Triathlon ends season strong
The MIT Triathlon club recently ended its racing season after an impressive 2011 outing. The team won a local race series, qualified the female and male teams for the 2012 Collegiate Nationals Championships, and fielded a number of MIT triathletes in races across New England.
SPORTS SHORT
This weekend the rifle team broke the MIT school record score in air rifle, setting a new high with 2251 points out of a possible 2400. To give an idea of what this event involves, consider that in order to get the highest possible score on each of 60 targets, competitors have to hit a dot the size of a period from 10 meters away, while standing and supporting the rifle for two hours. The team also scored 2184 in smallbore, a season best so far. The Naval Academy won with 2203 in air rifle and 2273 in smallbore.
Women’s Volleyball victorious against WPI; last home game
Colorful and motivational posters and balloons lined Rockwell Cage this Tuesday evening for the final home volleyball match of the regular season. Full of spirit, the seniors sprinted onto the court, energetically anticipating their final home game. For the ’12s, it was a night to remember as MIT defeated WPI in a 3-0 sweep, raising MIT’s record to 22-9 overall and 6-2 in NEWMAC.
MOLLY E. MCSHANE ’13 McShane is ‘a little ’stitious’
Meet Molly E. McShane ’13. Molly started playing field hockey nine years ago as preparation for her high school’s highly competitive team. Having played many different sports growing up, field hockey must have come naturally to her because now, nine years later, she is the captain of the MIT Women’s Field Hockey team — currently tied for first in the NEWMAC conference and 13-3 overall this season.
SPORTS SHORT
The MIT Swimming and Diving teams opened their seasons this past weekend by hosting the Charles Batterman Relays. Wheaton College and Bentley College also competed, but the Engineers swept the competition, winning every event.
Soccer wins 2-0 vs. Coast Guard
Allison M. Park ’12 notched a goal and an assist in MIT’s 2-0 victory over the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in a NEWMAC women’s soccer game on Saturday afternoon. The win lifted the Engineers’ ledger to 10-3-2 for the year, marking their third straight 10-win campaign and fifth during the last six years. In addition, MIT raised its conference record to 5-1-2, which resulted in fourth-year head coach Martin Desmarias becoming the program’s all-time leader in league victories.
Who will take the win? Cardinals vs. Rangers
Editor’s Note: The Fall Classic. Of the 30 teams to begin the 2011 MLB season, only two are left: the Texas Rangers and the St. Louis Cardinals. After six-and-a-half months of baseball, only seven games remain. As this year’s playoffs have already shown, anything can happen in such a short series. (Even, perhaps, the predictions made by the Tech’s Sports Staff below). With bragging rights and a dinner on the line, will we be able to shed our reputation for making horribly inaccurate picks?
ROBERT A. ‘BOBBY’ WEBER ’13 The Ultimate social glue
Robert A. “Bobby” Weber ’13, a junior in Course 15, plays cutter for the MIT Men’s Ultimate team. Passionate about the sport since his early years, Bobby started an Ultimate frisbee club in his high school and later played on a team that achieved second place at state competitions twice in a row. When he got to MIT, he was taken under the wing of former MIT Ultimate star Isaac T. Entz ’11, whom Bobby admires considerably. “If I had to describe our team in two words, it would be Isaac Entz. He is an inspiration to all of us and a true mentor.”
Taekwondo goes international
This summer, several members and instructors of the MIT Sport Taekwondo club represented the United States as part of the national team at two major competitions: the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships and the World University Games. The club members were competing in the Taekwondo discipline of poomsae, a series of choreographed moves that require power, balance, and flexibility. Poomsae is judged much in the same way that gymnastics or figure skating is scored, according to both accuracy and interpretation.
Soccer nets 2-0 victory against Coast Guard
On a cool, crisp Saturday during Family Weekend, MIT defeated the Coast Guard Academy 2-0 in an exhilarating soccer match at Steinbrenner Stadium. The Engineers earned their first win in the conference, improving their NEWMAC record to 1-3-0 and their overall record to 6-6-0. The Bears, tough competitors for the Engineers, saw their record decline to 1-3-1 in the conference and to 4-7-1 overall. The Engineers started off this season well with a 4-0 winning streak and then suddenly lost their drive and fell to a 0-6 losing streak. This game was essential for the Engineers, as it was a must-win for them to move on to the conference tournament.
Sports Shorts
The MIT rifle team completed its first home match of the season on Saturday, bringing its record to a 6-0. The Engineers won in both smallbore and air rifle competitions against the visiting Wentworth Institute of Technology and John Jay College rifle teams. The MIT team completed the match with its highest scores of the season: 2167 in smallbore (John Jay 1989, Wentworth 1917) and 2222 in air (John Jay 2164, Wentworth 2028). Nigel C. Kojimoto ’12 led the team with a 560 in smallbore and 572 in air rifle, both out of 600 possible points. Elizabeth A. Phillips ’13 scored second highest on the MIT team with a 540 smallbore and a 558 air rifle score. Also contributing towards the win were season-best scores from Jennifer C. de Bruijn ’12 and Michael A. Batista ’12. Though not on the competing team, Kai Liao ’14 shot a personal high score of 538 in air rifle, alongside Christian A. Valledor ’12, Timothy R. Jenks ’13, David Huang ’14, Alvin Mwijuka ’15, and David M. Bocek ’15. MIT’s next home match will be held Oct. 28–29 against Navy and Wentworth.
ERIKA LEE ’12 The art of kicking people
Nearly 12 years ago, Erika Lee ’12 became infatuated with a “bad” martial arts movie and began training at a local taekwondo place near her home in California. Today, Lee boasts a second degree black belt, appearances in international competitions, and a love for electrical engineering and computer science. This senior is quite the star of the MIT Sport Taekwondo Club, and also serves as treasurer and instructor for the team this year.
SPORTS SHORT
MIT’s women’s tennis team finished off a fine NEWMAC conference season Monday as the No. 22 Engineers took a 6-3 win at Wheaton College. MIT picked up key wins in all three doubles matches as it ran its record to 6-2 overall and 6-1 in the NEWMAC.
Sailing takes 8th at Danmark Trophy
The nationally-ranked No. 11 MIT coed sailing team captured eighth place out of 20 squads at the Danmark Trophy while its entries finished in fourth and fifth place at the Charles River Invitational this past weekend. In addition, team member Hanna M. Vincent ’13 secured 10th place at the New England Women’s Singlehanded Championship.