A look back at the year in Bulldog sports: the '98-'99 varsity wrap up

FALL

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Traditionally one of Yale's strongest teams, the volleyball squad won 18 games in the 1998 regular season. The Elis fell to Princeton in the semifinals of the Ivy League tournament.

CROSS COUNTRY

Rob Doyle, DC '01, and Alex Zemek, DC '99, were among the bright spots in an unspectacular year. The men did not place anyone in the top 25 at the Heptagonal Championships or the NCAA District Qualifying meet.

Women: 1-1, 7th at ECACs, 7th at Heptagonals,
13th at NCAA District Qualifiers
'99 Captain: Molly Imber, SY '00, Lawrence, Kan.

The story of the year was Ariana Kelly, MC '99, who finished first in the ECAC Tournament meet and first at the NCAA District Qualifier. Kelly, a two-time All-Ivy runner, was the first Eli to win the District I individual championship since 1986.

FIELD HOCKEY

With two convincing wins over Harvard and Villanova, Yale won its first-ever ECAC championship. A damaging early-season loss to a weak Brown team and a defeat at the hands of perennial powerhouse Princeton left the Bulldogs 5-2 and in a second-place Ivy League tie with Harvard. The Bulldogs dominated the ECAC tournament and gave second-year coach Marisa Didio her 200th career collegiate coaching victory in the tournament's final. Captain Lindsay Hobbs, PC '99, was a First-Team All-Ivy selection, and Amanda Walton, SY '02, was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

FOOTBALL

Coming off a miserable 1997 campaign that saw the Elis go winless in the Ivies, Yale was a consensus choice to finish last in the league again. But the Bulldogs, under the guidance of second-year coach Jack Siedlecki, surprised everyone by winning six games and finishing tied for second. Running back Rashad Bartholomew, MC '01, who transferred from Air Force before the season, gained over 1,000 yards on the ground, while quarterback Joe Walland, TD '00, averaged 185.8 passing yards per game and threw for 12 touchdowns. Linebacker Pete Mazza, JE '01, led the stingy Bulldog defense in tackles with 91, and defensive end Peter Sarrantos, MC '00, had 10 sacks.

SOCCER

Following a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime loss to eventual league champion Dartmouth, the Bulldogs reeled off six consecutive wins by a combined point total of 21-6. Offensive stars Jac Gould, CC '00, Phil Harris, SM '00, and Hiro Suzuki, CC '00, were named First-Team All-Ivy. Gould, the league's leading scorer, was named Ivy League Player of the Year.

Women: 11-5, 4-3 Ivy, ECAC Champions
'99 Captain: Danica Liberman, TD '00, Thousand Oaks, Calif.

After opening the Ivy season with a victory, the Elis dropped three straight league games. But Yale battled back to take six of its final seven games, including three Ivy triumphs, to earn a spot in the ECAC tournament. After a 4-1 win over Stony Brook in the semifinal round, the Bulldogs took the championship 5-4 on penalty kicks after the game against Columbia was tied 0-0 in regulation. 1997 captain Jill Rubenstein, DC '98, returned after a knee injury which forced her to miss the entire 1997 campaign and led the Elis in overall scoring. 1998 captain Annie Kwon, CC '99, led Yale in goals and was second in overall scoring. Kwon was a First-Team All-Ivy selection.

VOLLEYBALL

Despite opening the season with six consecutive victories and going on an October run in which the Elis took seven of eight matches, Yale struggled in several tough league contests and finished the regular season in a fourth-place tie with Harvard. Shaking off the disappointing finish, the Elis made a strong run to the semifinals of the Ivy tournament, where they were edged by eventual runner-up Princeton. Captain Rosie Wustrack, BR '99, was named First Team All-Ivy for the third straight year, and narrowly missed her third straight Ivy League Player of the Year award.

