IT’S BASKETBALL SEASON!

Though the Football season came to a close this weekend with a disappointing road loss to Brown, CU sports are far from over this semester as winter season contests are already in full-force. But before we leave the fall behind, we should say a few final words about the fall season. Sixteen Lions were named to All-Ivy teams from Men’s and Women’s Soccer, Volleyball, and Field Hockey, including five First-Team honors. Men’s XC and Volleyball both made program history this fall, as Men’s XC took 17th in NCAA Nationals and Volleyball finished 2nd in the Ivy League for the first time ever. And lastly, and perhaps most notably, Football tripled their wins from last season. If Coach Pete Mangurian keeps up that trend, the Lions will be 9-1 next year…

The transition to the winter season has already seen a number of successes, including wins this week from Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball, and Men’s Swimming & Diving. To boot, Wrestling took 2nd place in New York State Wrestling Championships and a freshman fencer took gold in the North American Cup.

After the jump, get caught up on this week’s athletic contests, including all the Ivy League honors for fall season athletes.

Football (3-7, 2-5 Ivy League):

Results: 

Brown 22-6 (L)

Overview: In the final home game of the 2012 season, the Lions headed to Providence to take on Brown, who finished their season in three-way tie for third in the Ivy League. The Lions got on the board first on Saturday, when QB Sean Brackett found wide receiver Chris Collins for a 32-yard gain, setting up Luke Eddy for a 27-yard field goal in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Columbia added to their lead with another field goal from Eddy, after running back Marcorus Garrett rushed for 21 yards to put the Lions on the 11 yard line. Despite the early lead, Columbia allowed Brown to get into the game and take control with 22 unanswered points. The scoring started on the next possession as the Bears ended a six-play, 76-yard drive with a 29-yard touchdown pass. Brown added to their lead before the halftime break with another touchdown, making it a 14-6 game. Then, on the opening possession of the second half, the Bears struck again on an 80-yard drive, extending their advantage to 22-6. Despite pressure from the Lions defense resulting in two Brown turnovers, Columbia was unable to take advantage of the opportunities and fell in their final game of the season.

The Lions finished the 2012 season 3-7 overall and 2-5 in the Ivy League, good enough for a 6th Place tie with Cornell.

Men’s Cross Country:

Results:

NCAA Nationals, 17th Place (439 points)

Overview: At the NCAA National Championships on Saturday, the Lions raced to 17th place overall – a program record – in a field of the nation’s top 31 XC teams. Among the teams bested by the Lions was Iona, who claimed the NCAA Northeast Regional title ahead of Columbia just two weeks ago. Senior Mark Feigen posted the best finish for the Lions, finishing 61st overall, and junior Jacob Sienko followed in 74th place.

Men’s Basketball (2-1):

Results:

Haverford 74-40 (W)

Marist 62-67 (L)

Overview: The Lions crushed Division III Haverford in their home-opener on Tuesday night, giving them their second straight win to start off the 2012-2013 season. Columbia came out and dominated from the start, posting 20 unanswered points in the first half, which put them up 44-19 going into the break. In the second half, the beating continued as the Lions maintained a large advantage over Haverford and highlighted the performance with several sweet dunks from freshman Zack En’Wezoh. Senior Mark Cisco led the Lions with 13 points in the win and En’Wezoh added 10 of his own in the second half.

The Lions faced a much more formidable opponent on Saturday in Marist. In the first half, both teams struggled to get their offensive games going, relying on defense and fouls to nab quick points. Columbia posted six steals and three blocks in the first half, and went to the line 10 times before entering the break ahead 29-27. The came down to the wire in the second half as neither team could distance themselves from the other. With two minutes left on the clock and the Lions trailing by four, senior Brian Barbour hit a three, making it a 59-58 game as the crowd erupted in Levien. Marist answered with a turn-around jumper to widen their lead, but Barbour revived the Lions again with two free throws to pull within one. With 1:20 on the clock, a Marist layup put the score at 63-60 and Barbour gave Columbia one last hope after goal-tending call moved the game to 63-62. With time against them, the Lions were forced to foul and Marist finished strong, closing the game out 67-62.

Up Next: The Lions head to PA to take on Villanova on Tuesday before jetting to Cali for the San Francisco Hilltop Challenge over Thanksgiving break.

Women’s Basketball (1-3):

Results:

Wagner 47-61 (L)

Fairleigh Dickenson 54-47 (W)

Overview: Against Wagner on Wednesday, the Lions fell into an early seven-point deficit, but battled back with ten unanswered points – including back-to-back threes from senior Brittany Simmons and freshman Bailey Ott – to take the lead 18-15. Columbia fell behind again before drawing even at 27-27 thanks to a three-point play from senior Tyler Simpson. After leading 29-27 at the half, the Lions added to their advantage early on in the second, going up by six before Wagner scored 11 straight to erase the lead. Columbia stayed with the Seahawks until the game was tied at 41-41, when FDU took off on a 20-6 run to hand the Lions their third straight loss.

Today, the Lions took down FDU, 54-47, for their first win of the 2012-2013 season.

