Freshman Nadie Eke breaks school record in triple jump

It wasn’t all about Seder dinner and Easter baskets for Columbia Athletics this weekend, as the Lions traveled far and wide to take on Ivy League foes and non-conference adversaries alike. The Men’s Tennis team continued their dominant run this week, extending their win streak to 12 as they sit comfortably atop the Ivy League. In Track & Field, two school records fell on opposite coasts. Senior Kyle Merber ran the fastest 1500 m race in school history at the Stanford Invitational, while freshman Nadia Eke cleared a record-breaking distance in the triple jump in Princeton, NJ at the 12th annual Sam Howell Memorial Invitational.

Read on for more Lions news and scores from the holiday weekend, as well as the winner of the 2012 Masters Tournament.

Men’s Tennis (16-2, 3-0 Ivy League):

Results:

Dartmouth 5-2 (W)
Harvard 5-2 (W)

Highlights: The #50 nationally ranked Lions took on #67 Dartmouth at Columbia’s Dick Savitt Tennis Center on Saturday. In the doubles, senior Haig Schneiderman and freshman Winston Lin handily beat their Big Green opponents in the No. 3 spot, but Dartmouth drew even with the Lions after taking the No. 2 doubles. The doubles point came down to the No. 1 spot, where freshman Ashok Narayana and Max Schnur capitalized on an early break to win, 8-4, and put the Lions ahead going into the singles. Lin was first to finish in the No. 2 spot, dropping only four games against Dartmouth’s Xander Centenari to extend the Lions’ lead to two. Narayana and junior Nathaniel Gery followed Lin with big wins in the No. 4 and No. 3 spots, respectively, to clinch the victory for Columbia. Schneiderman also went on to take the No. 1 singles match in straight sets before Dartmouth picked up two points in the bottom two singles spots. With the win, the Lions remain undefeated in the Ivy League and extend their win streak to 11.

The Lions just beat Harvard at home today, 5-2, for their 12th straight win and 3rd straight Ivy League victory.

Up Next: The Lions hit the road next weekend to take on Yale on Saturday and Brown on Sunday.

Women’s Tennis (12-3, 2-1 Ivy League):

Results:

Dartmouth 4-3 (W)
Harvard 3-4 (L)

Highlights: At Dartmouth on Friday, the Lions battled back from three tough doubles contests to clinch the match with four straight wins in singles. In the doubles, the Big Green took all three matches by the slimmest of margins to capture the doubles point. Columbia fell in two of the three matches in tiebreakers, including a heartbreaking loss, 9-8 (11-9), in the No. 1 spot. Despite the early setback, the Lions came out in full force in the singles. After dropping the first singles match, Columbia took the No. 1 and No. 6 spots to tie the match at 2-2. Sophomore Bianca Sanon put the Lions in the lead with a win in the No. 2 singles, 6-2, 7-5, and fellow sophomore Iani Alecsiu followed with a three set victory to clinch the win for the Lions.

On Saturday, the Lions faced another tough opponent in Harvard, and the match was close from start to finish. In the doubles, Harvard struck first with a win in the No. 1 spot, but Columbia rallied to take the remaining two contests and capture the doubles point. Though the Lions were up 1-0 heading into the singles, the tide of the match soon shifted as the Crimson took three straight matches to put them one point away from clinching the victory. Sanon restored hope for Columbia with emphatic win in the No. 2 spot, 6-3, 6-3, but the Lions were unable to take both of the remaining matches. Though junior Nicole Bartnik came out on top in the No. 1 singles, the Crimson clinched the win with a three set victory in the No. 4 spot, handing the Lions their first Ivy League loss of the season.

Up Next: The Lions return home to Dick Savitt Tennis Center next weekend, facing Yale at noon on Friday and Brown on Saturday also at noon.

Baseball (11-15, 4-2 Ivy League):

Results:

Rutgers 7-6 (W) 10 inn.
Harvard (Game 1) 2-6 (L)
Harvard (Game 2) 10-1 (W)
Dartmouth (Game 1) 4-3 (W)
Dartmouth (Game 2) 3-11 (L)

Highlights: The Lions ended their six game stretch at Robertson Field at Satow Stadium on Wednesday with an extra-innings win over Rutgers. Columbia fell to an early two run deficit in the top of the first, but struck back in the bottom of the inning when junior Dario Pizzano’s sacrifice fly brought home senior Jon Eisen. Rutgers scored two more runs, making it a 4-1 game heading into the sixth inning when the Lions offense took off. Pizzano opened the inning’s scoring with a solo home run, and Columbia added three more runs that inning to pull ahead, 5-4. Rutgers rallied in the seventh to reclaim the lead, 6-5, but the Lions battled back in the eighth when freshman Jordan Serena singled and then stole second to put himself in scoring position. Pinch-hitter Gus Craig followed with a double into the the left field corner to score Serena and tie the game at 6-6. In the tenth, Alex Aurrichio drew a walk and freshman Justin Wong came in to run. A series of missteps by the Rutgers’ relief pitcher and infielders allowed Wong to advance to third and then run home to give the Lions the victory.

