Lady Hoopsters Fall to Princeton, Penn on the Road

In its first road games in more than three weeks, the women's basketball team (8-13, 3-5 Ivy) dropped a pair of road contests to Princeton and Penn this weekend. The Red could not overcome a 19-point deficit against the Tigers (6-14, 3-4 Ivy) on Friday night, falling 74-67. The following night, the Quakers' foul-shooting proved to be the difference, as Penn (13-7, 7-0 Ivy) maintained its perfect record in conference play with a 72-62 win.

On Friday night, senior tri-captain Katie Romey and Princeton's Rebecca Brown dominated the scoring for their respective teams in the first half. With the Red holding a 20-17 lead with under seven minutes remaining, the Tigers went on a 13-1 run. Cornell responded with a 7-0 run, but Princeton answered back with a 7-0 run of its own to go into the break up, 37-28.

Brown got hot in the second half, scoring the Tigers' first nine points after the break. Princeton stretched its lead to 55-36 with a little over 10 minutes left in the game. However, the Red cut into the Tigers' lead with an 8-0 run followed by a 9-0 run in the closing minutes. With 34 seconds remaining, Cornell found itself down by 70-65, but the Tigers put the game away, hitting six of eight attempts from the free-throw line.

"[Princeton] was very active on the defensive end. On the offensive end, they keep you moving, they keep you on your toes," said head coach Dayna Smith. "For the most part this season, we've done a fair job of keeping the big forwards under control, but I thought we allowed too many easy baskets."

Brown led all scorers with 25 points, while Romey finished with a team-high 19 points and shot a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. The Tigers' bench put up 24 points as two of its starters played for 17 minutes combined.

The following night, the Red hoped to end Penn's perfect Ivy record. Cornell held a four-point lead with three minutes left in the first half, after putting together a 12-2 run. Penn answered back, closing out the half on an 8-2 run. Despite only shooting 25 percent from the floor, Cornell found itself down by two points at the break.

"I thought we played great defense. To be honest, we worked our butts off on the defensive end. We got to the foul line, we were aggressive in the offensive end. We really outrebounded them in the first half, and got a lot of second chances," Smith said.

Penn came out firing at the start of the second half, using a 13-2 run to increase its lead to 13 points, while holding Cornell to two points in the first seven minutes of the half. Faced with a big second half deficit again, the Red mounted a big comeback, cutting the Quakers' lead to three with five minutes left in the game. Five straight points by senior Tanya Karcic brought the Red within two, but that was as close as Cornell would get. In the end, Penn's clutch free-throw shooting in the final minutes sealed the victory for the Quakers.

"In the second half, we were battling right with them," Smith said. "We were down 18 at one point, and then we went on a great run to cut it to two with two minutes to go, and if we played that throughout the course of the game offensively, it would have been a different story."

The Red held Jewell Clark, the league's second-leading scorer to 10 points, but could not contain Jennifer Fleischer and Karen Habrukowich, who netted 18 and 23 points, respectively. For the Red, Karcic led the way with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while senior tri-captain Karen Force chipped in 17. Her seven assists in the game brought her career total to 427, passing Patty Mills '86 to become the program's all-time assist leader.

"It's a great accomplishment for her and her teammates. Anytime you have a record for assists, it's more of a team effort. Karen really had a gutsy performance on Saturday," Smith said.

Lady Cagers Travel To Penn, Princeton

Looking for its first Ivy sweep of the year, the women's basketball team heads down to Princeton (5-13, 2-3 Ivy) and Penn (11-7, 5-0) for two 7 p.m. contests today and tomorrow. The Red (8-11, 3-3) split its two games last weekend, losing to Brown on Friday, then beating Yale on Saturday. With the win against the Bulldogs, Cornell is one win away from equaling its Ivy win total from last year.

After three straight weeks at home, this weekend's contests will be the first road Ivy games for the Red.

"We're actually anxious to get out on the road. Going down to Penn and Princeton, it's a good trip to go, and I think they're real excited for the games," said head coach Dayna Smith.

