If you’re a sports fan and you haven’t been living under a rock without Wi-Fi, you know by now that the Cornell men’s basketball team has become this year’s March Madness media darling during its remarkable run through the NCAA Tournament. After upsetting Temple and Wisconsin, the Big Red finds itself in the Sweet 16 tonight taking on its toughest challenge yet: No. 1 seed Kentucky.
As the country watches, so will a number of Harvard athletes. Cornell’s success evokes mixed emotions here on campus, especially for the Crimson men’s basketball players. Not long ago, it was Harvard that was grabbing the headlines, thanks in large part to star senior Jeremy Lin’s uncanny all-around play and a group of talented, energetic young players.
The Crimson made a name for itself by standing tall against tough opponents, upsetting Boston College for the second year in a row and taking a then-No. 13 UConn team down to the wire. But while Harvard set a school record with 21 wins, it faltered in league play and was unable to secure its first-ever Ancient Eight championship. Now the Big Red has brought the often overlooked Ivy League to the forefront of the sports-watching nation’s consciousness, and Crimson athletes are forced to reconcile Ivy pride with the bitterness of seeing a rival thrive.
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Tension can often run high when a player faces his former team for the first time.
When Mark Coury transferred from Kentucky to Cornell, it didn’t make the radar screens of basketball fans nationwide—or even those following the Ivy League. But now that the Wildcats and the Big Red prepare to face off in tomorrow’s Sweet Sixteen match-up in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, Coury will have the opportunity to help deprive his former teammates of a trip to the Elite Eight.
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Over the weekend, the Harvard men’s lacrosse team lost to Brown, 13-11, marking the Crimson’s eighth straight defeat to Ivy rivals Brown, Cornell, and Princeton.
But an even more improbable streak was extended during the loss to the Bears. Sophomore attack Jeff Cohen scored four goals to lead Harvard and had two goals and an assist earlier in the week in a win against Colgate. This performance earned Cohen New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Player of the Week honors, his second such award of his career.
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For the first one and a half games of the 2010 season, the Harvard women’s lacrosse team got a taste of something it can look forward to in 2011: the presence of two dominant scorers on the field at the same time.
But just when the Crimson found the perfect person to assume the role of sidekick to junior attacker Jess Halpern—last season’s Ivy League scoring leader—Halpern sustained a season-ending injury.
Now, instead of racking up easy scores as defenses focus their attention on Halpern, freshman Jennifer VanderMeulen has been the one receiving the extra attention.
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With 41 varsity sports, it seems like every athlete at Harvard should be able to find his or her calling in the athletic department. But senior Daniel Oshima has looked for success in other places—and he’s found it.
Oshima, a member of the school’s club judo team, won a national title at the National Collegiate Judo Championship earlier this month in the 73kg division. Also making the trip to Colorado Springs was sophomore Amaury Berzin, who placed third among novices in the 81kg division.
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