Track & Field tussle at ECAC
The MIT Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams competed this weekend in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and IC4A indoor track championships. For those who are unfamiliar with the sport, in track events, individuals race around an oval track, sometimes in individually painted lanes. For field events, athletes perform a variety of feats of strength like pole vaulting (running with a long, flexible pole, planting it in the ground, and launching over a bar as high as possible), the long jump and triple jump (both involving sprinting at full speed and jumping as far as possible into a pit of sand), and throwing events such as discus, hammer throw, javelin, and shot put (throwing objects of various shapes and sizes).
B-ball falls to Rochester in second round of Div. III
Eric S. Zuk ’11 had a season-best 15 points and William Tashman ’13 added 16, but it was not enough as MIT fell to the University of Rochester, 60-52 in the second round of the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball on Saturday evening. The Engineers were outscored 40-27 in the second half, narrowly missing out on the Sweet Sixteen for the second time in three years. Tech sees its season come to an end at 20-9, the third consecutive 20-win campaign for Coach Larry Anderson’s squad.
Fencers compete at NEIFC
Battling injuries, missing teammates and youth, the MIT Men’s and Women’s Fencing teams placed third overall in the combined results at this weekend’s New England Intercollegiate Fencing Championships (NEIFC) at Mount Holyoke College. The men’s three weapons combined for a fourth place finish in the 12-team field, while the Tech women were third in the final rankings of 15 women’s schools.
Volleyball beats Elms College
William B. Evans ’14 registered a match-high 11 kills and five aces in MIT’s 25-12, 25-18, 25-17 victory over Elms College in a North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) New England Division men’s volleyball match on Tuesday night. With the win, the nationally-ranked No. 13 Engineers improved to 19-5 on the year and 12-0 in conference play.
Upcoming Home Events
Friday, March 4 Men’s Volleyball vs. Emerson College 5 p.m., Rockwell Cage Men’s Volleyball vs. Lasell College 7 p.m., Rockwell Cage Men’s Tennis vs. New York University 8 p.m., Carr Indoor Courts Saturday, March 5 Women’s Tennis vs. New York University 9:30 a.m., Carr Indoor Courts Men’s Volleyball vs. Mount Ida College 10:30 a.m., Rockwell Cage Men’s Tennis vs. Stevens Institute of Technology 1 p.m., Carr Indoor Courts Men’s Volleyball vs. Emmanuel College 3 p.m., Rockwell Cage
MIT defends conference title
On the strength of seven first-place finishes, MIT increased its lead during Saturday’s finals session in the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship. The Engineers raised their total to 769 points while the U.S. Coast Guard Academy maintained its position in second place with a tally of 517. Springfield College continued to rank third with 346 points.
Upcoming Home Events
Tuesday, March 1 Men’s Volleyball vs. Elms College 7 p.m., Rockwell Cage Thursday, March 3 Men’s Tennis vs. Emerson College 4 p.m., Carr Indoor Courts
Squash finishes strong
The MIT Squash team came in second (3-6) to Vanderbilt on Sunday after three days of matches at the 2011 Men’s National Team Championships this weekend. In squash, the scores indicate the number of match wins of one team’s top nine against the other team’s corresponding nine. The squash team won 6-3 against the University of Washington on Friday in the first round of competition and 5-4 against UC Berkeley during Saturday’s semifinals at Harvard.
Men’s Basketball wins NEWMACs
The MIT Men’s Basketball team competed in the NEWMAC tournament held at Worcester Polytechnic Institute over the weekend. The Engineers, seeded second in the field of four teams, defeated Springfield College in the semifinals on Saturday, 77-68, before upsetting hosts and top-seeded WPI on Sunday, 63-52.
Upcoming Home Events
Friday, February 25 Men’s Swimming and Diving - NEWMAC Championships 11 a.m., Z-Center Pool Squash vs. University of Washington 7:30 p.m., Z-Center Courts Saturday, February 26 Rifle - Alumni Match 9 a.m., DuPont Range Men’s Swimming and Diving - NEWMAC Championships 11 a.m., Z-Center Pool Sunday, February 27 Men’s Swimming and Diving - NEWMAC Championships 11 a.m., Z-Center Pool
Men’s Track & Field wins twelfth NEWMAC title
Twenty-four teams traveled to Springfield, Mass. last Saturday to compete in the New England Track and Field Division III Championship. MIT arrived as one of the two heavy favorites, the other being Williams College. Based on past results and expectations, MIT and Williams seemed to be evenly matched. As Coach Halston W. Taylor said aptly in the pre-meet meeting, “It’s going to come down to who wants it more.” And it did.
Swimming takes conference crown
For the first time in school history, MIT took first place at the NEWMAC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships. With this win, the Engineers put an end to Springfield College’s 10-year reign as league champions. Over the course of the weekend, nine NEWMAC Championship records fell at the Mount Holyoke College Natatorium.
Williams sneaks Track win
MIT Women’s Track and Field once again demonstrated their characteristic competitiveness and tenacity as they competed in the New England Division III Indoor Championships held here at MIT over the weekend. Although rival Williams College was favored to win the event, the Engineers refused to allow Williams to simply walk into their house and take the title without an impressive fight.
Upcoming Home Events
Thursday, February 24 Men’s Tennis vs. Emerson College 4 p.m., Carr Courts
Sports Shorts
In its final competition of the regular season, the MIT Rifle team traveled to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and suffered a pair of narrow set-backs in both the smallbore and air rifle portions of the meet. The Engineers finished just 25 points behind the hosts in smallbore, with a final score of 2114-2091, and were defeated 2194-2135 in air. Elizabeth A. Phillips ’13 led the way for Tech in both guns and had the second highest air rifle score in the meet.
Hoops teams fall to Mt. Holyoke, Coast Guard
Both the MIT Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams lost last weekend, as the men were upset by Coast Guard and the women could not hold on against Mount Holyoke.
Upcoming Home Events
Wednesday, February 16 Men’s Basketball vs. Wheaton College 6 p.m., Rockwell Cage Women’s Basketball vs. WPI 8 p.m., Rockwell Cage
Oh, when the Saints …
Editor’s note: This is a continuation of a Feb. 1 column on the most memorable sports moments of 2010.