It has been an up-and-down year for the football team. While the Jumbos have certainly had their highlights, such as defeating a strong 5-2 Williams team for the first time in 21 years, the team has also suffered disappointments, such as losses to 3-4 Bowdoin and undefeated Trinity by a combined total of three points.
Add another name to the growing list of Stone family members who can call themselves individual champions of Boston's world-famous Head of the Charles Regatta. Genevra "Gevvie" Stone, a 23-year-old Tufts medical student, followed in the footsteps of her parents by winning the women's championship singles race with a remarkable time of 19:12 at the 44th annual race on Oct. 19. Stone exceeded her No. 3 pre-race ranking by beating her next-closest competitor, Liane Malcos of the Riverside Boat Club, by a solid six seconds. On a blustery day on the Charles River, Stone faced tough competition on a course that she had worked hard to become more comfortable with. "There were people there who had been on the Olympic team and I hadn't beaten before," Stone said. "The big thing for me was that I had done it before. I felt a little bit more comfortable this year, after having done it a year before and having taken a few practice runs down the river. "Winning the race was great," she continued. "I had a great race for [my own standards], so that makes it a much more successful win. In terms of pulling hard and steering, it went very well." Stone grew up attending the Head of Charles, an annual occasion to gather with friends and family. Her parents, Gregg and Lisa Stone, both took home their own respective singles championships 31 years ago in the 1977 race and have kept their families close to the famed regatta and its sport ever since. Despite being unaware of her parents' similar accomplishments heading into the race, her family's close connections to the sport paid dividends on race day. "I actually did not know that they had won the same event until after I had won it myself," Stone said. "It was pretty exciting to find that out after the race. I feel really lucky to have a family that is so supportive and successful in rowing." "I think it's certainly an advantage; it's part of what the family does," Lisa Stone said. "Little bits and pieces fall into place along the way, and Gregg works hard with her on the water, but it's a pretty healthy situation and they have a lot of fun. I just think the experience he has in the singles race has really helped her to succeed because he has fun competing in that event, and he does whatever he can to help her have just as much fun and do as well as possible." Gevvie Stone began training in the boat during her high school years after a discouraging career in women's lacrosse. She played an integral role on the 2006 national championship varsity eight crew with Princeton University and has been consistently ranked as one of the top individual rowers in the country competing for the Cambridge Boat Club. Upon leaving for medical school at Tufts, Stone thought about giving up the sport, with her heavy workload potentially taking over the majority of the free time that she would use to train. Nevertheless, her personal discipline and commitment to the sport — two key traits that have undoubtedly aided her success in the boat — have kept her on the water. "I think she's quite a disciplined person, so that works out well for her," Lisa Stone said. "It's nice for her to get out there and get a complete break from the academics for sure. At certain points it can be tough [with her schedule], but she's able to handle it and I think it makes her stronger." Stone attributes part of her success to her parents' influence. While not necessarily coaching her every step along the way, they have proved invaluable to her evolution into a champion rower. "I'm so fortunate to have the parents that I do," Stone said. "My dad has been a great influence on me because he is a huge competitor and has been fun to train with because we're about the same speed. They both know a lot about rowing, and they can help me to achieve my goals. It's nice to have parents that have the crew vocabulary and that just want me to be successful in whatever I do." Gregg Stone, a champion rower for the Harvard Crimson in the 1970s, trains with his daughter early in the morning before she heads off to tackle her rigorous medical school schedule. He also competes with her in local regattas, and recently both father and daughter raced in the Housatonic Regatta in New Haven, Conn., with Gevvie placing first in the women's open singles race and Gregg taking second in the men's single masters event. Having put together a successful year on the water, Stone now has her sights set on something much bigger. With the London Olympics in 2012 looming in the future, Stone plans to finish two more years of school before considering whether to train for the Games. This year she came up just short of qualifying to compete for her country in Beijing in the women's quadruple scull event and is certainly hungry for more if the future permits. "The healthiest way to handle it is one day at a time," her mother said. "The Olympics in 2012 is certainly one of her goals, but you never know. A lot of things can happen between now and then. 2012 is definitely a hopeful goal, but you never know, things change, so we'll see what happens." "A lot of it is a matter of years," Stone said. "It's about spending as much time as possible on the water learning how to best handle the single. Every year you row, you keep learning and keep getting better. Most people on this year's Olympic team were about 26 or 27 years old, so I think my best years are still ahead of me."
