ezra

VOL. 1 NO. 4, SUMMER 2009

• Home
• Table of Contents
• Cover Story
• Centerspread
• Multimedia
• Archive
• About

• PDF Version
• Flash Version

BIG RED ATHLETICS

Winter 2009 season was best ever for Cornell athletics

by Jeremy Hartigan

April brought showers and tax forms, but it also signaled the end of yet another ultra-successful winter season for Cornell athletics.

The Big Red's winter teams compiled a 172-91-9 record (.649), winning four Ivy League titles in the process. The teams' winning percentage is the greatest in the history of Cornell winter athletics. Men's basketball, women's fencing, men's ice hockey, women's track and field and wrestling all competed at the NCAA championships, while gymnastics (USAG national champions) and both men's and women's polo teams earned top spots in national competitions.

Individual Big Red athletes also were locally, regionally and nationally recognized for their talents on the field and in the classroom. In all, 26 student athletes captured All-Ivy honors, with 14 taking home All-America honors. Two were honored as Ivy League Player of the Year and three others captured Ivy League Rookie of the Year accolades. Additionally, 10 student athletes were named to the Academic All-Ivy team.

Perhaps the most visible national successes came from the NCAA appearances made by the men's basketball, men's ice hockey and wrestling teams, as well as the incredible individual success of senior Jeomi Maduka in track and field and junior wrestler Troy Nickerson.

The Big Red hit the dance floor for the second straight year to compete in the NCAA men's basketball tournament, the most-anticipated college sporting event in the country, becoming the first Ivy League team other than Penn or Princeton to capture the conference's automatic bid in consecutive seasons. The team finished three games ahead of its closest competitor while winning 21 games, one shy of the school record. The team led the University of Missouri midway through the first half before being overpowered, 78-59, by the Tigers, who advanced to the Elite Eight.

Cornell had its own NCAA quarterfinalist with the men's ice hockey team. The Big Red was selected to receive an at-large bid to the 2009 NCAA championship, and after topping Northeastern in the first round with a furious comeback in a 3-2 win, Cornell fell to Cinderella squad Bemidji State with a spot to the Frozen Four on the line. Despite the loss, head coach Mike Schafer '86 directed his squad to a 22-10-4 mark, a spot in the ECAC championship game and a second-place regular season finish in ECAC hockey.

The Cornell wrestling team made its march toward a national championship by qualifying seven individuals for the NCAA championships while claiming its second straight Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association team title and its seventh consecutive Ancient Eight crown. Topping the season off was the national title by Nickerson in the 125-pound weight class. In all, four Big Red grapplers took home All-America honors, including third-place finisher Jordan Leen at 157 pounds.

Maduka earned the Most Outstanding Performer award for the second year in a row at the Indoor Heptagonal Championship and for the fifth time in her career overall. Her final indoor Heps was particularly special as she set meet records in the 60-meter dash and triple jump and also won the long jump and 200. Her triple jump set an Ivy League record. In the 62-year history of the Indoor Heptagonal Championship, no one -- male or female -- had won four individual events until Maduka accomplished the feat in February. Maduka also tied the record for career indoor individual Heps titles, with 10. Her efforts helped the Big Red to a Heps crown for the 14th time in the last 15 championship meets. She then placed in the top six nationally in both the long and triple jumps at the NCAA meet, including a runner-up finish in her specialty event, the long jump.

While the women's team continued its dominance, the men's track and field team extended its streak of Heps trophies to 11 of the last 13 meets. The men used a balanced approach to fall just shy of a record for largest margin of victory in the Heps, topping Princeton 176.5-121.5 on the final leader board.

The gymnastics team became the first non-scholarship school to take home the USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Championship after qualifying for finals then upsetting the field in the round of four to claim the trophy. Stacey Ohara '09 captured the USAG individual balance beam title in the meet that included some of the top teams in the country.

The women's polo team finished as the national runner-up after posting an undefeated regular season (22-0), falling in the final championship game to the University of Virginia. The men also had a tremendous season, finishing the year 16-5 and advancing to the national semifinals. Both teams won Eastern Regional Championships en route to their appearances at the national championship tournament.

Cornell also had fantastic results from a number of other varsity teams in the winter, including top 10 national finishes for both the men's and women's squash teams, a top 20 NCAA finish for fencing and a third-place Ivy League effort by men's swimming and diving. The swimming team set 15 school records in the championship meet to finish behind only conference powers Princeton and Harvard.

With the spring season off to a flying start, including a conference title in men's lacrosse and an Ivy title for softball, Big Red athletics is on pace for another record-setting year.

Back to top