WINTER

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Wide receiver and 1999 captain Jake Fuller, BR '00, fights for extra yards in an early-season contest. The Bulldogs rebounded from one of the worst seasons in Yale football history to post and impressive 5-2 Ivy League record.

BASKETBALL

In what turned out to be coach Dick Kuchen's final season, the squad dropped from third to eighth in the Ivy standings. Kuchen will be replaced next season by James Jones, who most recently served as an assistant at Ohio University and who was a Bulldog assistant from 1995-1997. The season was not without positives, however. A stunning, double-overtime, 60-58 victory over perennial league and national power Princeton caused fans to storm the floor of the John J. Lee Ampitheater. David Tompkins, SY '99, led the team in scoring and rebounding, narrowly missing a double-double average.

Women: 10-16, 6-8 Ivy
'99-'00 Captain: Kelly Denit, DC '00, Burtonsville, Mary.

After a blazing 4-0 start, the team faltered, dropping 10 straight. The Elis rebounded, however, and looked impressive in league wins over Cornell and Columbia in February, before dropping a 54-53 heartbreaker to Harvard in the campaign's final game. Following the season, Coach Cecelia DeMarco resigned and was replaced by Amy Backus, a Northwestern assistant. Katy Grubbs, SM '99, averaged 10.0 points and 5.6 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs.

FENCING

The team again finished among the nation's best, placing 8th at the NCAA tournament. At the Northeast regionals, Peter Devine, MC '99, who competed in the 1996 Olympic games, took third in the foil, and Mitsu Sudo, JE '01, took 6th in the sabre. The squad also defeated Harvard in its final tri-meet. Non-conference victories over St. John's, Vassar, Rutgers, and NYU highlighted the early season.

Women: 9-1, 4-1 Ivy, Ivy League champions, 4th at NCAA tournament
'99-'00 Captain: Hannah Appel, SM '00, San Francisco, Calif.

Four fencers--captain Katie Zuckerman, JE '99, and Hannah Appel, SM '00, in the foil; Nush Powell, JE '99, and Whitney Anderson, TC '00, in the epée--qualified for the NCAA tournament. Zuckerman finished 9th to lead Yale to a 4th-place finish among women's teams. The squad also captured its 4th straight Ivy League title. Zuckerman, Appel, and two other fencers also finished in the top 10 at the Northeast Regionals.

GYMNASTICS

Betty Ky, TC '00, and Katie Kleiner, DC '01, qualified for NCAA northeast regionals, where Ky placed 11th and Kleiner 20th. Season highlights included two wins over MIT and a third-place finish at the Ivy Classic, a meet in which Kleiner placed second in the floor exercise and Ky placed fourth in the vault.

HOCKEY

Coming off their first-ever ECAC championship and their first trip to the NCAA tournament in 47 years, this year's Eli squad faced high expectations. Early-season struggles prevented the Bulldogs from making a run at defending their ECAC crown, but a tremendous second-half surge propelled the Blue and White to their second straight Ivy title and fifth place in the conference. Yale hosted Colgate in a first-round playoff series, but was swept by the Red Raiders. The team concluded the regular season with wins over Dartmouth, Vermont, and Union before its elimination. Center Jeff Hamilton, SM '00, was named First Team All-ECAC and was one of 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Award, given annually to college hockey's most outstanding player.

Women: 5-21-3, 0-21-3 ECAC
'99-'00 Captain: Julianna Schantz-Dunn, CC '00, Amenia, NY

After losing goalie and three-time ECAC Player of the Year Laurie Belliveau, TD '98, to graduation, the young Eli squad suffered several close losses, dropping five ECAC games by two goals or less. Highlights included road wins at Wesleyan and Colby and 8-0 victories over Williams and Bowdoin. Lisa Meyers, SY '01, recorded 33 points to lead the team and Catherine McAdams, SM '01, tallied 13 assists.

