think we have a lot more depth – the freshmen all can throw right away and, I think, won’t be too intimidated by the stage.” Keller stressed that, though some observers are already counting the Tigers out, the Ivy League is always unpredictable. “I think it’s dumb whenever they say that, because no one knows,” he said. “There’s al-
ways a lot of turnover in the Ivy League.” Columbia set the pace last year, vexing the Tigers on its way to sweeping Dartmouth in the Ivy League Championship Series. Before meeting the Lions for four games in the Big Apple in mid-April, the Tigers have a long way to go. The season will start, as it usually does for Ancient Eight squads, with travel to warmer climates to play highcaliber opponents. Lineups and rotations are usually in flux for much of this time, and teams like Princeton traditionally do not fare too well against teams like North or South Carolina. “It’s not fun, but a lot of times
it depends on how we’re doing it,” Keller said of this trial by fire, pointing to the 2012 season, when Princeton came close to beating the then-No. 2 Gamecocks. This year, the Tigers will start off the season in California to face UC Santa Barbara before heading to Florida, the Carolinas and Maryland. Opening day is Feb. 28, while their first game at Clarke Field will be against Harvard on March 29. “It’s always great because we throw everybody into the fire,” Keller said of the beginning of the season. Expect to hear that metaphor plenty of times over the next few months.
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fore returning to play against topranked Stanford. She has started off a bit shaky, going 1-3 in singles and 0-4 in doubles, but Graff has confidence that she’ll be back on top by Ivy League play. The team’s lone senior is Katherine Flanigan, who played mostly in the number three singles spot last year. But, like her teammates, she suffered an injury to her left hand that has limited her effectiveness. Her timeline for return is uncertain, but she could
be back before league play starts. Filling in nicely for her is freshman Alanna Wolff, who earned herself a 62nd national ranking after going 10-2 in the fall. Princeton’s doubles play has been subpar in the early going, as the team has won just 29.4 percent of its doubles matches. The lone bright spot has been the freshman duo of Caroline Joyce and Dorothy Tang going 3-0 in the number three position. Just as on the men’s side, the Ivy League race is crowded for the women, with three teams currently ranked and Princeton only recently falling out of the Inter-
collegiate Tennis Association top 75. Thirty-fifth ranked Columbia leads by one spot over Yale, and Harvard is 68th. Individually, Columbia’s Kanika Vaidya has the highest Ivy ranking at 57, though the league is wide open with the graduation of two-time conference player of the year Nicole Bartnik, also of Columbia. “We’re looking to take the Ivy title. The team is the strongest it’s been in my three years,” Graff said. “I’m confident we can win at every position with our depth. If we can get our work ethic to coincide with the talent we have, an NCAA bid is not out of reach.”
Tigers prepare for jam-packed season SOFTBALL Continued from page S6
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Liza Kuhn, to learn from,” Christian said. “Collegiate softball is a whole different ball game, and I was able to take notes for a whole year from two of the best pitchers in the league. I learned a lot about resilience from these two, and I think that is the most valuable lesson they could have given me. This off-season has definitely tested my resilience, throwing a shoulder injury and a knee injury my way. It’s limited a lot of my physical preparation, but I feel like this has given me time to work on my mental game. Overcoming an injury or two has been very difficult, but it has forced me to think about how I can provide for my team in other ways.” “We did have a great season
last year, and I think that being so close to an Ivy championship makes us want it even more this year,” Rendina said. “Last year, we learned that every single play of every single game really matters, and that one play can change the course of a game.” Like all teams approaching the spring season, the softball team faces its own challenges. The cold weather and the prospect of injuries are the two largest problems the Tigers face at the moment. “February is always a long, tough month,” Rendina said. “All we can do is practice in the pit and imagine what it will be like to play games outdoors. Some of our biggest challenges will come in staying focused on what our ultimate goal is, even though we won’t be playing outside until we’re in Florida at the beginning of March.”
“A large issue on our team is staying healthy,” Christian said. “We push ourselves really hard every day because we all want so badly to take the championship home this year. The problem is it’s only February, and we are seeing a lot of nagging injuries come up. And the intensity only picks up from here. We really need to make sure we have 19 able bodies ready to play by the time we get to Ivies.” The Tigers will play 22 games before they even touch the dirt of Class of 1895 Field. A five-game stretch in Orlando marks the beginning of the Tigers’ season from Feb. 28 to March 2. Tournaments in Maryland, San Jose and Santa Clara follow during the first three weeks of March. The Tigers kick off their home season on Wednesday, March 26 against Monmouth at 4 p.m.
