November/December 2010
Around the Quads
Roar, Lion, Roar
SATOW STADIUM: Columbia’s baseball facility at the Baker Athletics Complex has been renamed in recognition of the generosity of former Columbia College Alumni Association president Phillip M. Satow ’63. Satow played second base for the Lions and was a member of the 1963 team that tied Dartmouth and Navy for the Eastern/Ivy League championship.
The $1.5 million family gift, which was announced by University Trustees Chair Bill Campbell ’62 at Homecoming on October 23, will fund major improvements that will make the baseball facility among the best in the Ivy League. The project includes new seats behind home plate and the expansion of seating down the first base line, construction of a new home dugout, installation of a new multimedia scoreboard and a new press box.
Satow and his family have made numerous gifts to Columbia, including the Satow Family Scholarship Fund and the widely used Jed D. Satow Room on the fifth floor of Alfred Lerner Hall. As for his most recent gift, Satow said, “It was a natural fit. I love Columbia. I have always been a supporter of Columbia athletics. And I love baseball; it is one of the loves of my life.”
Satow is a classmate of Robert K. Kraft ’63, whose $5 million gift in 2007 resulted in the renaming of the football playing field as the Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium. The baseball field’s proximity to Kraft Field and a planned facility named after Campbell will cement a bond among the three alumni. “I have great respect and special affection for Bill Campbell and Robert Kraft,” said Satow.
FOOTBALL: Sean Brackett ’13 tied a school record by throwing five touchdown passes as Columbia opened its Ivy schedule in fine fashion, trouncing Princeton 42–14 on October 2. Brackett completed 18 of 24 pass attempts for 273 yards and helped Columbia amass 528 yards in total offense, just 20 shy of the school record. Brackett’s five TD passes tied the Columbia record shared by Paul Governali ’43 and John Witkowski ’84.
Columbia’s 42 points were the most scored against Princeton in school history, and this marked the first time Columbia has beaten Princeton in consecutive years. Columbia won 38–0 at Princeton a year ago.
VOLLEYBALL: Columbia’s volleyball team beat Manhattan 3–0 (25–12, 25–19, 25–17) on September 29 for its ninth straight victory, the longest winning streak in school history. The Lions were led against the Jaspers by Madeline Rumer ’14, who had 12 kills, and Megan Gaughn ’13, who had 11. Colleen Brennan ’14 had 26 assists and Katherine Keller ’14 had 24 digs.
The streak came to an end on October 2 when the Lions narrowly lost at Cornell 3–2, coming back from two sets down before dropping the deciding fifth set 15–13.
OLYMPIAN: Cross country and track and field alumna Lisa Stublic ’06 qualified for the 2012 Olympics by running the Berlin marathon in 2:33.42 on September 26. She finished ninth in the race but her time beat the Olympic ‘A’ standard by more than three seconds.
Stublic will represent Croatia in the London Olympics and become the country’s first female Olympic marathon runner. She moved to Croatia three years ago; her father is a native, while her mother is American.
“When I saw the result, I thought that I was dreaming,” Stublic told the Croatian Times. “This was the first marathon of my life and regardless of the fact that we prepared well, I did not expect such a good result. I wanted to come to my father’s homeland, and when I saw the methods of training of my current coach, Slavko Petrovic, I was so excited that I stayed. And I am not sorry.”
Stublic, a cross-country All-American at Columbia, was a member of the team that dominated Ivy League women’s cross country, winning championships each of the four years she competed. A two-time All-Ivy runner, Stublic qualified for the NCAA finals in cross country each of her four years and also for the NCAA finals in the 3,000-meter steeplechase her senior year.