Extreme fencing

While athletics at Columbia get a bad rap because of a certain sport-which-shall-not-be-named, many of our teams have been performing incredibly well lately, and they all deserve attention. Instead of spotlighting one team, Bwog’s new Sports Editor Max Rettig is shining light on many winter sports teams as they head into their home stretches. Teams like Women’s Swimming & Diving, Men’s Basketball, Fencing, Squash, and Wrestling have all enjoyed very decent seasons so far. So…

Men’s Basketball

Columbia’s ballers are knocking down the wins from all sides of the court this season. The team, recently led by great team defense against Cornell, are second in the Ivy League, 2.5 games behind Harvard with a critical Columbia-Harvard matchup on the horizon. The Lions look to stay hot (six consecutive wins) against Yale and Brown in the coming week, followed by a “southern” swing to Princeton and Penn, before what should be a huge contest against Harvard on Valentine’s Day. Go support the team! Take-out sushi before the game is a great Valentine’s Day dinner idea, right?

Fencing

Men’s fencing strengthened its no. 1 ranking in the NCAA Coaches Poll after winning 5 out of 5 contests at this past weekend’s NYU Invitational. The team won by comfortable margins against UNC and Notre Dame (2nd last year) before blowing out Ohio State, Wayne and St. John’s. And if there are any doubts about the level of competition the Lions faced, all but two teams are ranked in the top-10 on the same poll this year (the first poll of 2014). This is Columbia’s highest position on the poll since its inception in 2001. The men’s team is undefeated so far, with the NCAA Championships looming in the near future (February 7th). The women’s team is also performing admirably, with a no. 6 ranking in the Coaches Poll and a 4-1 performance this past weekend at NYU.

Women’s Swimming and Diving

CU’s female swimmers and divers are 5-0 in the Ivy League and on the season after out-doing Brown 185-113. The women compete against Princeton and Dartmouth before most likely heading back to Brown University to compete in the Ivy League Championship meet from February 20-22. Trudi Patrick set a Columbia program record in the win. Keep it up, girls.

Wrestling

The wrestling team is riding a 5-match win streak after the Lions pinned Bucknell 19-18 on Friday. The team is 6-3 as it enters Ivy League play; matches on the road at Cornell, Princeton, Penn precede home contests against Harvard and Brown. Root for the Lion wrestlers as they try to notch a spot in Philly for the EIWA Championships on March 8-9.

Squash

The Men’s squash team is enjoying a winning season, with a 5-3 (0-2 Ivy League) record so far. The team last outplayed Williams; they compete against Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton (at home) and at Penn to round out the season.

The women are 6-2 (1-2 Ivy League) on the season, enjoying 5 consecutive wins (are Columbia’s teams trying to establish a pattern or something?). Like the men’s team, the women close out their season with Ivy League games against Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Penn.

Go support the teams as they look to squash their remaining Ivy competitors (except for Penn; apparently they’re a state school).

See? Columbia does have really good teams! Take a few hours off from studying or having sex in the Butler stacks (or the Polar Vortex) to go support a team of your choice! It’s a very spirited thing to do, especially if you have friends on teams. Some fun might even be had.

Mixed Bag

Tennis began its season this past weekend, baseball is hitting the batting cages (in Dodge Fitness Center; take a look sometime, metal bats make a pretty sweet sound) to defend its Ivy championship from last season. And, in case you forgot, NYC is about to get really crowded. Super Bowl XLVIII is coming to the metro area on February 2nd. Here’s hoping those crazies stay downtown, or better yet, in New Jersey, where the game itself is being played (pretty close to Christie’s favorite bridge).

En garde via Shutterstock