Year In Sports 2016

The Resurgence of Harvard Men's Hockey

Three years ago the Harvard men's hockey team faced crises on the ice and off as they limped to consecutive 10-win seasons and lost players to a campus-wide cheating scandal. Now they've returned to the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons, anchored by the best player in college hockey. Here’s how it happened.

Game of the Year: Football vs. Dartmouth, A Comeback for the Ages

In a comeback game for the ages, the Harvard football team took sole possession of the Ivy League title with a momentous fourth-quarter offensive rally.

Team of the Year: Women's Track and Field, a Crimson Dynasty

Under coach Jason Saretsky, the Harvard women's track and field has established itself as an Ivy League and national powerhouse, building an impressive reign over the top of the standings in the past five years.

Sturdy as Stone: Coach Katey Stone's Impact on Women's Hockey

The most prolific head coach in collegiate women's hockey, Harvard coach Katey Stone has greatly influenced and built both the Crimson program and the sport in general in her 21 years in Cambridge.

Male Athlete of the Year: Jimmy Vesey

Men's hockey senior forward Jimmy Vesey was dubbed the top collegiate hockey player in the nation as the recipient of the 2016 Hobey Baker Award, capping a decorated career with the Crimson.

By The Crimson Sports Staff

Female Athlete of the Year: Adrienne Jarocki's Return to Glory

After coming to Harvard and dominating the fencing field on her way to an NCAA title in 2014, Jarocki dropped out of the national title in 2015 before reclaiming the top spot in the nation this season.

By Caleb Lee

Male Rookie of the Year: Justice Shelton-Mosley, Quick to Catch On

Recruited by various football powerhouse schools before coming to Cambridge, Shelton-Mosley established himself as a dangerous offensive weapon with the Crimson.

By Wade G. Player

Beating the Big Dogs: How Harvard Assembled a Top-Ten Recruiting Class

Harvard coach Tommy Amaker pauses to smile. It’s the last presser of the year and he’s fielding a question he’s been avoiding all year: How did you bring a top-10 recruiting class to Harvard?

By David Freed

Not Your Prototypical "C"

Throughout his career, and most prominently in the two years he served as captain, Kyle Criscuolo also spearheaded the men's hockey team’s contribution on the ice as well as throughout the community.

By Devin Tringale

Female Rookie of the Year: Gabby Thomas and Ngozi Musa

With times surpassing many of the older members of the team and an Olympic trial qualifying time from Thomas, these two freshmen assure the future of Harvard's women's track and field team is bright.

By Stuart Johnson

Coach of the Year: Kevin Rhoads, Paving the Rhoad to Victory

Kevin Rhoads, who serves as both the men's and woman's golf coach at Harvard, guided both his teams to Ivy League Championships this year.

By Jed Rothstein

Hockey is Her Serenity

Over the course of her four years on the women's ice hockey team, Canadian standout Emerance Maschmeyer has been a staple in the net for the Crimson, breaking multiple records and also providing the leadership her team needed.

By Karly Heffernan

Male Breakout Athlete of the Year: Zena Edosomwan

After being one of the most sought after recruits in history for the Crimson, Edosomwan put up less than impressive numbers his first two years with the team, though he turned his game around this season and averaged 13.1 points a game.

By Theresa C. Hebert

Female Performance of the Year: Nikki Okwelogu, Harvard's All-American Woman

As she has progressed through her years at Harvard, Okwelogu has set and broken many of her own records in shot put, placing her among the top competitors in the nation.

By Phillip Yu

Female Breakout Athlete of the Year: Kit Metoyer

Coming back from injury to play one of her first healthy seasons with the team, senior Kit Metoyer established herself as a force to be reckoned with in the Ivy League.

By Troy Boccelli

Upset Game of the Year: Men's Lacrosse Defeats No. 2 Brown

By the time the rain had stopped on the damp Friday night showdown at Stevenson-Pincince Field, in Providence, R.I., it was Harvard who had emerged with a nailbiting, 13-12 victory.

By George Hu

Male Comeback Athlete of the Year: Patrick Steeves

Sitting out due to injury his first three years on the team, Steeves roared back senior year, becoming a leader on the court and averaged over 12 points and three rebounds a game.

By David Freed

Female Comeback Athlete of the Year: Shilpa Tummala

In a career that was plagued with injuries, Tummala bounced back her senior year and became one of the Crimson's largest threats from beyond the arc.