Last Friday against Brown, the Red rallied back in the second half with a 13-3 run to come within six points, but the Bears pulled away with a 69-56 win. Seniors Tanya Karcic and tri-captain Katie Romey each put up a double-double in the loss.

The following night, the Red mounted a 14-0 run to erase a six-point halftime deficit, and took control down the stretch to seal the 70-63 win. Senior tri-captain Lauren Kilduff led all scorers with 21 points, shooting 72 percent from the floor.

In Princeton, the Red faces a team with five underclassmen starters. Despite their inexperience, the Tigers have played in some close conference games. Two of Princeton's top three scorers are freshmen, and sophomore Rebecca Brown leads the team with in scoring, averaging 12.2 points per game.

"Any team in this league can be anybody, and Princeton has taken some teams down to the wire. They beat Brown, which was a great win, a close game with Dartmouth, and they lost a tough one to Harvard, which was probably their only bad loss," said Smith. "They're a very good team, they're scrappy, they can shoot the three. They have some young freshmen that are really making an impact."

The Penn game will mark Smith's second return to the Palestra, after serving under Penn head coach Kelly Greenberg as an assistant for three seasons.

"I recruited most of those players, so I know them all, and I know their strengths and weaknesses, but they're very smart coaches, they have great game plans. Kelly is very unpredictable with the type of defensive scheme or offensive scheme she's going to use," commented Smith.

On the offensive end, senior Jewel Clark has been the team's leading scorer in all but four of Penn's games this season, and is currently second in the league in scoring, averaging 19.3 points per game. Sophomore Jennifer Fleischer has been the dominant rebounder on the team, as she is second in the league in rebounding with 9.4 rebounds per game.

The Red will need to come out ready to play this weekend, as it fell behind early in both games last weekend, and this will be especially important as the team hits the road for the first time in nearly four weeks.

"We're going to travel, and that's not something we're used to, we've been home for so long, so I think we're going to have to be mentally tough to stay focused on our game, even though we have the long bus trips and everything," said Kilduff. "I think just once we get in the gym, we have to forget that we're away and just focus on ourselves, focus on the game, and take care of business."

Save the NHL : Bring Back Rover

Congratulations, Atlanta!

You'll be hosting next year's NHL All-Star game! When you start planning the weekend's festivities, don't forget about all the celebrities like Kurt Russell, screaming fans (maybe you can bus some in from Georgia Tech), and be sure to set up a PA system so Jeremy Roenick can apologize again. Oh wait, you won't need that last one -- Roenick won't be there.

Or any other NHL players for that matter.

What?

You didn't know that the NHL will probably be in a lockout this time next year? You're wondering who you're gonna get to be in the skills competition? Who's going to repeat Roenick's four-for-four showing in the accuracy competition? I'd do it, but I have an intramural game that day.

OK, let's be serious for a second. You know a labor situation is bad when they're talking about a lockout two years away from the CBA (collective bargaining agreement for you non-ILRies) expiration date. Reading about the impending labor crisis in the Fall 2002 Hockey News yearbook, I could only laugh, and say "Holy Sh!$, they're blowing this out of proportion. They have two whole years to work this thing out!" Well, now there are only seven months to go 'til the NHL goes the way of the dinosaur.

The NHL Players Association is telling its members to prepare for a two-year lockout. Oh, and I forgot to mention that, so far, there has been zero negotiation. None. Nada. Zilch.

The real reason? NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman '74 went to Cornell and NHLPA head Bob Goodenow went to Harvard. They hate each other (of course) and they hate each other's schools.

OK, so that last sentence was completely false, but it might as well be the reason, because it makes no sense to me why these two weren't at the bargaining table months ago.

(On a different note, this weekend, Bettman proposed rule changes that would increase the offensive output in the league. Looking back at the level of scoring in recent years, I would have to agree with him. When my friend first told me that Wayne Gretzky scored 215 points in a season, I laughed and laughed and laughed. In fact, I'm still laughing. Markus Nasland, the current point leader this season is on pace for just under 100 points.

