Go get em!

Winter sports are starting off with a bang. Sports maven Max Rettig brings you the highlights.

This past Saturday, the men’s swimming and diving team tweeted a congratulatory message to the women’s swimming and diving team. This was not just any ordinary show of camaraderie between teams: Columbia’s women’s swimming and diving team showed up Harvard for the first time in program history.

Uris Pool saw the Lions defeat Harvard 163.5-136.5 in their 2013-14 season opener (don’t worry, I don’t understand swimming/diving scoring either). The team’s younger members teamed up to win the first event, the 200 medley. Gabrielle Toback, Jennifer Shahar, and Trudi Patrick, all freshmen, and Christina Ray, a sophomore, came in first with a time of 1:42.15. Shahar continued to impress, winning the 100 Breast in 1:02.54; two other Columbia swimmers placed 2nd and 3rd behind her to sweep the event. Celia Frick, who finished second in the aforementioned 100 Breast race, took her own 1st place finish in the 200 Breast in 2:17.30. Several other Columbia women had notable performances in the Butterfly and Freestyle races.

Despite the loss, Harvard set 5 Uris Pool records in the 100 Backstroke, 200 Backstroke (records were both set by Alena Kluge last year), 1650 Freestyle (beating a 31-year-old record), 200 Freestyle, and 400 Freestyle.

CU junior Alyssa Menz took 2nd in the 3-meter and 1-meter dives.

Senior captain Kluge clinched the win for Columbia with her first place finish in the 200 IM. The Lions are 1-0 (1-0 Ivy) going into their Friday competition against Yale.

Also: Men’s basketball started the season with a win over Univ. of Maryland-Eastern Shore (Bwog didn’t know they existed either). The final score was 73-54. They shot 63% in the second half, hitting a sweet 7 of 12 from 3-point territory. Columbia bball now has a smooth 81-32 in home openers and 76-37 in all-time tip-off games. The team plays Manhattan on Tuesday; the tip-off is scheduled for 7 pm.

Coming up: Our all-star men’s XC is nationally ranked at no. 8, and the team is competing in the NCAA Northeast Regionals on Friday, along with the fantastic women’s team. Come cheer our runners to victory whilst enjoying a free bagel, hot chocolate or coffee! The festivities start at 10 am. Fan buses leave from 116th and Amsterdam at 10:30 and 10:50, or you can take the subway to 242nd. On your marks…get set…go!

The rest of this week’s results:

Women’s soccer lost 2-1 to Harvard.

Men’s soccer lost 2-0 to Harvard.

Volleyball dropped its final contest at Brown, losing in straight sets. The team lost at Yale as well.

Women’s basketball beat LIU Brooklyn 62-59, but lost to San Francisco 69-83.

Six wrestlers placed in the MSU Open.

Men’s and Women’s tennis competed in the USTA/ITA Indoor Championships. Narayana and Schnur won the doubles championship. Congrats!

Field hockey lost to Harvard in OT, 2-1.

Pro Scores:

The Giants defeated Oakland 24-20. They are 3-6 on the season, 1.5 back in the NFC East. They play the Packers at home next week.

The Jets were off this week.

The Rangers beat Florida 4-3.

The Knicks got blown out by San Antonio, 120-89.

Baseball’s Rookie of the Year Awards will be announced tonight. No Mets or Yankees are being considered.

Sources: gocolumbialions.com, nhl.com,nba.com, mlb.com

Not quite Uris Pool via Shutterstock