SQUASH

Captain Nikhil Bhandare, TD '99, led a men's team that was once again among the nation's best. In only two victories over the course of the season did the squad drop more than two of nine matches. Yale was defeated 9-0 by Harvard in its final Ivy League matchup of the year, bumping the Elis to second in the Ancient Eight for the season. Harvard knocked the Bulldogs out of the ISA championships in the semifinals with an 8-1 triumph.

Women: 8-6, 2-4 Ivy, 7th at Howe Cup
'99-'00 Captain: TBA

Despite early-season wins over Williams, Amherst, and Brown, the Elis dropped a series of tough league matches to Harvard, Princeton, and Pennsylvania. Captain Carla Shen, TC '99, was one of the squad's most consistent performers. Shen won two matches at the season-ending WISA individual tournament.

SWIMMING AND DIVING

The swimmers moved into the league's upper echelon, finishing behind only Princeton and Harvard at the Ivy championships and improving on their 1998 fifth-place finish. George Gleason, TC '01, broke Yale records in the 200 freestyle and the 200 backstroke and Stephen Fahy, SM '00, set new school marks in the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly.

Women: 5-4, 4-3 Ivy, 4th Ivy League
'99-'00 Captain: Lindsay Wolter, BK '00

The team finished the season with a bang, winning three Ivy titles on the league championship meet's final day. Lindsay Wolter, BK '00, won the 200 backstroke with a time which qualified her for the NCAA meet. Meredith Bryarly, BR '01, took the title in the 100 freestyle, an event in which Yale had 5 of the top 10 finishers. The 400 relay, led by captain Katie Ivers, BK '99, broke the Ivy record and the Princeton pool record on their way to the title.

SPRING

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Jeff Brow (foreground), SM '00, and Jeff Hamilton, SM '00, anchored the Elis' top scoring line this season.

BASEBALL

In their Ivy opener on Fri, Apr. 2, the Bulldogs clinched two close victories, 6-5 and 9-8, against Cornell. Centerfielder Ben Johnstone, BR '00, had four RBI against the Big Red, and Tony Coyne, BK '00, added two RBI and scored two runs to earn Ivy League Player of the Week honors. Despite this auspicious start, the Elis dropped two games to Princeton the following day, and they never won more than one game against any Ivy opponent for the remainder of the year.

CREW

In the fall, the varsity boat finished fourth out of 45 crews at the Head of the Charles and secured the first place title at the Stonehurst Invitational for the sixth consecutive year. At Eastern Sprints in the spring, the Elis snagged first place in the Petite Finals, securing a seventh place overall finish.

Men's lightweight: 6-2, 3-2 Ivy
'99-'00 captain: Thaddeus Pollock, ES '00, New London, Conn.

Although the Bulldogs put in a mediocre showing against Ivy League opponents, they performed well in several major races. At the Head of the Charles, they came in fifth overall, and they captured first place at the Head of the Housatonic, where Ty Johnson, BR '00, also placed first in the collegiate singles race. The Elis fared less well at Eastern Sprints, where they were seated third but finished a disappointing fifth out of 14 boats.

Women: 2-8, 1-5 Ivy
'99-'00 captain: TBA

Connie Wright, TC '99, gave one of the few memorable performances of a dreary season when she shattered a world record in the collegiate lightweight division of the 1999 Crash-B sprints. The women rowers will look to work their way up from the bottom of the Ivy totem next year behind a talented Class of 2002, which earned a bronze medal in the novice division of the Eastern Sprints.

GOLF

The men's golf team had another excellent year, finishing a close second to Columbia in Ivy League competition. Chris Eckerle, BR '02, won the individual Ivy League championship as a freshman, scoring a 217 and recording birdies on the last two holes to pull away. Eddie Brockner, MC '01, who placed fourth with a 220 and Nate Bohn, SY '99, who placed seventh with a 221 joined Eckerle on the All-Ivy team. Peter Schumacher, CC '00, an all-Ivy selection the past two years, rounded out Yale's top four with a 224 (75-72-77).