But that just leads to another problem with hockey. I'll bet half of you reading this column don't even know who Markus Nasland is. I blame this solely on the league's marketing office. Instead of promoting the league's stars, it instead churns out horrific commercials explaining the rules of hockey. Now, if you're watching a hockey game on TV in the first place, the odds are you probably know what's going on during the game. You don't need Shania Twain or Jim Belushi telling you that there are five skaters per team. I could write an entire column about how bad these commercials are, but I've aleady gone way too far off topic.)

I'm not going to claim that I have the answer to the labor situation, because I am neither a professional hockey player nor a labor lawyer. However, I will claim that a lockout will be bad for hockey. There, I said it. The sad thing is, the players and owners don't seem to care at all. They're perfectly content with a two-year shutdown. The players can go off to Europe or play in the new World Hockey Association, and the owners can sit on their mountains of stockpiled money. Meanwhile, all the hockey fans out there will be forced to watch Slam Ball, or bowling or -- god forbid -- Arena Football.

(Did you know Jon Bon Jovi owns an Arena Football team? If you're anything like me, that fact makes you want to watch arena football like knowing that you can check 400 books out of the library at one time makes you want to rush to Uris. Let's be honest. You'll probably never do either.)

Actually, I take that back, I am going to claim I have the answer to the CBA debacle, and here it is: bring back the rover.

What is the rover, you ask? Back in the early days of hockey, there were six skaters per team: three forwards, the point, the cover point (the equivalent of modern defensemen), and the rover. The rover could go anywhere on the ice, and was usually the team's best player. Sadly, this position got tossed to the curb as the game evolved. But, if the rover has a chance of saving hockey -- a chance -- then I think we owe to hockey to try it out again.

As a hockey fan, I feel it's my duty to increase knowledge of the game to the average sports fan, so I'm going to end this column with a fun matching game. Match the following five players with the teams they play for, and win a prize!* (What? There's an NHL team in Columbus? When did this happen!?)

A) Rick Nash 1) Atlanta Thrashers

B) Ilya Kovalchuk 2) Ottawa Senators

C) Tomas Vokoun 3) Columbus Blue Jackets

D) Dwayne Roloson 4) Nashville Predators

E) Marian Hossa 5) Minnesota Wild

*Winners will receive their prize the first week of the next NHL season.

W. Hoops Splits Weekend Series

After falling to Harvard in double overtime two years ago, it was only fitting that the women's basketball team beat the Crimson (8-8, 1-2 Ivy) in similar fashion. The Red (7-10, 2-2 Ivy) knocked off the two-time defending Ivy League champions, 66-64, in a come-from-behind overtime thriller. Hoping to top another strong Ivy foe the following night, the Red came up short in an 81-76 loss to Dartmouth. Still, with Friday's victory over the Crimson, Cornell showed that it can play with any team in the league.

"Anytime you knock off Harvard, the two-time defending champ, it's a big win," said head coach Dayna Smith. "We've been through a lot lately, so it's a huge win for us. You can't really put it into words."

With the memory of the double-overtime loss from two years ago, the win is very satisfying for the Red's seniors.

"This game, starting five seniors, we all experienced that [loss], and so we know what it's like to have that game taken away, and we knew that we weren't going to let that happen tonight," said senior tri-captain Karen Force.

Down by eight with 2:27 remaining in regulation, the Red rallied back, as Force hit four straight free throws to cut the deficit to four. After Harvard missed three of its next four attempts at the charity stripe, the Red still found itself in a five-point hole with 23 seconds left.

As the clocked ticked down to 10 seconds, sophomore Sarah Brown sent up a 3-pointer that banked off the glass and in. After two missed Harvard free throws, senior tri-captain Katie Romey rebounded the ball and dished it to Force. Streaking down the left side of the court, Force drove hard to the basket, and sent up a left-handed layup that went off the glass and in, with 0.9 seconds remaining, and the game went to overtime with both teams deadlocked at 55.

"It was kind of the situation where you have to read what's going on. It's not the kind of situation where you can come down and say 'Alright, this is the play we're going to run because we know it's going to work.' With how things had been throughout the game, you couldn't really do that," said Force. "I saw the post defender take a step up, and I saw the lane open up. Time was running out so I had to do it."