At the beginning of the season, many labeled the Dallas Cowboys as one of the frontrunners for a Super Bowl crown. Experts then began listing the Washington Redskins as one of the top squads in the league after they reeled off six wins between Weeks 2 and 8. But after both teams were thoroughly humiliated earlier this week, their chances to be part of the Super Bowl festivities in Tampa Bay in February are dwindling by the day. The Cowboys, favorites to reach the Super Bowl since training camp opened in August, rode yet another sorry performance into the cellar of the NFC East, getting embarrassed on the road by the New York Giants, 35-14. With their offense in disarray and their defense in shambles, the 5-4 Cowboys have a serious uphill climb ahead of them if they want to make the playoffs. To have even a glimmer of hope, Dallas will have to make a serious run after its bye this week. This seems unlikely, especially considering the way its defense has been playing. The Cowboys have allowed three 100-yard rushers and four 100-yard receivers this season. On Sunday, New York's Brandon Jacobs ripped off 117 yards, a 6.9-yards-per-rush average and a touchdown. In the absence of quarterback Tony Romo, the defense has failed to pick up the slack for the abysmal offense, headed by backup Brad Johnson. In five of its first seven games, the leading receiver for Dallas had at least 90 yards, while Romo reached the 300-yard mark four times. Since Romo sprained his pinky during a loss to Arizona on Oct. 12, however, Johnson has gotten progressively worse, throwing for 234 yards in his first game under center and finishing with 71 and two interceptions against the Giants. Even the running game, the bread and butter for Dallas, has faltered under Johnson's stewardship. Marion Barber, the sixth-leading rusher in the NFL, has posted a sub-3 yards-per-carry average in three of his past four games. Barber is recognized as one of the most bruising rushers in the league, yet the Giants somehow held him in check, as he gained no yards or racked up negative yardage on eight out of 19 carries. As a franchise, Dallas has a history of fading down the line in December, so the Cowboys might be due, as coach Wade Phillips' squad has not had a winning record in the last month of any season since 2001. But these sloppy Cowboys trudge on and off the field, commit foolish penalties and exhibit a general disinterest in playing the game. Until Phillips finds some way to motivate his squad, Romo's return won't even make the slightest bit of difference. With an opportunity to gain control of the division and to play before a national television audience on Monday night, the Redskins were shellacked at home by the Pittsburgh Steelers, 23-6. The Steelers, who jam-packed about 10,000 fans donning gold and silver into FedEx Field, held the vaunted Redskins to 221 total yards of offense, a substantial decrease from the 384-yards-per-game average Washington had been boasting for the year. Like Barber, Redskins running back Clinton Portis was held to one of his lowest offensive outputs of the season. Portis had fewer than 20 carries for the first time all season and was held below 120 yards on the ground for the first time in six games. The inability of coach Jim Zorn to get Portis going and give him his necessary workload was a prime reason why the Steelers' defense was able to manhandle Washington. Jason Campbell came into the Steelers game as just the third quarterback ever to make it through the first eight games of the season without an interception. So what did he do? He promptly deposited the football into the hands of Pittsburgh defenders twice. On third downs, Campbell was able to help his team convert just 20 percent of the time, and both conversions led to Shaun Suisham field goals in the first quarter. While the Steelers (6-2) remain atop the AFC North, the Redskins (6-3) lost ground to the Giants (7-1) in the NFC East. Washington enters its bye week needing to tweak an offense that put together promising drives but struggled to find the end zone. Unlike the Cowboys, the Redskins still have hope. From this point on, Washington has by far the easiest schedule out of anyone in its division and can easily make up ground with home games against all three NFC East opponents in the next month and a half. In fact, heading into Sunday, the Redskins had the 18th-hardest schedule in terms of opponents' winning percentage, while the Giants, Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles were all in the top five. However, strength of schedule is irrelevant if said team cannot even find its way to the end zone. Halfway through the NFL season, it is safe to say that the Giants have supplanted the Cowboys and the Redskins as the team to beat, not just in the NFC East, but in the entire league. With all of the offensive issues plaguing Dallas and Washington, New York and Eli Manning just might have a legitimate shot at defending their Super Bowl title.
