Sports Shorts

Men's Tennis: Dueling doubles duos lift Elis to home tournament success

FILE PHOTO The Elis are on track to swat away their competition.

Cornell, Dartmouth, and the University of Connecticut came to town looking to take the wind out of the Bulldogs' sails—and, for the most part, they failed. For the second straight week, the doubles tournament came down to a Yale vs. Yale final. Greg Royce, SY '01, and Captain Scott Mayo, BR '00, beat Scott Carlton, JE '01, and Chris Shackleton, CC '02, reversing the result of the doubles final at Cornell, where Carlton and Shackle-ton beat Royce and Mayo. Mayo says the fact that both teams made it to the finals two weeks in a row "speaks volumes about how well both teams are playing. The doubles teams are the base of our team right now."

The singles results were not as unequivocally positive. Royce won the A-bracket and Carlton won the consolation A-finals. However, the Elis' only other victory came when Shackleton emerged victorious from the consolation C-finals. "[We] would definitely have liked to have done better in singles," Coach Alex Dorato said. Overall, though, the team walked away from the weekend with a positive vibe, having played well against staunch Ivy League competition in Cornell and Dartmouth.

Many different players have picked up the slack for the team this year. "We've made significant strides this fall," Mayo said.

Yale's next tournament, the ECACs, will bring together 16 of the best teams on the East Coast for a rare team competition. "The ECACs will be a big test for us. There isn't a team there that can't beat us, but by the same token, there isn't a team there we can't beat," Mayo said. "We've been playing well, but if we don't play well there, we'll come crawling back to campus with our tails between our legs."

—Geoffrey Chepiga

Women's Golf: Off to a fast start

Yale's win at home marked the second tournament victory in a row for Eli golfers. In the first tournament of the year, Yale eked out a one-stroke win at the Dartmouth Invitational.

The Elis' success is all the more impressive given that they have had to begin the year without their coach, Heather Daly-Donofrio, BK '91, who is currently competing on the LPGA tour. When Daly-Donofrio returns in October, the skills she has utilized to propel herself to 103rd on the LPGA money list will help Yale to even more impressive results. In the interim, the squad has been under the direction of Glen Richella, a pro at the Yale Golf Course. "[Richella] stepped in and immediately connected with the team," Annie Scholz, DC '02, said.

Last year's squad won four of five regular season tournaments, giving this year's team the confidence they need to dominate the Ivies. "It's hard to start losing when you're used to winning," Seo said. She believes this year's team is on the same successful track. Still, the team hopes to surpass last year's achievements by coming through in larger tournaments as well, starting at this weekend's Mount Holyoke Invitational.

—Yael Zeira

Women's Cross Country: Rookie runners help Bulldogs hit championship stride

Last weekend at the Sam Bell Invitational at Indiana University, the team finished in sixth place in a field of over 20 teams, including second-ranked Arkansas. Yale's top five runners, four of whom are freshmen, all finished in the top 75. Twins Kate O'Neill, TD '03, and Laura O'Neill, TC '03, led the Eli pack, finishing one second apart in 27th and 28th places, respectively. Katie Rigney, JE '01, Amanda Brewster, BR '03, and Lindsey Mitchell, CC '03, rounded out the top five.

Head Coach Mark Young is encouraged by his team's progress. "I'm pleased thus far with the way things have gone," he said. Without just one superstar contending to win races, Young has focused his efforts on creating a solid pack to help the squad combine for impressive results as a whole.

"I've asked them to run the first two miles together. They've done that very well," Young said. There is only a four-second gap among the team's top three runners, with fourth and fifth not far behind. Since all five times count toward the team's score, having five solid runners can make the difference between a strong finish and a mediocre one.

Coming off last weekend's impressive showing in Indiana, the women have no races until the Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet at Yale on Fri., Oct. 8. With time off to recuperate and prepare, the women will work hard to continue their success in an attempt to beat their two biggest rivals and peak by the end of the month for the Ivy League Championships on Fri., Oct. 29. Young said, "Our biggest meet is the league championship. It's really our focus to peak at exactly the right time to perform well there."

—Steven J. Rosenthal

Around the Ivies

Sailing to victory: Brown field hockey

Wind in their sails: Dartmouth sailing

—Compiled by Laurie Randell

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