In the extra session, Force drove inside again for another layup, putting the Red up by two. On the ensuing Harvard possession, Brown stole the ball at midcourt. With 35 seconds left, senior tri-captain Lauren Kilduff got to the line three times, sinking five of her six attempts.

"All week I've been taking a lot of foul shots in the gym, and I was mentally preparing myself, and remembering what to remember, and when I stepped up, I really wasn't that nervous," said Kilduff. "I was surprised because I'm a nervous person, but I was just calm and thinking about my technique, you know, follow through and everything. I was just feeling it, I guess."

Kilduff went 12-for-14 at the line, as the team shot 82.9 percent from the charity stripe, compared to Harvard's 59.1 percent. With both teams shooting poorly from the floor, the game was decided at the line.

"We didn't shoot the lights out of the ball, except in the overtime. Shooting 27 percent, you look at that line, you're not going to win many games," Smith said. "When you're shooting over 80 percent from the foul line and as many we did, that definitely won it."

On Saturday night, Dartmouth came out and made its first 11 shots to set the tone for the game. In the first half, both teams shot over 50 percent from the floor, in stark contrast to the night before. The Green went into the locker room at halftime up, 45-40, and stretched its lead to 10 midway through the second half. Elise Morrison established herself as a big post presence, and the Red defense had difficulty containing her.

"She's going to have 15 to 18 points, and I think she had a few too many easy looks in the second half, just some isolation looks where we should have been in better position with our feet," said Smith.

Karcic had the hot scoring hand for the Red, but got her fourth with 11 minutes left in the second half.

"We put Katie Romey in as a forward, which means playing four guards and one forward, and we were able to do a couple of things offensively and we were able to play a little bit of a press. I thought we responded real well, actually cutting the lead from 10 to going up two," said Smith.

The Red held a 73-71 for nearly three minutes, but Morrison tied the game up with 1:47 left to play. Dartmouth grabbed a five-point lead, and Cornell could not catch up.

"We were up two, and the next three possessions, it was the same score, 73-71, and we didn't capitalize on it, we didn't draw a foul. Dartmouth was going to start scoring again so that was the three key possessions of the game," said Smith.

Karcic netted a career-high 29 points, providing the offensive spark throughout the game. Coming back in with four fouls late in the game, Karcic completed a three-point play to bring the Red within two points with 16 seconds left.

"Some calls go your way and some calls don't, I just try to still play aggressive when I'm in there. Coach told me 'Can you play with four fouls?' and I wanted to play, so she put me in, and I just tried to play smart," said Karcic.

Despite the loss to Dartmouth, this weekend was still a success for the Red.

"It's a positive weekend for us, and we have to remember that. We learned a lot about ourselves this weekend. [Dartmouth and Harvard are] two of the top teams in the conference, and we had a chance to beat Dartmouth and we beat Harvard. We can play with anyone if we come out ready to play," said Smith.

After falling to Harvard in double overtime two years ago, it was only fitting that the women's basketball team beat the Crimson (8-8, 1-2 Ivy) in similar fashion. The Red (7-10, 2-2 Ivy) knocked off the two-time defending Ivy League champions, 66-64, in a come-from-behind overtime thriller. Hoping to top another strong Ivy foe the following night, the Red came up short in an 81-76 loss to Dartmouth. Still, with Friday's victory over the Crimson, Cornell showed that it can play with any team in the league.


"Anytime you knock off Harvard, the two-time defending champ, it's a big win," said head coach Dayna Smith. "We've been through a lot lately, so it's a huge win for us. You can't really put it into words."


With the memory of the double-overtime loss from two years ago, the win is very satisfying for the Red's seniors.


"This game, starting five seniors, we all experienced that [loss], and so we know what it's like to have that game taken away, and we knew that we weren't going to let that happen tonight," said senior tri-captain Karen Force.


Down by eight with 2:27 remaining in regulation, the Red rallied back, as Force hit four straight free throws to cut the deficit to four. After Harvard missed three of its next four attempts at the charity stripe, the Red still found itself in a five-point hole with 23 seconds left.