Women: 2nd in Ivy League
'99-'00 Captain: TBA

Led by freshman phenom Sara Seo, TD '02, the team matched their male counterparts by finishing second in the Ivies. Seo finished second individually in the Ivies and also placed 16th at the Penn State Invitational and sixth at the ECAC tournament. The squad also placed second at the Northeast Championships behind Chawwadee Rompothong's, TC '00, third-place finish, and notched an 8th-place finish at Penn State. Captain Kate Fisher, PC '99, also had a strong season.

LACROSSE

'00 Captain: Don Gerne, BR '00, New Canaan, Conn.

The Bulldogs startled the lacrosse world on Sat., Apr. 17 when they upset No. 17 Towson State, 17-11, on the strength of three goals and three assists by Chris McIntyre, SY '00, and 20 saves by goalie Joe Pilch, SM '99. Pilch was voted Ivy League MVP in the post-season coaches' poll.

Women: 14-4, 5-2 Ivy, lost in ECAC championship
'00 Captain: TBA

The Elis extinguished national powerhouses Harvard and Duke en route to earning a No. 11 national ranking. Although the Bulldogs narrowly missed a berth in the NCAA tournament, they did qualify for ECACs, where they lost to Syracuse in the finals. Captain Alison Cole, ES '99, and Heather Bentley, SY '00, both received all-America honors, and attacker Amanda Walton, SY '00, was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year, becoming one of four players in Ivy history to receive the honor in two sports.

SOFTBALL

In the middle of the season, the Elis went on a four-game rampage in which they outscored their opponents, 21-5. Captain Kristen Gengaro, SY '00, shone in the doubleheader against Fordham, when she became the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter since Jen Surface, DC '96, did so in 1994. Khelia Johnson, PC '00, also gave an outstanding individual performance when she belted three home runs in a victory over Providence.

TENNIS

Led by top player Jonathan Beardsley, DC '99, the Elis finished the spring strong. Following a thrilling 4-3 defeat of Princeton behind Gabe Goldstein's, DC '02, clutch victory, the men turned around the next day and knocked off Penn 5-2. The following week, the squad defeated Cornell 4-3 in another close match. Beardsley received his second straight invitation to the NCAA championships after compiling a 15-3 overall record. This season's number two player, Greg Royce, SY '01, will try to fill Beardsley's shoes next year.

Women: 12-5, 4-3 EITA
'99-'00 Captain: TBA

The season was highlighted by several victories over quality opponents and outstanding individual performances. Number one player Somer Khanlarian, SY '99, defeated the nation's 35th-ranked player in leading Yale to a 6-2 victory over rival Brown. Late-season losses to Princeton and Penn put a damper on the team's Ivy League championship hopes, but the following weekend the team defeated Cornell and Columbia without losing a match. The season ended in the ECAC playoffs with a loss to powerhouse Virginia Tech.

TRACK

Although '98-'99 saw the men finish near the bottom of Ivies, the season witnessed a number of outstanding individual performances. At indoor New Englands, Adam Petrillo, CC '02, placed second in the pole vault, and at outdoor Heptagonals, Michael Borden, JE '99, raced to third place in the 200-yard dash, while Jason Rife, SM '01, placed third in 400 dash.

Women: 0-3 Ivy, 8th at Heptagonals, 5th at New England championships
'00 Captain Diane Potkay, PC '00, Derby, Conn.

Several Bulldogs managed to sparkle despite the team's overall lackluster performance. Diane Potkay, PC '00, threw consistently all year, placing seond in the hammer and fourth in the discus at outdoor Heptagonals. At outdoor New Englands, the 4x800 relay team snatched first, while Yetsa Tuakli-Wosomu, TD '01, who set a school record earlier in the season, placed third in the triple jump.

Compiled by Andrew Krause, Aaron Lichtig, and Kate Moran.

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