By Manav Khandelwal

The Transformation of Devin Dwyer

In the fall of 2012, Devin Dwyer began his collegiate career as one of the highest-rated recruits ever to put on a Harvard jersey. Four years later Dwyer has completed his transformation from one of the Crimson’s most highly touted recruits to one of its most successful and high-achieving players.

By George Hu

The Subtle Influences of Sport

For such an athlete-heavy student population, athletics is a small part of Harvard’s culture

By David Freed

Texas Forever, Cambridge Style

I decided that wherever I ended up, I would try to go to as many football games as possible.

By Samantha Lin

How To College Right: Notes for My Olympic Sister

My Crimson experience was inseparably intertwined with my sister’s rise to the top of her sport. As I watched her smash world records and rack up wins, she not only inspired me as her number one fan but also placed in perspective the stories I’ve had the chance to tell in these pages.

By Michael D. Ledecky

Team of the Year Runner Up: Women's Volleyball

With the program's first ever berth in the NCAA Tournament, this year's volleyball squad will leave its name in the history books.

By Kurt T. Bullard

Team of the Year Runner-Up: Men's Golf

Entering the season, the Crimson had been waiting 40 years and counting to snatch the Ancient Eight trophy once more.

By Jed Rothstein

Male Athlete of the Year Runner-Up: Branden Clemens

With three seasons of over 200 kills, Clemens has become a staple on the men's volleyball team both on and off the court.

By Sam Danello

Female Athlete of the Year Runner-Up: AnnMarie Healy

In an up and down season that saw the Crimson drop five in a row at one point only to later win six consecutively, Healy was without a doubt the most consistent player on head coach Kathy Delaney-Smith’s squad.

By Troy Boccelli

Female Athlete of the Year Runner-Up: Corie Bain

Buoyed by Bain’s triple-double of 15 kills, 18 assists, and 14 digs, the Crimson cruised to victory past Mattaliano and Princeton in a four-set victory to nab the program’s first NCAA bid.

By Kurt T. Bullard

Male Rookie of the Year Runner-Up: Tommy McCarthy

With three-year starter Siyani Chambers ’16-’17 returning, McCarthy was slated to battle for minutes in the Harvard backcourt. A torn ACL—which led Chambers to drop out of school to retain his eligibility—changed everything, thrusting the freshman into a starting role a year early.

By David Freed and Stephen J. Gleason

Female Rookie of the Year Runner-Up: Kristen Hong

Hong’s entire freshman season shaped up to be a macrocosm of her first collegiate performance. Without skipping a beat, the rookie punched in a program-record-tying 80 goals and 35 assists. She also racked up 45 steals, enough to lead the team.

By Bryan Hu

Male Rookie of the Year Runner Up: Andy Zhou

In his first year on the tennis team, Andy Zhou showed experience beyond his years, becoming the backbone for many of the team's key matches.

By Jamie Chen

Female Rookie of the Year Runner Up: Sabrina Sobhy

Coming onto the squash court just as her older sister exited Harvard, Sabrina made a name for herself in her first year.

By Katherine H. Scott

Male Breakout Athlete of the Year Runner-Up: Matt Rothenberg

Despite not having a defined position and rotating between the third, fourth, and fifth spots in the Harvard order, Rothenberg had a breakout season in large part because of his offensive consistency. In addition to having 13 multi-hit games, the Boca Raton native reached base in 32 of the 38 games in which he appeared.

By Stephen J. Gleason

Female Breakout Athlete of the Year Runner-Up: Paige Kouba

Following an event win at the outdoor Ivy League championships, most track and field athletes might celebrate by kicking back and relaxing. Then again, most of these athletes are not Paige Kouba, co-captain of the Harvard women’s track and field team.

By Phillip Yu

Game of the Year Runner-Up: Women's Basketball at Yale

That basket, part of a 72-69 win on the road against rival Yale, capped off a program-record 23-point comeback that also marked the fourth-largest comeback in NCAA Division I history.

By Manav Khandelwal

Coach of the Year Runner Up: Tim Murphy

In his 22nd year coaching the Harvard football team, Tim Murphy once again brought an Ivy League Championship back to Cambridge; a feat that has come to be a tradition for his teams as of late.

By Jack Stockless

Coach of the Year Runner-Up: Ted Minnis

Harvard water polo head coach Ted Minnis took the helm of both of the school’s water polo teams in the fall of 2010. Having just completed his sixth season with the programs, Minnis has taken both programs and transformed them into legitimate contenders.

By Bryan Hu

Commencement 2016

The Harvard Crimson