As the clocked ticked down to 10 seconds, sophomore Sarah Brown sent up a 3-pointer that banked off the glass and in. After two missed Harvard free throws, senior tri-captain Katie Romey rebounded the ball and dished it to Force. Streaking down the left side of the court, Force drove hard to the basket, and sent up a left-handed layup that went off the glass and in, with 0.9 seconds remaining, and the game went to overtime with both teams deadlocked at 55.


"It was kind of the situation where you have to read what's going on. It's not the kind of situation where you can come down and say 'Alright, this is the play we're going to run because we know it's going to work.' With how things had been throughout the game, you couldn't really do that," said Force. "I saw the post defender take a step up, and I saw the lane open up. Time was running out so I had to do it."


In the extra session, Force drove inside again for another layup, putting the Red up by two. On the ensuing Harvard possession, Brown stole the ball at midcourt. With 35 seconds left, senior tri-captain Lauren Kilduff got to the line three times, sinking five of her six attempts.


"All week I've been taking a lot of foul shots in the gym, and I was mentally preparing myself, and remembering what to remember, and when I stepped up, I really wasn't that nervous," said Kilduff. "I was surprised because I'm a nervous person, but I was just calm and thinking about my technique, you know, follow through and everything. I was just feeling it, I guess."


Kilduff went 12-for-14 at the line, as the team shot 82.9 percent from the charity stripe, compared to Harvard's 59.1 percent. With both teams shooting poorly from the floor, the game was decided at the line.


"We didn't shoot the lights out of the ball, except in the overtime. Shooting 27 percent, you look at that line, you're not going to win many games," Smith said. "When you're shooting over 80 percent from the foul line and as many we did, that definitely won it."


On Saturday night, Dartmouth came out and made its first 11 shots to set the tone for the game. In the first half, both teams shot over 50 percent from the floor, in stark contrast to the night before. The Green went into the locker room at halftime up, 45-40, and stretched its lead to 10 midway through the second half. Elise Morrison established herself as a big post presence, and the Red defense had difficulty containing her.


"She's going to have 15 to 18 points, and I think she had a few too many easy looks in the second half, just some isolation looks where we should have been in better position with our feet," said Smith.


Karcic had the hot scoring hand for the Red, but got her fourth with 11 minutes left in the second half.


"We put Katie Romey in as a forward, which means playing four guards and one forward, and we were able to do a couple of things offensively and we were able to play a little bit of a press. I thought we responded real well, actually cutting the lead from 10 to going up two," said Smith.


The Red held a 73-71 for nearly three minutes, but Morrison tied the game up with 1:47 left to play. Dartmouth grabbed a five-point lead, and Cornell could not catch up.


"We were up two, and the next three possessions, it was the same score, 73-71, and we didn't capitalize on it, we didn't draw a foul. Dartmouth was going to start scoring again so that was the three key possessions of the game," said Smith.


Karcic netted a career-high 29 points, providing the offensive spark throughout the game. Coming back in with four fouls late in the game, Karcic completed a three-point play to bring the Red within two points with 16 seconds left.


"Some calls go your way and some calls don't, I just try to still play aggressive when I'm in there. Coach told me 'Can you play with four fouls?' and I wanted to play, so she put me in, and I just tried to play smart," said Karcic.


Despite the loss to Dartmouth, this weekend was still a success for the Red.


"It's a positive weekend for us, and we have to remember that. We learned a lot about ourselves this weekend. [Dartmouth and Harvard are] two of the top teams in the conference, and we had a chance to beat Dartmouth and we beat Harvard. We can play with anyone if we come out ready to play," said Smith. - See more at: http://www.cornellsun.com/node/10815#sthash.ztNMKe99.dpufasd

Pilarski Catches Fire; Selected in MLS Superdraft

Temperatures in Ithaca may be pushing into the subzero range, but for senior midfielder Ian Pilarski things are just starting to heat up.