The Daily Princetonian
page S6
Wednesday February 19, 2014
BASEBALL
Senior Alec Keller will lead uncertain Princeton lineup By Stephen Wood senior writer
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LILIA XIE :: FILE PHOTO
*
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an York th a ’ n
15
Left Field
Right Field
AVG: .283, SLG: .283, OBP: .348
AVG: .121, SLG: .121, OBP: .25
rendt yA ’1 ll
Bi
y Hoy ’ nn 16 a * D
*
6
03
14
AVG: .378, SLG: .538, OBP: .435 Unanimous 2013 first team All-Ivy
5
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28
Center Field
Owens er ’1 t e
18
eller cK ’1 le
4
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Sophomore shortstop Billy Arendt started in the infield for the Tigers last year. Princeton will need his production if they are to upset Columbia.
04
Shortstop AVG: .231, SLG: .343, OBP: .314
Second Baseman
Da
Ca
37
homso yT n n ’ n
34
15
21
on Mingo er ’ m
16
Geren by ’1 b o
4
Starting Pitcher
Relief Pitcher
ERA: .2.92, WHIP: 1.44 BAA: .283
ERA: .4.87, WHIP: 1.82, BAA: .263
l Davis ’1 il 4 W
07
Third Baseman
First Baseman
AVG: .133, SLG: .133, OBP: .176
AVG: .25, SLG: .361, OBP: .325
29
R
lbert nA ’1 a y
23
4
ervai s rS e ’ l
15
The Daily Princetonian’s 2014 Baseball Starting Lineup Projections
Ty
B
AVG: .307, SLG: .453, OBP: .384
Designated Hitter
*
AVG: .114, SLG: .159, OBP: .216
Catcher
AVG: .14, SLG: .2, OBP: .216
* indicates a starter from last season
SARA GOOD :: SENIOR DESIGNER
SOFTBALL By Jack Rogers
associate sports editor
A
mid the neverending cold and snow-filled backdrop of Princeton’s campus, the softball team is just over a week away from kicking off its 2014 season. In her second year as head coach, Lisa Sweeney will try to improve upon the 27-19 mark she set during her first year at the helm. With a strong returning roster, the Tigers will also look for further success in the Ivy League, as their 12-8 conference record in 2013 marked the team’s most Ivy League wins since 2008. A number of strong returners will look to power the Tigers offensively and defensively. Junior second baseman Rachel Rendina returns for her third year of action, coming off a monstrous year in which she recorded 50 hits. In addition to Rendina, the Tigers also return five of the six players who hit over .300 last season. On the defensive side, sophomore Shanna Christian, a 10-game winner in 2013, will return to the mound to build off a strong freshman campaign in which she maintained a 3.00 ERA.
This year will be one of the busiest seasons in program history, as the Tigers gear up to play 47 games against 25 different opponents over the next three months. Despite the chaotic whirlwind that comes with constant play, the Tigers are more than ready to return to the diamond. “I’m really excited going into this season,” Rendina said. “I think we’re more confident than we’ve ever been, both because of the number of returning players and because of the strong impact the freshmen will have this season.” “I think our hard work in the off-season will pave the way for a really strong start come Feb. 28,” Christian said. “We’re excited to have had last season as fuel for this season. It definitely gave us, collectively and individually, the confidence we needed to win games. Last year gave us a taste of the success we strive for, but I think we have stepped it up and are all showing a lot of grit and grind right now so that we can come out on top in May.” Despite the Tigers’ strong 2013 season, the Tigers will not be the ones with the targets on their backs in the Ivy League this
t the start of the last baseball season, you could count on two things: Zak Hermans ’13 and then-junior Mike Ford. As the snow thaws and the Tigers prepare to take to the diamond once more, however, Hermans and Ford will be following the action from afar as they travel with professional teams. Hermans, an Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, was probably the ace of last year’s staff. If Hermans wasn’t, Ford was the ace in addition to being the cornerstone of the lineup. Their departures – the former was drafted by the Chicago Cubs and the latter later signed with the New York Yankees – mean that Princeton will start this season with more questions than answers. “We’re gonna have a young team,” senior Alec Keller said. “We don’t really know where a lot of production’s gonna come from.” The last two years have seen the departure of some powerful hitters: Sam Mulroy ’12, Matt Bowman ’14 and the aforementioned Ford, to name a few. As such, the Tigers will begin this season without a definite cleanup hitter, but that’s not to say head coach Scott Bradley will not have plenty of talent on his hands. One possible choice for cleanup hitter