A lifelong passion for sailing led Tufts alum Alex Jackson (LA '88) toward the achievement of a lifetime: breaking the transatlantic sailing speed record. A monohull sailing yacht, the boat named "Virgin Money" — originally called "Speedboat" — left New York Oct. 22 in a second attempt to beat the standing transatlantic record of six days, 17 hours, 52 minutes and 39 seconds set by the boat "Mari Cha IV" in 2003. Considered one of the most, if not the most, powerful sailboats ever built, Virgin Money is a 99-foot masterpiece originally designed by Jackson and one of the yacht's co-skippers, Mike Sanderson. Sanderson is a world-renowned sailor with the highest sailing accolades under his belt, including the 2006 Rolex World Sailor of the Year award, as well as being the skipper of the record-breaking Mari Cha IV in 2003. "I've always been kind of intrigued by [the idea of crossing the Atlantic]," Jackson said. "I spent a lot of time sailing dinghies, and I spent time sailing with Mike Sanderson, who won the last Volvo Ocean Race, so he and I got together and designed the speed boat with Juan [Kouyoumdjian]. We designed what is probably one of the most powerful sailboats ever built." After nearly a year and a half of planning and construction, the boat was premiered at the 2008 Newport-Bermuda Race in the Open Class Division in June. Speedboat won the division as well as the "First to Finish" award, crossing the line first with a time of 64 hours, 42 minutes and 56 seconds. The boat's power was undeniable. "It's pretty insane — it's pretty rad," said Philip Weirheim, the boat's mainsail trimmer who had sailed with Jackson previously in the Swan 42 class and was eventually called on by Jackson as an experienced, trustworthy crew for the Speedboat. "Nothing I've ever been on has been that powerful. The boat is just an insane boat. In four knots of breeze we're going at 12 knots of boat speed. It's like a super laser on steroids." "The thing that made it doable was working with Mike and Juan," Jackson said. "They're the only two people in the world with the knowledge of how to control a boat that powerful. To actually physically sail the boat requires a lot of expertise." While Jackson credits much of his crew as world-class sailors, he himself was an All-American honoree while sailing at Tufts. "Tufts was great," Jackson said. "I spent a lot of time sailing, [and] it was a central part of what I did when I was there. After I left, I stopped sailing as much because of work. Tufts was where I reached the pinnacle of my expertise … The sailing team at Tufts is of a very high caliber, and it was a very motivating activity." After the Newport Bermuda Race, the next step for the boat was breaking the transatlantic record. But the craft's first attempt later that summer was spoiled when the daggerboard broke early on. For the next few months, Jackson and crew revamped the boat and waited for the right time to launch a second attempt. Unfortunately for Virgin Money, as the sailboat was now called, the harsh conditions during the second attempt two weeks ago caused the boat to once again fail within the first day of sailing. "We knew that the first day was going to be the roughest," Jackson said. "We made one attempt very early in the summer and then we were waiting to find the perfect opportunity, but that never came along. We saw an opportunity last week … so we left and it was pretty rough to begin with, but we always started off with the idea that we had a really good shot at breaking the record. But the group soon ran into problems; for one, the sails ripped as the boat took a beating from the constant pounding of the Atlantic's waves. "We thought we were going to be very conservative the first day by reefing the sails," Jackson said. "Unfortunately in the process of raising the sails they got damaged and so that was really the big problem. The small holes turned into big holes and that made the sails unusable. Little things can really screw you up." "The highlight was just the sheer power of the boat and trying to make the record, leaving the dock and going balls out full on trying to go as fast as possible," Weirheim said. "The low point would be the unfortunate wind angle that we had because we weren't able to use the boat to its full potential. The wind went so far forward, and we were hitting waves every 10 feet." During the process of preparing for the second, more recent attempt to break the record, Jackson and company caught the attention of Virgin Group owner and billionaire Richard Branson. Branson, who is notorious for seeking out record-breaking adventures, became a co-skipper of the boat and changed its name and logo. Like Branson, Jackson and the rest of the crew, Weirheim is disappointed with the result of the most recent attempt but said the boat will be ready for another attempt soon enough. "It was just a wicked experience and it abruptly came to an end when the high pressure system caught us," Weirheim said. "I'd just like to thank Alex for giving me the opportunity to sit on the boat. We look forward to sailing on it and showing everyone what we can do and the records we can break."
