WINTER '99-'00 varsity wrap up

BASKETBALL

Men's Coach: James Jones

Men's Captain: Neil Yanke MC '01

Under new coach Jones and assistant coaches Curtis Wilson and Rob Senderoff, men's basketball compiled a 7-20 (5-9 Ivy) record, improving on the team's 4-22 1998 mark. Despite hopes for a Big Dance appearance after beginning the Ivy season 3-0 (4-2 Ivy), including a win over perennial league powerhouse Princeton, the Bulldogs cooled off and finished with a six-game losing streak. Expectations for next season are high, with Yale's starting backcourt, Onaje Woodbine, BK '02, a Second Team All-Ivy choice, and guard Chris Leanza, SY '03, returning.

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Jeff Brow (foreground), SM '00, anchored the Elis' front line after captain and leading scorer Jeff Hamilton, SM '00, decided to redshirt due to an injury.

Women's Coach: Amy Backus

Women's Captain: Alyson Miller, JE '01

The Bulldogs' first season under coach Backus was a turnaround within a turnaround. Yale started the '99-'00 season 2-11 but came out strong in Ivy play, winning nine of its final 14 games to finish 11-16 (7-7 Ivy). Despite having only one senior, Kelly Denit, DC '00—who was also the only returning starter—the Bulldogs surpassed last season's Ivy win total and set two school records. The Bulldogs were powered by Maria Smear, SM '03, and Helene Schutrumpf, BK '03, throughout much of the year.

FENCING

Coach: Henry Harutunian

Men's Captain: Mitsuhiro Sudo, JE '01

Women's Captain: Helen Liu, MC '02

Four male fencers—Ayo Griffin, SM '00, in the foil, Cameron Hill, TD '02, and Marcus Weickel, SY '03, in the epée, and Sudo in the sabre—qualified for the NCAA tournament. Griffin finished third, Hill and Sudo 14th, and Weickel 20th. Four fencers placed on All-Ivy First and Second teams.

The women's team finished seventh in the NCAA tournament, with five fencers qualifying—Hanna Appel, SM '00, and Sarah Weeks, TC '00, in the foil, Whitey Anderson, TC '00, in the epée, and Liu and Sophie Jones, DC '03, in the sabre. Liu finished eighth, Anderson 13th, and Appel 14th to lead the team. Appel, Anderson, Liu, and Jones all qualified for All-Ivy First and Second teams.

GYMNASTICS

Coach: Barbara Tonry

Captain: Lisa Crowley, ES '01

The Bulldogs set a Yale record for points, totalling 190.450 in a meet against Bridgeport and MIT, but were disappointed with a close second-place finish to Penn in the Ivy League Championships. Andrea Wolf, JE '03, who finished third overall at ECACs, qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships, where she again placed third and was the highest Ivy finisher. In addition to Wolf, the Bulldogs return Shoshanna Engel, DC '03, who just missed qualifying for the regionals.

HOCKEY

Men's Coach: Tim Taylor

Men's Captain: Ben Stafford, BR '01

After an exciting start, the team played poorly towards the end of the season, leading to a No. 9 league finish. After losing leading scorer Jeff Hamilton, SM '00, to an early season-ending injury and four others to a suspension at the start of the season, Taylor's team floundered. The team is graduating 10 seniors but will welcome back Hamilton, who decided to redshirt because of his injury. Along with Stafford, an All-Ivy foward in '99-'00 and Yale's leader in points and assists, Hamilton will help to galvanize the offense.

Women's Coach: John Marchetti

Women's Captain: Lisa Meyers, SY '01

Despite playing like a top team at the end of the season, women's hockey finished a dismal No. 12 in the ECAC. The team will lose three seniors but expects the incoming freshmen to make a difference from the start. Marchetti says that the new crop of freshmen is collectively the most competitive group ever.

SQUASH

Men's Coach: David Talbott

Men's Captain: Josh Barenbaum, CC '01

The Elis began their season 2-0 with wins over Penn and Franklin & Marshall, and continued their winning ways throughout the season, posting a 13-2 record and a No. 4 national ranking in the middle of the season. Players were disappointed over 9-0 shutout losses to Princeton, the nation's No. 2 team, and to top-ranked Trinity.

Women's Coach: Mark Talbott

Women's Captain: Catherine Fiederowicz, DC '01

Women's squash placed fifth among 28 teams at the Yale-hosted Howe Cup competition. The team lost to Trinity, then defeated Brown and Dartmouth to secure a fifth-place finish. Earlier in the season, the team almost squeaked out a win against defending national champion Princeton, losing 5-4. The Bulldogs were buoyed by the addition of Australian transfer Laura Keating, ES '02, a quarterfinalist at the 1997 World Junior Championships. Keating defeated Trinity's Janine Thompson '01, the No. 2 player in the nation, on Tues., Jan. 25.

SWIMMING AND DIVING

Coach: Frank Keefe

Men's Captain: George Gleason, TC '01

Women's Captain: Laura Schned, BK '01

The men finished third at the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League Championships behind Princeton and Harvard and placed second at the ECAC Championship. Keefe will lose Olympian Steven Fahy, MC '00, but will rely on his younger swimmers to keep up the momentum. The team returns fellow Olympian Gleason, who currently holds three Yale swimming records.

The women's team finished fourth in the Ivy League and compiled a 7-5 record. Lindsey Wolter, BK '00, the defending 200-backstroke champ, is graduating, but Keefe is looking to Emily Grant, DC '02—who made it to this year's Olympic trials—and team top scorer Susan Cooke, BK '03, to improve the team's record.

A look back at the year in Bulldog sports: the '99-'00 varsity wrap up

• Fall '99 varsity wrap up
• Winter '99-'00 varsity wrap up
• Spring '00 varsity wrap up

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