After a successful soccer career on the East Hill, Pilarski became the first player in Cornell history to be picked in the MLS SuperDraft, held on January 16 in Charlotte. Pilarski was selected in the fifth round by the Chicago Fire with the 49th overall pick. He will join a Fire squad coached by Dave Sarachan '76, who is also the assistant coach of the U.S. World Cup team. Sarachan also served as the head coach of Cornell men's soccer from 1989-1997.

"I'm extremely excited about being drafted by Chicago. It's been my dream since I was younger to play professional soccer, and this opportunity will allow me to get started on a career," said Pilarski.

At the beginning of January, Pilarski participated in the 2004 Infosport Pro Soccer combine held in Florida. The combine staff included current and former MLS coaches. Over 150 players attended the combine, and Pilarski was the only player from an Ivy League school. Denis Hamlett, the assistant coach of the Chicago Fire, was Pilarski's coach at the combine, and was very impressed with his soccer skills.

"Chicago had been interested in him for a while and was tracking him during the fall season," said Cornell head coach Bryan Scales. "His performance in January just confirmed to them that he was a player that they wanted to draft. As a program, we are all very proud of him. He is a great representative of Cornell Soccer. He has always had a goal of becoming a pro and this is a outstanding opportunity for him."

Pilarski now faces the challenge of training for the MLS and completing his final semester at Cornell. After an intense training schedule during the break, he is now working out with the Cornell men's team.

"This opportunity is going to require being away from school at different times during the semester, but I'm excited for the challenge," said Pilarski. "Also, being surrounded with some of the best soccer players in America will be an experience in itself. It's going to be a different second semester senior year than I expected, but I'm fortunate for this opportunity."

Sarachan went through a similar situation when he was a student at Cornell, and Pilarski is looking forward to training under a Cornell alumnus.

"It's awesome that Cornell has an alumnus in a high rank in professional sports. Dave has done wonderful things for the Chicago Fire, and I hope I can contribute to their success as well," said Pilarski.

A first team All-Ivy and second team All-Region selection this season, Pilarski served as one of the team's tri-captains in 2003. His 15 assists ranks him fourth all-time in program history. In his sophomore year, Pilarski racked up a team-high seven assists, and was named an All-Ivy Honorable Mention. In 2002, he was named to the All-Ivy second team.

For the past two summers, Pilarski has been a member of the Premier Development League's Cape Cod Crusaders, and helped the team capture back-to-back national titles.

14-year old Freddy Adu was taken with the first overall pick by the D.C. United, and four other players were taken from Ivy League schools. Kevin Ara of Harvard, the first Ivy player selected, was taken in the third round. Brown's Adom Crew, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, was taken with the first pick of the fifth round.

"The Ivy League was the only league in the country to have over half of its schools represented with selections in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft. This speaks to the quality of the players in our league and again confirms the fact that the Ivy League can be a vehicle for players who aspire to become professional soccer players and get a great education," said Scales.

Millrose's Race Heats up Winter

Picture this: a screaming fan in the front row cheering on his team. The other fans behind him don't appreciate his blocking their view and ask him to sit down. He says no, and turns around to continue cheering. Further pleas are ignored, until a shouting match ensues, and the whole section becomes engulfed in turmoil.

Is this a scene from a past Super Bowl?

Nope.

A heated NBA game?

No.

It's the Millrose Games, America's premier indoor track meet, held at Madison Square Garden. As an attendee of the games since 1986 (I was 2 and a half at the time), I witnessed the above scene in person, and it ranks as the funniest occurrence I have witnessed at a sporting event.

The games have been held since 1908, and annually since 1914 at the Garden, making it the longest running sporting event in the venue's history. In the past, track stars such as Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis, and Jackie Joyner-Kersee have all competed at the Millrose Games.

While track and field remains in the corner of the eye of the sports world, there was no sporting event I looked forward to more than the Games each February. My grandfather, a runner in high school and college, first started attending the games in the 1940's, and it eventually became a yearly family tradition.

Entering the concourse of the Garden with the games in full swing was a scene to behold. The Garden's steeply banked track circled the large infield, where pole vaulters and high jumpers raced toward their respective bars. The night started out with a slew of long-distance races, before the banks were lowered to get ready for the sprints.