Its season might have ended in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament on Sunday, but for the men's soccer team, the early exit couldn't dull a fall campaign that witnessed a lot of progress. On one hand, Tufts could be considered a team whose poor performance in conference road games forced it to fight for its postseason life. On the other, this year's young Jumbo squad, in the midst of a rebuilding year, performed much better than its 2007 incarnation, which relied on eight seniors but only managed to go 5-8-1 overall and 2-6-1 in the NESCAC, missing the postseason entirely. This season saw Tufts finish 8-6-1 overall and 4-5 in conference, a marked improvement from last autumn's showing. With just two seniors returning this season, starting goalkeeper and tri-captain David McKeon and defender-turned-midfielder and tri-captain Peter DeGregorio, the Jumbos were forced to rely on a number of underclassmen to lead them through the perennially difficult NESCAC, home of last year's national champion Middlebury. Freshman midfielders Pat Doherty, Matt Blumenthal and David Orlowitz all saw extended time throughout the year, along with first-year defender Rafael Ramos-Meyer, who started all 15 games this season. "The season was, in my mind, successful," DeGregorio said. "We faced a lot of adversity — we graduated seven or eight starters from last year — and we were able to win some pretty big games this year, and I consider that a success." After 2-0 tune-up wins at Gordon and Southern Maine to begin the year, Tufts started its conference slate at home against Colby. After tying the game at one on a goal from sophomore midfielder Ron Coleman, another major underclassman contributor, the Jumbos allowed the Mules to score with less than 10 seconds left in double overtime. Tufts followed this heartbreaking loss with a 0-0 draw at New England College, the first scoreless tie the Jumbos had played in since a 1999 match against Bates. "We didn't attack with as much creativity or gusto as we could have," said sophomore forward Alex Lach, who started all 14 games in which he played. "That maybe allowed our opponents to get in a rhythm offensively. Other than that, [not] coming up with big plays and big situations, like the Colby game — giving up that goal with six seconds left. We missed a couple of big opportunities during the year." These early season results hinted at the Jumbos' Achilles' heel of the 2008 campaign: a lack of consistent scoring, especially on the road. After home wins over Conn. College and non-conference foe Springfield, Tufts dropped its rain-marred Homecoming contest versus Bates 2-0. A week later, the Jumbos were bageled again, falling to traditional power Amherst 3-0. While the squad certainly struggled to score at times, it also displayed great resilience throughout the entire year. After those two NESCAC shutouts, the Jumbos took out their frustrations on overmatched Plymouth State, 4-1. Tufts notched goals from four different players during the game, including junior forward Dan Schoening, who ended up with a team-leading eight scores on the season. Coleman finished second on the team with three tallies, while fellow sophomore Lach led the Jumbos with four total assists. After being shut out at Middlebury 2-0, Tufts found itself toward the bottom of the NESCAC standings and fighting for one of the league's eight playoff spots. But the Jumbos once again bounced back, earning consecutive home victories over conference rivals Williams and Wesleyan. The victory over Williams ended the Jumbos' 13-game losing streak against the Ephs. "Beating Williams was definitely a high point," said DeGregorio, who tallied an assist in the victory. The Wesleyan win was also impressive in its own right, as the Jumbos overcame a 1-0 halftime deficit to down the Cardinals. Demonstrating their continued inconsistency at keeping momentum, the Jumbos were victims of another road shutout, this time at the hands of Trinity, who topped Tufts 1-0 in overtime. The loss set up a regular season finale at Bowdoin that was essentially a do-or-die situation in terms of playoff eligibility for Tufts. The Jumbos were up to the task, coming up with a clutch win in Maine on Halloween to clinch the sixth seed in the NESCAC Tournament. "We did a lot of things that we wanted to accomplish," Lach said. "We made the NESCAC Tournament, which we didn't do last year, so at least in that regard we improved. We had a couple of wins, like the Wesleyan win, coming back at halftime, and the Bowdoin game, where we really grew as a team." A spirited postseason run was not in the cards, however, as Tufts bowed out in the first round with a 2-0 loss to Trinity on Sunday. Still, the team is confident that the progress it made this year will translate into success in 2009. "We have high expectations for next year," Lach said. "We started a bunch of sophomores this year, some freshmen. We're only losing two seniors — granted, they're both huge parts of our team — but we're definitely looking forward to next season. We want to go further in the tournament and hopefully make the NCAAs." DeGregorio, one of the two departing seniors, is confident that the young Jumbos will come into their own. "I think the team has a great chance to be successful in the future," he said. "Just like any team with potential, it depends on what they do with it. And if they work hard and stay focused, they're going to have a great season next year."