Up Next: The Lions hit the road this weekend, facing Morgan State in Baltimore on Friday.

Men’s Swimming & Diving  (2-2, 1-2 Ivy League):

Results:

Harvard 108-192 (L)

Army 183-117 (W)

Overview: In their second week of competition, the Lions split contests this weekend, falling to Harvard on Friday before besting Army on Saturday. The Crimson took the top spot in 13 of 16 events as the Lions posted wins in the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke and 100 fly. Sophomore Omar Arafa touched out the Harvard swimmer by .03 seconds in the 100 back with a time of 52.04. The Lions swept the 200 back as fellow sophomore Kevin Quinn took first, freshman Benjamin Xu placed second, and sophomore David Jakl came in third. Jakl later won 100 fly in the Lions’ final win of the night.

Columbia fared better against Army on Saturday, capturing first in 12 of 16 events. The Lions dominated from the start, taking the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:32.60 and posting the first individual win of the night in the 1000 freestlye, where junior Harry Stephenson took the top spot. The meet’s most commanding Lion performance came in the 100 backstroke as Jakl, Xu, and freshman Jared Namba swept. Jakl added another win in the 200 IM and Quinn picked up two wins in the 200 fly and 200 back stroke en route to a Lions victory.

Up Next: The Lions return to action after Thanksgiving with the Brown Invite from Friday 11/30 to Sunday 12/1.

Women’s Swimming & Diving (0-2, 0-2 Ivy League):

Results:

Harvard 113-187 (L)

Overview: The Lions fell to Harvard in their second straight loss on Saturday, despite a number of impressive individual performances. Senior superstar Katie Meili picked up three wins in meet, first in the 100 breaststroke, then 100 freestyle, and finished up with a victory in 200 IM. Senior Kristina Parsons added a win in the 100 butterfly with a personal best time of 55.00, but the Lions really shined in the one-meter diving event. Sophomore Alyssa Menz took the top spot with a score of 262.12, and senior Kristen Hehir and junior Katie Furr followed in second and third, respectively, in the sweep.

The Lions competed in the Frank Elm invitational at Rutgers yesterday in prelims and continue tonight in the finals.

Up Next: The Lions return after Thanksgiving when the swimmers head to Austin for US Winter Nationals and the divers compete in the Brown Invite.

Wrestling:

Results:

New York State Wrestling Championships, 2nd Place (152.5 points)

Overview: The Lions took second place behind only Cornell at the NY State Wrestling Championships this weekend in Ithaca, placing in nine of ten weight classes. In the meet, three Lions took the top spot their respective weight classes: seniors Steve Santos (149 pounds), Jake O’Hara (157 pounds), and Stephen West (174 pounds). Fellow senior Nick Mills almost added another win for the Lions in the 197 pounds weight class as he advanced to the finals before falling to the top seed from Cornell, 6-3. At 165 pounds, junior Josh Houldsworth fell in the semis, but battled back with a 11-4 victory over Hofstra for a third place finish.

Up Next: The Lions head back upstate this weekend for NE Duals in Troy, NY.

Fencing:

Results:

North American Cup, Seven Finalists

Overview: The Lions recorded a number of impressive performances at the North American Cup this week in Virginia Beach. Freshman Margaret Lu took the gold in Junior Women’s foil out of a field of 125 fencers, and fellow freshman Geoffrey Loss made an ironic play on his name, winning the bronze medal in Junior Men’s Sabre. Two other freshies had impressive performances as well, with Harry Bergman and Adam Mathieu finishing seven and eighth, respectively, in the Junior Men’s Foil.

Final Ivy League Standings and Honors

Football* – 6th Place (2-5)

Volleyball – 2nd Place (9-5)

Megan Gaughn CC’13 (First-Team All-Ivy, Unanimous Selection), Heather Braunagel CC’13 (First-Team All-Ivy), Caitlin Brenton CC’15 (Second-Team All-Ivy)

Men’s Soccer – 5th Place (2-3-2)

Quentin Grigsby CC’13 (Second-Team All-Ivy), David Najem CC’14 (Second-Team All-Ivy), Antonio Matarazzo CC’16 (Honorable Mention All-Ivy), Henning Sauerbier CC’14 (Honorable Mention All-Ivy), Kyle Jackson CC’16 (Honorable Mention All-Ivy)

Women’s Soccer – 5th Place (2-4-1)

Isabel King CC’13 (First-Team All-Ivy), Beverley Leon CC’14 (Second-Team All-Ivy), Catherine Troup CC’15 (Honorable Mention All-Ivy), and Grace Redmon CC’15 (Honorable Mention All-Ivy)

Field Hockey – 3rd Place (4-3)

Katie DeSandis CC’15 (First-Team All-Ivy; Second-Team All-Mideast Region), Gabby Kozlowski CC’13 (First-Team All-Ivy; First-Team All-Mideast Region), Bridget DeSandis CC’13 (Second-Team All-Ivy), and Paige Simmons CC’13 (Second-Team All-Ivy)

*Ivy League honors will come out this week