SPORTS SHORT
In its inaugural season, squads from the MIT Sporting Clays Association took fourth and fifth place at the New England Clay Cup on April 16. Shooters from MIT competed in trap, a shotgun shooting discipline in which small clay discs flying away from the shooter at 30 mph are targeted 30–40 yards downrange. Hitting the target requires identifying its trajectory, correcting for lead, aiming, and firing within 1° accuracy — all within a second. Cumulative scores are tabulated from four rounds of 25 targets.
2011 NBA Playoffs: The lay of the land
As we approach the later rounds of the 2011 NBA Playoffs, the team-to-team matchups are incredibly exciting. First, the experienced Los Angeles Lakers are up against the Dallas Mavericks and their high-powered offense. With so many players gracing the stage, there’s just so much to watch for: the slithering drives of the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (the Black Mamba) into the lane, the physical play of Lakers Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and Andrew Bynum inside the paint on both offense and defense, the sharpshooting of the Dallas power forward Dirk Nowitzki, the brilliant passing of Jason Kidd, and the acrobatic moves and unique shooting style of Shawn Marion. This is all against the backdrop of the intense sportive atmosphere brought about by the Staples Center in Los Angeles and the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
MIT Men’s Tennis takes the victory
The MIT Men’s Tennis team played in the NEWMAC tournament last weekend, hosting Wheaton, Coast Guard, and Babson. The top-seeded Engineers swept both their semifinal and final matches en route to their 13th straight conference title.
Cycling finishes dominant ECCC conference season
At the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference (ECCC) championship weekend, held in State College, Pa., the MIT Cycling team completed a fantastic road racing season, winning the season points series by a commanding 1957 to 1431 margin over second place Penn State.
ARIC J. DAMA ‘13 Course II sophomore Aric Dama reigns as one of MIT’s top pitchers
Starting pitcher Aric J. Dama ’13’s emergence as an ace on the Engineers’ roster has been one of the dominant stories of the 2011 MIT baseball season.
Tennis finishes perfect season with a 6-3 win
This past Saturday, MIT Women’s Tennis finished their season with a strong win over Trinity. In doubles both the number one team of Lauren C. Quisenberry ’14 and Candace L. Wu ’14, and the number two team of Julia C. Hsu ’14 and Bianca M. Dumitrascu ’13, destroyed their opponents with scores of 8-2. This brought MIT into the lead 2-0. Melissa A. Diskin ’11 and Katharine A. O’Neal ’14 had a closer match. After the turning game at 2-all, they took the lead to win their match 8-4. In exhibition, Jennifer A. Rees ’11 and Jenny C. Dohlman ’11 had a long match. The match was decided in the tie breaker, where they won 9-8(6). Caitlin R. Pomeroy ’13 and Hillary E. Jenny ’12 lost their match 8-0. Over all MIT was in the lead 3-0 going into the singles matches.
MIT triathlon team competes at USAT Nationals
On April 9, 12 of MIT’s triathletes traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to participate in the USA Triathlon (USAT) Collegiate National Championship against triathlon teams from all over the country. The Olympic-distance triathlon consisted of a 1,500-meter swim in the Black Warrior River, a 40-kilometer bike, and a 10-kilometer run near the University of Alabama’s campus. The MIT women’s delegation was led by Shaena R. Berlin ’13, who finished with a time of 2 hours, 39 minutes, 45 seconds. Only three spots behind her was Diana Siegel G with a time of 2:40:25. The team MVP award was given to Matthieu J. Talpe ’11, who finished the course with a blistering time of 2:14:30, the best time on the MIT team.
Lacrosse clinches playoff spot
The MIT Women’s Lacrosse team beat Wheaton 14-10 on Monday in a pivotal match on Roberts Field. The Engineers dominated in the first half, with only three turnovers and a total of 21 shots to Wheaton’s 10. Kathleen M. Kauffman ’12 and Laura M. Wacker ’13 scored MIT’s first five goals, with Wheaton’s Tess Meyer and Katie Powers each finding the goal for a 5-2 score to begin the game. However, Wheaton was then unable to respond, and the Engineers brought the half to an end with five unanswered goals and a 10-2 score.
Cycling extends conference lead
The MIT Cycling team competed in its final regular-season race weekend April 16–17 and continued to extend its lead in the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference ahead of the conference championships. The four-race weekend consisted of two races held at Dartmouth College on Saturday and two races organized by the University of New Hampshire on Sunday.
ISAAC T. ENTZ ’11 Isaac T. Entz is up in the air
Isaac T. Entz ’11, a senior in Course 16, is currently taking the intense 2.007 (Design and Manufacturing I), yet still finds time to enjoy playing on the MIT Ultimate Frisbee team. Recollecting how he got so interested in Ultimate, Isaac explained, “I first learned to play after home football games at my high school. Half of the marching band would stick around after games to play, and that’s where I got my start. I didn’t play competitively in high school but did play pickup Ultimate with a quality group at the local college in town.”
SPORTS SHORT
The MIT Heavyweight Men’s Crew swept Colgate University in two races Saturday morning in the Charles River Basin. The freshman eight, stroked by Michael R. Klinker ’14, started off the day’s action. The Engineers’ firepower proved too much for the Colgate Raiders, as MIT took a lead at the start and extended it throughout the race. MIT won with a time of 6 minutes 14 seconds, 30 seconds ahead of Colgate. The freshmen race next weekend in Hanover, N.H. against Dartmouth College and the University of Wisconsin.
Tennis earns two more wins
Last Wednesday MIT Women’s Tennis had a long match against Brandeis University. The number one team of Lauren C. Quisenberry ’14 and Candace L. Wu ’14 lost 8-3 to their opponents. The number two doubles team of Julia C. Hsu ’14 and Bianca M. Dumitrascu ’13 dominated the court and won their match 8-4. The doubles team of Melissa A. Diskin ’11 and Katharine A. O’Neal ’14 defeated their opponents 8-5, giving MIT a 2-1 lead.
Baseball scores five in ninth, upsets Babson 6-5
When he stepped onto the mound to face the Engineers in the top of the ninth inning, freshman phenom Michael Bortolotti of Babson College had given up just one earned run in 39 innings. The Engineers’ offense, dormant for eight innings against Babson starter Andrew Aizenstadt, exploded against the best pitcher in Division III baseball at just the right moment.
SCOTT T. LANDERS ’13 Duathlons, dynamics, and development
Meet Scott T. Landers ’13. When Scott isn’t busy tooling away at psets like the rest of us, he trains for — and competes in — duathlons and triathlons. In fact, Scott will be competing in both the Short Course and Long Course World Duathlon Championships this fall. But first, a short background.
SHAENA R. BERLIN ‘13 Sophomore competes in cycling and triathlon
Shaena R. Berlin ’13, a sophomore in Course 12, spends on average 15–20 hours per week training. As a member of the MIT Cycling team and the MIT Triathlon team, she spends most of her time training on her bike. Hailing from Jackson, Wyo., she was an active member of the cross-country and Nordic skiing teams in high school.
Cycling competes at Tufts
It’s notoriously difficult for a host school to win its own race weekend because of all the other responsibilities that the club must manage. From working with local police to close the course roads to coordinating housing for visiting athletes, there’s a lot that goes into a successful weekend of collegiate racing. In an exceptional organizational effort led by Zach A. LaBry G, MIT not only successfully adapted the weekend’s events to the nor’easter that blew through the weekend of Friday, April 1, but also had enough energy left over to dominate in the races themselves.