The sailing team had one main objective coming into this weekend: earn a berth in the Atlantic Coast Championships (ACC). Through some of the best sailing the team has exhibited all season, the Jumbos accomplished just that.
With three head races and seven-odd weeks of fall training on the water behind it, the women's crew team heads into winter certain of one thing: starting spots for the spring season are up for grabs.
With a narrow loss to Coast Guard Oct. 19 in the North Atlantic Division Championship -- Tufts' first defeat of the season -- it was all over for the water polo team. After finishing third at Club Nationals two years in a row in 2006 and 2007, the Jumbos would miss that tournament this year and were headed home.
Sophomore Dawson Joyce-Mendive was awarded NESCAC Player of the Week honors for her outstanding performances over the weekend for the volleyball squad.
Commissioner Gary Bettman would love to put an end to fighting in the NHL, but if Saturday night's Boston Bruins game is any indication, both fans and players disagree.
There's more than just the political fates of Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain on the line this Election Day. The field hockey team also finds itself on a ballot, as the National Field Hockey Coaches Association will release its weekly national poll in which the Jumbos are expected to contend for the top spot.
At this time two years ago, then-freshman Tom McManama expected to inherit the football team's starting quarterback job. But when Matt Russo (LA '08) cashed in on an extra year of eligibility to return as a fifth-year senior, McManama manned up and used last year as extra time to study the team and learn the offense. He prepared, instead, to be the starter by his junior year.
As the 2008-09 NBA season begins to unfold this month, the crop of veterans who will make their run for the league's MVP award and highlight the All-Star game will probably look very familiar: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul and Tim Duncan. These household names will remain dominant forces on their talented, playoff-bound teams, but the infusion of young talent into the league over the last five years is crowding the landscape with players who are itching to break out.
The field hockey team showed no signs of an emotional hangover when it took to Bello Field for its NESCAC Tournament opener yesterday. Following its monumental victory over nationally ranked No. 1 Bowdoin Friday night, top-seeded Tufts cruised to a 5-1 victory over eighth-seeded Colby and ensured that the road to a conference championship will pass through Medford, Mass.
The field hockey team earned a 4-3 upset win over No. 1 Bowdoin in Brunswick, Maine on Friday evening to complete a perfect 14-0 regular season and record one of the greatest wins by any Tufts team in school history. The Jumbos followed by winning their NESCAC Tournament opener against Colby 5-1 yesterday on Bello Field. A look inside the numbers:
Knowing it will have to upset at least one regional foe at the Nov. 15 New England Championships to earn a team bid to Nationals, the women's cross country squad entered Saturday's NESCAC Championships, hosted by Bates, looking to do just that.
Before the football team's Sept. 20 season opener against Wesleyan, coach Bill Samko promised that his top two quarterbacks, juniors Anthony Fucillo and Tom McManama, would both see action. And when McManama failed to take one snap during Tufts' contest against the Cardinals, Samko stressed that the team's win was far more important than individuals' playing time.
For the second straight season, the NESCAC Tournament came down to penalty kicks for the women's soccer team. And for the second year, Bowdoin ended Tufts' conference playoff run prematurely with a 4-2 edge in the shootout.
After polishing off its final two matches against league rivals Wesleyan and Trinity, the volleyball team secured the NESCAC regular-season title and the right to host the NESCAC Tournament with an unblemished 10-0 conference record.