is Keller, a first-team All-Ivy selection last season. Often seen in the leadoff spot due to his speed – he stole six bases, the second-most on the team last year – Keller hit .378 last season, far and away the best average on the team, with a .435 on base percentage. Though his speed makes him a candidate for the top spot in the lineup, he may move down thanks to sophomore infielder Danny Hoy, who has been known to swipe a few bases himself. Hoy stole 12 bags last season and was caught just once while hitting .307, an exceptional mark for a Princeton rookie. He was second on the team behind only Ford with 21 RBI. Infielder Billy Arendt is another sophomore on whom the Tigers will rely this season. He worked his way into the starting lineup in 2013, finishing with a .231 batting average. Though he and Bradley would no doubt like to see that number improve, Arendt made the most of the hits he got. He was second on the team (to Ford, of course) with 12 doubles last season, scoring 13 times and knocking in 10 runs on 31 hits. “Billy and Danny are going to
be two major players this year,” Keller said. “And what’s good about them is they can move all over the place.” Given that junior catcher Tyler Servais is the only person on the roster with significant experience at backstop, the infield may be mostly set. The outfield, however, will suffer the loss of Steve Harrington ’13 and Johnny Mishu ’13, both of whom started and contributed consistently over the last two seasons. Junior outfielder Peter Owens may well see increased playing time, but the rest of the outfield remains a mystery, especially given junior outfielder Matt DeNunzio’s recent injury. Keller said he expects to alternate between outfield and infield, depending on where the greatest need is. “I don’t really mind; it’s kind of fun to bounce around,” he said. “You don’t get too stagnant in one place.” The pitching rotation is also going to see plenty of bouncing around. It appears at this point that the Tigers have only one set starter: sophomore righty Cam Mingo. Mingo had a 2.92 ERA in his rookie season, righting the ship quickly after getting off to a bit of a rocky start. He became the third man in the rotation, which is saying something considering only Hermans and Ford preceded him. Mingo says he learned plenty from last year’s aces. “I spent a lot of time with Zak, being in the rotation with him, just hearing his philosophies on how to work hitters and the right mentality to have,” he said. “The progression he made from last fall to last spring was pretty remarkable,” Keller said of Mingo. “And I think he’s been progressing since then too.” Mingo looks to have a lock on the top spot in the rotation, provided that he stays healthy; an elbow injury has nagged him this off-season, but he is confident he will be fine for opening day. Even if Mingo is the opening day starter, who will start next is anybody’s guess. Senior southpaw Michael Fagan, who started five games before shifting to a relief role last year, will certainly be in the mix. Though his career ERA is barely under 10, Bradley has showed continued faith in Fagan, who is now the most experienced pitcher on the staff. Junior Tyler Foote, another lefty, is in a similar situation. The freshman class includes four pitchers. Mingo expressed confidence in all of them, predicting that one, Keelan SmithSee BASEBALL page S5
League runner-up softball looks to improve on last year’s strong finish
spring. After its 30-win season and Ivy League title last year, Penn will be the team that every team in the conference is gunning for once league competition starts. “I think Penn is our biggest competition in the South [Division],” Rendina said. “It was a critical series for us last season, and it probably will be again this year. In the North, I really think it’s anybody’s game. We will have to be ready for whoever we face.” “We have a really great shot at the title this year,” Christian said. “We’ve really got a lot of things going for us on every level. But, of
course, Penn will put up a good fight, as well as Harvard and Dartmouth most likely. Fortunately, we have a home field advantage on all of them this year, which will hopefully give us the crowd energy we need to win these eight games.” Despite the intense competition to come, the Tigers know that there were vital lessons learned in 2013 that they can put to use in just over a week, lessons that are both individual and team-wide. “I was so fortunate to come in as a freshman pitcher with two senior pitchers, Alex Peyton and See SOFTBALL page S5
KRISTIE LIAO :: FILE PHOTOS
Princeton’s offense set the top mark in the Ivy League last year. It will face tough competition from reigning champs Penn.