Sports Shorts

CHAMPIONS: Lightweight crew won its first national title on June 5 when it upset previously undefeated Yale at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J. It was the first title for any Columbia varsity eight crew since 1929. Columbia’s varsity eight then traveled to England for the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta, where the Lions defeated the University of London “B” and Bath University before bowing to Oxford Brookes University “A” in the quarterfinals of the Temple Challenge Cup. The crew was honored by USRowing as the IRA Lightweight Crew of the Year and head coach Nich Lee Parker was named IRA Lightweight Coach of the Year.

HOOPLA: The Ivy League has added four-team postseason men’s and women’s basketball tournaments for the 2016–17 season, with the winners earning the league’s automatic bids to the NCAA Championships. The tournaments will be played March 11–12 at the Palestra in Philadelphia. The teams that finish with the best records from the 14-game, regular-season conference schedule will continue to be recognized as Ivy League champions.

MOVING ON: Former Lions stars Maodo Lo ’16 and Alex Rosenberg ’16 have signed professional contracts to continue their basketball careers overseas. Lo, who was born in Berlin, signed to play for Brose Bamberg Baskets of the German Basketball Bundesliga, and Rosenberg signed to play for Maccabi Kiryat Gat of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. Meanwhile, Grant Mullins ’16, who missed most of two seasons due to injury but could not continue to compete at Columbia due to Ivy League rules, has transferred to UC Berkeley to complete his college career. The trio helped the Lions to 25 victories in 2015–16 and the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament championship.