After 19 contests across 11 weeks of play, it all comes down to this: one weekend, one bracket of semifinalists and one goal -- namely, winning a national title.
The men's cross country team will be taking part in the NCAA Championship in Hanover, Ind. tomorrow -- just not in the way anybody had planned.
NCAA Div. III Semifinals, at Ursinus College, Tomorrow
Although the season may be over for the majority of the women's cross country team, for sophomores Stephanie McNamara and Amy Wilfert, tomorrow's race marks the biggest of them all.
The NHL's League Competition Committee has decided to take a break from devising strategies to increase scoring and is instead pondering ways to reduce injuries. With a recent rash of players going into the end boards (an epidemic of high ankle sprains, Mike Van Ryn and Patrice Bergeron's concussions, and most recently, Andy McDonald's broken leg), the NHL is attempting to reduce contact in the corners.
While the beginning of every collegiate sports season almost inevitably coincides with a period of transition and adjustment --- new players learn the ropes and the veterans sort out new starting roles -- the men's squash team is feeling a much more acute sense of this period of change and uncertainty.
One thing that has stood out about the women's squash program in recent years is its consistency: The Jumbos always seem to fight their way to a top-25 ranking by the end of the year. This season, the goal remains the same: to compete for a spot in either the Kurtz Cup (B division) or Walker Cup (C Division) brackets at the College Squash Association's national championships.
It appears that the women's basketball team's historic 2007-08 campaign paid dividends in recruiting. Joining the mix this season are three freshmen -- Kate Barnosky, Rachel Figaro and Tiffany Kornegay -- who bring with them a wealth of experiences.
Since the dawn of the Yankees' dynasty in the 90s, the franchise's offseason moves have been relatively easy to predict. Steinbrenner has reacted to the team's failure to win a ring the only way he knows how: by breaking out the checkbook (not to mention making some questionable firings).
With the arrival of the month of November comes a few certainties: The sun sets earlier than most would prefer, stiff winds bring the leaves to the ground and NESCAC women's basketball tips off another intriguing season. The NESCAC is one of the most competitive conferences in all of women's Div. III basketball, and last season was no exception. The conference sent three teams — Amherst, Bowdoin and Tufts — to the NCAA Tournament last winter, and the Jumbos advanced as far as the Elite Eight. With plenty of returning talent, as well as a few new faces, the 2008-09 season promises to be just as exciting as the previous one. A look at where each of Tufts' conference foes stands heading into this year:
Crouching on the sideline, hands tightly clenched and eyes concentrating on the court, coach Cora Thompson of the Tufts volleyball team is the picture of focus.
After spending last season getting acquainted with the national stage, the women's basketball team has a new mission for its upcoming 2008-09 campaign: exhibit some staying power.
With all the attention being doled out in heaping holiday portions to the Tennessee Titans and the New York Giants, the media and the rest of the country seem to have overlooked the Carolina Panthers, a team with as much, if not more, spark than the undefeated Titans and the defending Super Bowl champions.
When competing in the NESCAC, a conference that annually earns recognition as one of the best in the nation, a traditional middle-of-the-pack squad like Tufts' women's swimming and diving team might struggle to form its own distinct identity. But, behind a core of experienced leaders and promising first-years, the Jumbos are seeking to establish themselves as one of the most unified teams in the nation and to ride this cohesion to another solid finish.
As fall finally gives way to winter, the hockey team will be doing its best to turn over a new leaf as well and improve upon a disappointing 2007-08 campaign.
It makes for bad results in a lab. It leads to broad, often inaccurate conclusions. It's just all-around frustrating. It's called "small sample size."
When the 2008 Pan American Games kick off today in San Juan, Argentina, Tufts field hockey coach Tina McDavitt will be absent from the USA's indoor field hockey lineup.