Stopwatches in hand, the entire arena waited in anticipation for the start of the 60-meter dash and hurdles, and everyone thought they could better time the race than the official timekeeper (including my grandfather). The arena grew silent as the runners readied in their starting blocks. The crack of the pistol sounded, and the runners were off -- and then they were done.

In less than 10 seconds.

There were many characters attending the games. There was the occasional celebrity sighting (Bill Cosby was a regular attendee), along with a fair share of drunken 30-year olds who would try to steal your seat if you should get up for even a second. Then there were the track buffs who maybe took everything a little too seriously. In the story above, the fan in question was rooting for his alma mater in the boys' catholic high school 4X400m relay.

The belligerent fan is the exception at the games, as the entire crowd will rally around a runner who is on the verge of shattering records. In 1980, Millrose great Mary Decker-Slaney was midway through the mile on world record pace, and when that announcement came on over the PA, the Garden crowd came to its feet to cheer her on. After setting the record, Decker-Slaney credited the crowd as helping her maintain her record pace.

As the evening progressed, the marquee event of the night approached: the famed Wanamaker Mile. The Mile started at 10 p.m. on the dot year after year. Why so late? Well, back in the 1930's, sports announcer Ted Husing broadcasted the Mile live on his show, and the tradition continues today.

While normally the National Anthem is played at the start of a sporting event, at the Millrose Games, it isn't played until the Wanamaker Mile. With the runners poised to start the 11-lap race, the Garden crowd rises to its feet. In recent times, runners from Ireland have dominated this event. Two of the greatest athletes in Millrose Games history, Eamonn Coghlan and Marcus O'Sullivan, combined to win the event 12 times.

In 1998, O'Sullivan came into the Millrose Games having run 99 sub-four minute miles in his career. One more, and he would become only the third and probably the last runner to run 100 sub-four minute miles. Needless to say, the excitement in the Garden was even more than usual for this event. As the runners came around the final turn, everyone held his collective breath.

When O'Sullivan crossed the finish line, the Garden erupted as the scoreboard showed O'Sullivan's time at 3:58.10. It was that rare instance in sports where no one really cared who won (O'Sullivan came in third).

With the Summer Olympics coming up later this year, there will be plenty of Olympic hopefuls at the games, including Marion Jones, in her first Millrose appearance, and 18-year old phenom Allyson Felix, the 2003 Gatorade High School Athlete of the year. While I haven't been able to attend the Millrose Games for several years, I hope to resume the family tradition in the near future.

W. Hoops Host Lions

After facing a challenging non-conference schedule, the women's basketball team (6-8, 1-0 Ivy) heads into its Ivy portion of the season when it welcomes Columbia (6-7, 0-1 Ivy) to Newman Arena tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. The Red faced the Lions last weekend in New York City, and came away with a 61-50 win. Cornell looks to sweep its travel partner for the first time since the 1998-99 season.

"We know what Columbia's like, they're very physical and we learned that in the first game. We came out and were aggressive in the first half, and it worked to our advantage," said head coach Dayna Smith. "They didn't shoot the ball particularly well, I think part of it was our defense and part of it was they had a bad night, so we're looking for them to really come out playing more physical and that's something we're going to have to adjust to."

Against the Lions last week, four of the Red's starters reached double figures. Seniors Tanya Karcic and Dani Aretino each posted a double-double and Karcic led all scorers with 22 points. Both players also grabbed 10 rebounds.

After starting 0-4, the Red compiled a 6-4 record over the break, including a 20-point victory over Syracuse, the team's first since 1974.

"We played very well [against Syracuse]. I think it gave us a bit of confidence and showed that if we show up every night, we can compete with whoever it is," said Smith.

In the team's final non-conference game of the season against Duquesne on Tuesday, the cagers faced a very talented squad led by guard Candace Futrell, and the Dukes came away with a 77-62 win. Futrell had the hot shooting hand on the evening, shooting 50 percent from the field, including six 3-pointers, and finished with 30 points. Senior Katie Romey had 17 points, while Aretino recorded her second straight double-double.

