Men's Tennis
The men’s tennis team (1-0) will host Cleveland State (0-1) on Friday in its second match of the season. The Lions are coming off a 7-0 win against Fordham in which Columbia won all nine matches. The Vikings are looking to rebound from a season-opening loss to Duquesne by a score of 4-3. Freshmen Bert Vancura and Winston Lin will be key contributors for the Lions. Both players dominated their matches last week as Vancura won 6-0, 6-0 while Lin won 6-1, 6-2. The match will be held Friday at Columbia’s Dick Savitt Tennis Center at 2 p.m.
—Josh Shenkar
Women's Tennis
The women’s tennis team will play two home matches against Hofstra and UMass this weekend. After a strong start to its spring season at the Cornell Winter Invitational, the Lions will face a tough test against the Pride and Minutemen. While the Pride have not played an official team match this season, they finished 8-9 last year and returned several key players. The Minutemen are 1-3 and have struggled to compete with their last two opponents, losing to both Boston College and Harvard. The Lions will look for continued production from impressive sophomore Bianca Sanon, who won the Flight A singles bracket last week. The match with Hofstra will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday and the match with UMass will start at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
—Josh Shenkar
Men's Swimming
Going down the stretch, the Columbia men’s swimming and diving team continues its season with a dual meet against the Navy on Friday at 2 p.m. Despite the Navy’s formidable 9-1 record, the team hopes to follow in the footsteps of Ivy League rival Princeton and pull off a win to avenge its loss last season. The Lions are coming off a double dual tri-meet against Brown and Boston University, with the Light Blue winning both matchups. The medley relay squad has been doing well lately, having won its event at consecutive meets. Last year, then-senior Hyun Lee broke a pool record at Uris by finishing the 200 free in 1:37.64. Navy enters this weekend with plenty of confidence, having previously defeated Penn State 155-145 in its last meet. The meet will be held at the Navy’s Lejeune Hall pool in Annapolis, Md.
—Eric Wong
Wrestling
The Lions will be the underdogs when they travel to Ithaca, N.Y. this weekend to take on Cornell. “They’re by far the strongest team in the Ivies,” coach Carl Fronhofer said. “They’re really, really good.” The Big Red are ranked third in the nation, and feature multiple All-Americans including 197-pound senior Cam Simaz, last season’s Ivy League Wrestler of the Year. However, the upset-minded Light Blue have a fighting chance at many weights. “I think Santos can get a good win at 149,” Fronhofer said of junior Steve Santos. Seniors Kyle Gilchrist and Kevin Lester, at 133 and 285 pounds respectively, could also come up big, as could junior Stephen West at 174 pounds. Barring any injuries, Shane Hughes, at 184 pounds, figures to be Columbia’s only freshman in the lineup. “I think our guys are prepared,” Fronhofer said. “I think we will compete very well this weekend against them.” However, the Lions will need a good deal of luck to come home with a victory. “We know we’re gonna have to have a good day.” Fronhofer said.
—Eli Schultz
Track & Field
The Columbia men’s and women’s track teams will return to action this weekend as both will run in the 11th annual New Balance Collegiate Invitational this Friday and Saturday at the Armory. The competition has become one of several premier college indoor meets, showcasing the best athletes from 130 schools nationwide. The Lions’ abilities will be challenged by teams currently ranked in the USTFCCCA NCAA Division I top 25 poll, including No. 3 LSU, No. 9 Texas A&M, and No. 14 BYU. The Light Blue hopes to match, if not improve on, its 2011 results from this meet, during which then-senior Jeff Moriarty won the 1000m race, the men’s 4x800 team took second, now-senior Sharay Hale finished second in the 400m dash, and now-senior Sarah Engle set a Columbia record in the pole vault while coming in fifth place. The New Balance Collegiate Invitation will be streamed live beginning at 2:30 p.m. on Friday at ArmoryTrack.com.
—Melissa Cheung
Men's Squash
The Columbia men’s squash team jumps into a double challenge this weekend, facing two strong Ivy opponents in No. 4 Harvard and No. 7 Dartmouth.
The No. 15 Lions (5-6, 1-2 Ivy) split their matches last weekend, defeating Georgetown and Connecticut, but falling to No. 12 Middlebury and No. 11 Williams. Currently tied with the Big Green (6-4, 1-2 Ivy) for fifth place in the conference, Columbia looks to move past Dartmouth into the top half of the standings with a win on Sunday. Dartmouth will come into the match without momentum, having suffered two losses last weekend against Trinity and Rochester.
The Crimson (11-2, 2-1 Ivy) is tied with Cornell for third place in the Ancient Eight, and after a 7-2 victory against Rochester last Saturday, Harvard moved one spot up in the national rankings to fourth.
The match against Harvard will begin Friday at 7:30 p.m., and the match against Dartmouth will begin Sunday at noon.
—Mia Park
Women's Squash
The No. 15 Columbia women’s squash team will face stiff competition at home against No. 1 Harvard on Friday night and No. 8 Dartmouth on Sunday. If the Lions (5-6, 0-3 Ivy) can manage a victory this weekend, the win will mark both their first triumph in conference play as well as their first win against a top 10 team this season.
The Light Blue, in only its second year as a varsity sport, is at a disadvantage when compared to other Ancient Eight programs, many of which have decades of varsity experience.
“The other Ivy League schools are the best in the country and really dominate college squash,” head coach Kelsey Engman said. The Ivy League’s supremacy is clear in the national rankings, with seven Ivies in the top 10 and Harvard sitting atop with a 10-0 season.
“When we look towards Harvard, we hope to use the match as motivation for where we want to be in a couple of years,” Engman said. The Light Blue has shown promise against other Ivies in the past, including this fall when No. 1 seed and senior captain Liz Chu defeated Brown’s No. 1 seeded player. The match against Harvard will begin Friday at 7:30 p.m. and the match against Dartmouth will start at noon on Sunday.
—Caroline Bowman
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