In game one against Harvard on Saturday, the Crimson went up 2-0 in the first inning before the Lions struck back with an RBI double from junior Nick Ferraresi to bring home Eisen and put Columbia on the board. Harvard tallied two more runs and the Lions trailed 4-1 heading into the fifth. Eisen was hit by a pitch to start the inning, stole second, and advanced to third on a fly ball.  Pizzano then scored Eisen on an RBI groundout to cut the deficit to two. The Crimson, however, went on to score twice in the bottom of the sixth to take a 6-2 lead and eventually win the game by that margin. In the second game of the day, the Lions offense was hot from the start. Eisen and Pizzano got on base early in the first and executed a double steal to put runners on second and third. After the Crimson starter walked Farraresi, junior Alex Black scored Eisen with a single to center field and junior Nick Crucet followed with a with a two run double. Serena then singled to bring home two more runners and extend the Lions early lead to 5-0. Columbia added to the advantage in the second inning with two more runs and tacked on one more before the Crimson finally got on the board in the sixth. The Lions finished the game with two runs in the ninth to bring the final score to 10-1. Columbia starter Tim Giel allowed only one run on six hits in seven innings, before freshman George Thanopoulos came on for two scoreless innings.

Up Next: The Lions continue their stretch of road games this week, taking on St. Johns on Tuesday followed by two doubleheaders next weekend against Cornell.

Softball (9-22, 3-5 Ivy League):

Results:

Marist (Game 1) 5-6 (L)
Marist (Game 2) 4-5 (L)
Harvard (Game 1) 0-8 (L)
Harvard (Game 2) 0-4 (L)
Dartmouth (Game 1) 9-0 (W)
Dartmouth (Game 2) 7-1 (W)

Highlights: After two heartbreaking one-run losses to Marist on Wednesday, the Lions headed to Cambridge, MA for a doubleheader against Harvard. In game one, Crimson pitcher Rachel Brown held the Lions to a single hit over the six innings of play. In the first inning, junior Alison Lam drew a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch before freshman Alix Cook got on base off an error. The Lions, however, were unable to capitalize and stranded the two runners. Harvard went on to score eight straight runs, ending the game with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. In game two, freshman Brooke Darling held the Crimson scoreless for the first four innings, but the Lions offense could not get on the board in that time, leaving two runners stranded in the second and again in the fifth. Harvard opened scoring in the bottom of the fifth with four runs, which would become the final margin of victory for the Crimson.

The Lions bounced back on Saturday against Dartmouth, tallying two back-to-back Ivy League wins. Columbia took an early lead in the first inning after some illegal pitches from the Big Green starter resulted in a run for the Lions. Cook extended the lead to two in the second with a two-out RBI single to bring home freshman Kira Ullman. In the third, sophomore Tristan Moone slammed a solo home run to add to the Lions’ lead and the scoring only continued in the fourth. With the bases loaded, sophomore Morgan Cook drew an RBI walk and junior Jennifer Bergeron followed with an RBI single to bring home two more. Moone ended the game with a three-run homer in the sixth and hand the Lions their second Ivy League win of the season. Columbia continued to dominate Dartmouth in game two, scoring in the first and tallying four more unanswered runs in the second. In the third, freshman Liz Caggiano scored Alex O’Hagan, who came in to pinch run for Moone, with an RBI double. Sophomore Emily Snodgrass and Bergeron both had RBI singles in the sixth to extend the lead to 7-0. Dartmouth finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run, but that would be their only run of the day.

Up Next: Like the Baseball team, the Softball squad will head to Ithica, NY for two doubleheaders against Cornell next weekend.

Rowing:

Results:

Women’s Rowing: Class of 1975 Cup (Princeton, Radcliffe, Cornell) V8: 2nd of 4
Heavyweight: Childs Cup (Princeton, Penn) V8: 3rd of 3
Lightweight: Navy V8: 1st of 2

Highlights: The Women’s team rowed as guests this weekend at the Class of 1975 Cup in Princeton, NJ. The varsity eights battled strong winds and choppy waters as they took on three of the nation’s top 20 teams: Princeton (6th), Radcliffe (11th), and Cornell (16th). All four teams were close in the first 300 meters before strong headwinds separated the field at the 500 meter mark. Princeton gained a slight lead after 1000 meters, but failed to break away from the pack. In the third 500, it was anyone’s race, but Columbia dug into to stay ahead of Radcliffe and Cornell and finish second at 7:19.01.

The Heavyweight rowers, also at Lake Carnegie in Princeton, NJ, ended a streak of wins in cup races on Saturday at the Childs Cup. The Lions found themselves in a battle for second as Princeton took control of the race from the start and handled the strong headwind. Though Columbia gained ground on Penn over the course of the race, the Quakers led the Lions throughout. Columbia finished a distant 14.5 seconds behind Princeton and just under two seconds behind Penn with a time of 6:42.5.

In Leonia, NJ on Saturday, the Lightweight rowers took on Navy with a strong crossing headwind on Overpeck Lake that made for choppy waters. The Lions had a good start in the varsity race, gaining a few seats on Navy in the opening strokes. The Lions extended the lead to more than a full boat length in the second 500 meters and maintained a sizable lead into the final 500, winning comfortably by 14 seconds.

Track & Field:

Highlights: At the 38th annual Stanford Invitational, senior Kyle Merber set a new school record in the men’s 1500 meter run with a time of 3:42.49. Juniors Mike Murphy and Emily Lanois also had standout performances at Standford. Both runners recorded the second best time in school history in the respective men’s and women’s 10,000 meter run. Back on the east coast, freshman sensation Nadia Eke set a new school record in the triple jump, clearing a distance of 12.81 meters at Princeton’s 12th annual Sam Howell Memorial Invitational. Teammates Caroline Williams and Erin Gillingham took first and second, respectively, in the 3000 meter run, while Joanna Koronios recorded the second best discus throw and hammer throw in school history.

In other sports news, American Bubba Watson just won his first ever Masters after a playoff with Louis Oosthuizen.