Kicking ass on freshly sodded grass

As Yale celebrated its 300th birthday and anticipated continued academic success as one of the most pres tigious universities in the United States, the athletic teams began their seasons, setting their sights on Ivy titles. During the 2000-01 season, Yale athletics met many of these goals, and despite a few disappointing moments, several teams achieved national recognition, competed for coveted NCAA championships, and achieved more milestones in the University's history.

The fall sports season began when alumni young and old gathered at the Yale Bowl to watch the Bulldogs earn their 800th football victory over the Dayton Flyers (42-6), another milestone for the winningest team in college football. Yale also won the all-important Yale-Harvard game in Cambridge, its third consecutive victory in The Game, and finished the season third in the Ivy League with a 7-3 record overall. Captain Peter Mazza, JE '01, was honored as the Connecticut Player of the Year at the Walter Camp awards, the first Yale player to receive this honor in 20 years. He was further recognized for his impact on Yale when he was selected as one of four panelists to participate in a forum with former President George Bush, DC '48, during the Tercentennial celebration in April. The same weekend, Than Merrill, JE '01, and Eric Johnson, JE '01 were taken in the NFL draft as, respectively, the 223rd and 224th picks overall, becoming the first Yale players drafted since 1981. Rashad Bartholomew, MC '01, also signed with the Tennessee Titans shortly after the draft.

As winter approached, Yale's athletic teams moved inside but continued their winning ways. Both men's and women's fencing rounded off a successful winter season with ninth-place overall finishes at the NCAA championships. The women's team won the sabre national championship behind a first-place finish by Sada Jacobsen, MC '04. For the men, Daniel Senft, PC '03, finished eighth in the foil and both Jacobsen and Peter Cellini, DC '04, were named first team All-Ivy in their respective weapon categories.

The men's hockey team began its season with victories over top teams, including No. 7- ranked New Hampshire and second-place Boston College. Despite losing during the first round of the ECAC tournament, the team finished 14-16-1 overall, and senior Jeff Hamilton, SM '01, ended his Yale career 2nd in the ECAC for total points while setting the Yale record for all-time career points.

Following the spring vacation, women's lacrosse landed at the top position of the NCAA polls after starting their season 8-0 in conference play. After their first loss to the top-10 ranked Princeton Tigers, the team ended the season 10-6 overall behind the strong offensive play of Miles Whitman, BK '04, who led the team with 35 goals and five assists and Clarissa Clarke, JE '03, who added 26 goals and one assist. Women's tennis suffered an early loss to eventual league champions University of Pennsylvania, but won the remainder of its Ivy League games finishing 12-5 overall, 6-1 in the Ivies. The 2001 season was its most successful in 12 years and tied the school record for league victories in a season. Men's tennis also did well in the spring thanks to the strong play of Steve Berke, MC '03, who was one of just 64 players in the country chosen to compete for the individual NCAA Division I men's tennis championship. He finished the season 11-4 overall for the Bulldogs at the number one position, and undefeated against Ivy League opponents.

Women's and men's golf performed well at the Ivy League championships, finishing second and third, respectively. For the men, Captain Louis Aurelio, MC '01, won the individual championship, and Jenny Schriefer, DC '02 and Captain Sarah Seo, TD '02, finished third and fifth, respectively, for the women's team. Chris Eckerle, BR '02, won the men's New England Championship by one stroke, as the team finished second overall in the tournament.

The 2000 lightweight crew season ended with an astounding victory at the Henley Royal Regatta on the Thames River in England where Yale became the first collegiate lightweight team to win any event at Henley since 1974. The team also won the prestigious Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship. The 2001 season continues well into the summer, but the team is currently ranked first in the EARC lightweight poll and recently topped Harvard at the 136th Yale-Harvard regatta, America's oldest intercollegiate event. Nearing the end of its season, the lightweight crew team captured the EARC Sprints as well.

The Tercentennial celebration wrapped up Yale athletic's outstanding 2000-01 season when former President Bush, who captained the baseball team in 1948, visited the current squad and shook hands with Captain R.D. DeSantis, SY '01. With the amazing athletic feats of the past year and the encouraging wish for success from President Bush, Yale athletics looks ahead to the 2001-02 season with renewed hope for Ivy Titles and bids to the NCAA Championship tournaments.

Renovating the house that Eli built

As most freshmen will soon find out, walking around campus is an exercise in dodging the scaffolding and men in hard hats that surround numerous building renovations and projects. Yet residential colleges are not the only facilities currently receiving long-overdue makeovers. With endowment figures at an all-time high, Yale's athletic facilities are now slowly but surely receiving the tucks, lifts, and implants that will enable Yale's athletes to practice and compete in refurbished, state-of-the-art environments.

Gilder Boathouse

Tagged at nearly $5.5 million, the construction of the new Gilder Boathouse began with a design competition in February 1998 that placed the New Haven firm of Turner Brooks Architects in charge of planning the new rowing facility. The idea for a new boathouse started years before, when the program realized that its current facility no longer met the teams' training requirements. According to Head Coach Will Porter, the former boathouse was past its prime and in need of improvements and restorations to bring the facility up to par.

In order to accommodate the 150 members of the women's and men's crew teams, the new Gilder Boathouse is nearly double the size of the old facility. Six boat bays and a more expansive dock provide larger storage areas plus additional space to launch and land boats. Both the men and women have locker rooms that rival the Knicks'. The extensive locker room and docking area allow the rowers to hit the water sooner, immediately getting started at the beginning of practices.

Other unique features of the boathouse include an extravagant trophy room, wraparound deck, and up-to-date coaches' offices complete with computers and closed-circuit television access. Porter praised the project as something that will benefit both Yale and its athletes. "Something like this doesn't happen very often," he said. "By making the boathouse state-of-the-art today, it will still be competitive 20 to 30 years from now."

Johnson's Field

Women's lacrosse head coach Amanda O'Leary remembers a time about five years ago when the program first pondered renovating its field or building a new facility. Because the women's lacrosse team shares practice time with the softball, baseball, and men's lacrosse teams at Coxe Cage, players often find themselves practicing from 9 to 11 p.m. So when plans for a new sports complex kicked into gear a year ago, O'Leary's first thought was about the benefit of having normal practice times.

The new facility, Johnson's Field, benefits not only the women's lacrosse team; the men's lacrosse, baseball, field hockey and even football teams also take advantage of the expansion. Besides larger fields and spectator areas, the complex features an 80-by-120-yard artificial turf field with lights. The football team will be able to practice playing on turf to prepare for Ivy opponents Penn, Cornell, and Columbia, whose stadiums all have artificial turf. The field hockey team, however, looks to receive the most benefits from the turf at Johnson's Field, which will become its new home ground. Before the project came into the works, field hockey encountered difficulties in drawing opponents to play outdoors at Yale because many schools preferred competing on artificial turf.

Construction of the complex, which was designed by Brian Ameche, BK '75, started in September with a ceremony in which athletes participated in the groundbreaking. According to Associate Director of Varsity Sports Administration for Athletics Barbara Chesler, the projected cost of the complex is approximately $3.5 million, with the funding coming from private donors. Johnson's Field opened in the spring of 2001, allowing various athletic teams to take advantage of the complex during their Spring seasons.

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