July/August 2008
Around the Quads
Roar Lion Roar
MEN’S GOLF: Columbia’s men’s golf team rode top-10 finishes by Clark Granum ’11, Cashel Rosier ’10 and Austin Quinten ’11 to defeat Yale by nine strokes and capture the 2008 Ivy League championship on April 20 at Absecon, N.J. It was Columbia’s first Ivy men’s golf title since 1999 and only the second in the program’s history.
Granum powered Columbia with a final round low score of 72 on his way to shooting nine-over-par 222 for the tournament. Rosier tied for fourth individually and Quinten tied for sixth and joined Granum in winning All-Ivy honors. Columbia was the only school to have all five of its golfers finish in the top half of the 40-man field as Justin Lee ’11 finished 14th and Gus Quartararo ’08 tied for 20th.
“It was a great event for all involved, and I’m really proud of my kids,” said Lions coach Richard Mueller. “The win, I believe, meant more to me as a coach because the kids really bought into the game plan for the weekend. A year ago we came into the final round with the lead and succumbed to the pressure. This year our goal was to hopefully play the first round well enough so that we could be in the mix in the final 18.”
The Lions, who rallied from two strokes back on the last day, shot a final round low score of 304 on their way to a 900 for the tournament.
Columbia’s women’s golf team, meanwhile, finished second in the Ivies, 10 strokes behind Harvard and one shot ahead of Princeton, after posting the lowest score (304) in the final day of competition. Three Lions earned All-Ivy honors: Stevy Loy ’10 (fourth), Jenn Adyorough ’11 (fifth) and Nancy Shon ’09 Barnard (seventh).
HONORED: John Baumann ’08 and Emily Jacobson ’08 won the Connie S. Maniatty [’43] Outstanding Senior Student-Athlete Awards at the 87th Varsity ‘C’ Celebration on May 6 in LeFrak Gymnasium. The event, which honors Columbia’s 800 student-athletes, also featured the presentation of the Athletics Alumni Award to Donna Herlinsky MacPhee ’89 (tennis) and the watch award presentations for the senior student-athletes earning the highest cumulative grade-point averages and at least two varsity letters. Jane “Tally” Pucher ’08 (rowing) earned the Marion R. Philips Watch, and Drew Ford ’08 (soccer) earned the Dwight D. Eisenhower watch.
Baumann has earned first team All-Ivy League twice in basketball and second-team all-league in baseball. Jacobson was a four-time first-team All-American fencer who won the 2005 NCAA title in saber and finished with a career record of 131–16 [see Student Spotlight, September/October 2007].
ARCHERY: Columbia won the women’s Recurve team title at the U.S. Intercollegiate Archery Championship on May 17 and five Lions earned All-American honors, led by Margot Stuchin ’11. All-Americans are determined by adding the individual round scores at the Indoor Nationals in March and the USIAC outdoor competition, with the top 10 receiving the honor. Stuchin edged Annette Gorelik of Claremont Mudd Scripps for the top spot by shooting 1,114 at the Indoor Nationals and 1,151 at USIAC for a total of 2,265 to Gorelik’s 1,070 indoors, 1,153 outdoors and 2,223 total.
Other Columbia All-Americans were Sara Mancini ’09, who finished third; Robin Liang ’08 (fifth); Sara Goshorn ’10 (sixth); and Alexandra Garyn ’11 Barnard (10th). The All-American honor was the third for Liang, who made it as a sophomore and junior, and Mancini, who made it as a first-year and sophomore.
ROBERTSON FIELD: On April 26, Columbia’s baseball field was renamed Hal Robertson Field at the Baker Field Athletics Complex in recognition of the support of Hal Robertson ’81E, an industrial engineer and banker. Since 1970, the field had been named for former coach Andy Coakley, whose legacy to the baseball program was honored with a plaque unveiled the same day.
Robertson played varsity football and baseball at Columbia and was co-captain of the baseball team as a senior. “I thought about how much the University has meant to me over the last 30 years and thought it was the right thing to do,” said Robertson. “Columbia gave me my start to my professional career and this was an opportunity to give back.” Thanks to Robertson’s $1 million commitment, the baseball team was able to install a state-of-the-art artificial surface called FieldTurf that is a hybrid fiber, rubber and sand infill blend, designed to have a more consistent feel. “Hal has taken the facilities for Columbia baseball to the top of the Ivy League,” noted head coach Brett Boretti.
CREW: Columbia’s heavyweight eight will conclude its successful season with a trip to the Henley Royal Regatta on the Thames River in England July 2–6. The Lions made it to the Grand Final of the IRA National Championships and the Eastern Sprints, finishing sixth in both competitions after winning five cups during a season in which Columbia compiled a 10–1 record. Only a final-seconds loss to Princeton in the Childs Cup held Columbia from an undefeated dual-meet season.
“Taking a crew to Henley is the ultimate reward,” said head coach Mike Zimmer. “The team has worked extremely hard and has accomplished milestones unseen in Columbia rowing for a half-century. Henley is the perfect cap to the season.”
The Henley Regatta was first staged in 1839, and Columbia was the first American crew to win a race at Henley, in 1878. This will be the Lions’ fifth appearance at Henley in the last 25 years, but the first by a heavyweight eight. Columbia was represented by a heavyweight four in 1985, lightweight eights in 1998 and 2000 and a lightweight four in 2003.
TENNIS: Men’s tennis tied for second in the Ivies with a 5–2 league record, two games behind unbeaten Harvard, to whom they lost by a 4–3 count. The Lions, who shared the title a year ago, were 10–6 overall.
Jonathan Wong ’10 made All-Ivy First Team in singles, and Mark Clemente ’08 and Bogdan Borta ’09 made Second Team.
HORMANN: Craig Hormann ’08E, the second-leading passer in completions and yards in Columbia history, has signed with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns and will try to make the team as an undrafted free agent. Hormann becomes the seventh Lion in the 21st century to play for or sign with an NFL team, along with Marcellus Wiley ’97, Johnathan Reese ’02, Steve Cargile ’04, Wade Fletcher ’05, Jeff Otis ’05 and Michael Quarshie ’05. Wiley, a Pro Bowl defensive end who played for Buffalo, San Diego, Dallas and Jacksonville, retired last year and is now an ESPN broadcaster.