The Red's defense will be tested against Columbia, as senior guard Sue Altman is a dangerous threat on the perimeter. On the other end, the cagers will have to contend with Columbia's physical defense.

"On the offensive end, we can't slow down what we're trying to do just because they're being a little physical with us, bumping cutters and really pushing in the post, and being really physical out on the perimeter. They're just a scrappy team, and that's something that we're going to have to adjust to," said Smith.

The Red's perimeter play will be important, as Columbia looks to shut down Karcic and Aretino in the post.

"I think they might focus a little bit on Tanya, and that's going to open things up for some other people, and they're going to need to step up and hit some open shots out on the perimeter," Smith said.

W. Hoops Takes on Ivy Powers

After trading games with travel partner Columbia, the women's basketball team welcomes two-time defending league champion Harvard (7-7, 0-1 Ivy) and Dartmouth (8-6, 1-0 Ivy) to Newman Arena tonight and tomorrow at 7 p.m. The Red (6-9, 1-1 Ivy) bested Columbia by 11 points two weeks ago in New York City, but the Lions got revenge last weekend in Ithaca, coming away with a nine-point win.

"As far as Harvard and Dartmouth are concerned, they're two very talented teams with many scoring options on both sides," said head coach Dayna Smith. "They both are very post-oriented teams, so we are going to focus more on post defense. They are two similar teams, and we can't really focus in on one particular player because they have so much talent."

Last Saturday, the Lions jumped out to the early lead, were ahead by 10 at halftime, and never trailed. Down by 16 with two and a half minutes to play, the Red closed the gap to eight with under a minute to play but could not complete the comeback.

Senior tri-captain Karen Force led all scorers with 25 points, and her four assists pushed her over 400 for her career. She is the only player in program history to score 1000 points and tally 400 assists.

With two excellent teams in town for the weekend, the Red needs to step up its level of play from last weekend, and that started with a productive week of practice.

"I think this week we focused a lot on ourselves; we had to get back to some basics. I think we have been preparing for the two top teams, but more importantly we need to work on our intensity level, our offensive execution and our competing on both ends of the floor. I think we've had a very good week of practice," said Smith.

Harvard saw its 26-game league winning streak snapped three weeks ago at Dartmouth. The Green's Angelo Soriaga nailed a 30-foot buzzer beater to send the game into overtime, and Dartmouth came away with the five-point win.

"Teams in this league beat up on each other, and it just hadn't happened to Harvard in a while. That game could have gone either way, it was a great game," commented Smith. "Harvard, even though they have one loss, [are] obviously the defending champions. They're as good as ever, and we're going to have to come out ready to play."

In order for the Red to be victorious this weekend, it needs to defend well in its own end, and get all of its starters involved in the point production.

"Both teams like to play some zone, so we have to have some of our players hit some open shots. We've worked on the competitiveness at practice, and pushing our starting forwards a little bit more," said Smith. "Our non-starters have done a great job this week challenging the starting core."

With its first two-game weekend in a month, the Red's bench will play a crucial factor as well.

"This week we need some of our guards to hit some open shots when they come in off the bench," said Smith. "I think they understand that there's more opportunity to play this weekend, and hopefully they'll be ready."

Harvard and Dartmouth have a lot of offensive weapons, as the Crimson's Hana Peljto and Reka Cserny are first and third in the league in scoring. The Green's Jeannie Cullen and Elise Morrison are tied for fourth, while the Red's Tanya Karcic is seventh, averaging 15.7 points per game.

Past Cornell-Harvard games at Newman Arena have offered a lot of excitement. Two years ago, the Red and the Crimson were battling for sole possession of first place in the Ivy League. Harvard came away with a two-point win in double overtime after Cornell rallied from a 12-point deficit with under three minutes to play in regulation. Last year, the Red came back from a 17-point halftime deficit to tie the game with a minute left, but again, Harvard came away with the win.


If the past two years are any indication, tonight's contest should also be one to remember. Dartmouth is also a tough opponent, and Saturday's game should be a hard fought one as well.