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.
Taking on Div. I at BU
The MIT Women’s Track and Field team was back in action at Boston University for the second time in three weeks, and the Engineers were once again up to the challenge of competing with some of the top athletes in New England, including a number of Division I competitors. The Engineers achieved seven different NCAA-level performances while narrowly missing a few more in its final weekend of competition before the Division III New England Championship.
Upcoming Home Events
Saturday, February 12 Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Coed Invitational 12 p.m., Johnson Track Women’s Basketball vs. Mount Holyoke College 2 p.m., Rockwell Cage
Fencing team hosts Eric Sollee Invitational
The MIT Men’s and Women’s Fencing teams both won two matches at Sunday’s Eric Sollee Invitational Fencing Tournament, held at MIT. The women’s team scored a 25-2 thrashing of Yeshiva University and a 22-5 victory over Hunter College, while the men’s team took care of Yeshiva by the same score and Hunter by a 17-10 tally.
MIT men’s volleyball raises record to 11-7
The MIT Men’s Volleyball team emerged with a 25-23, 25-18, 25-17 victory over division rivals Endicott College on Tuesday night. The nationally-ranked No. 7 Engineers raised their record to 11-2 for the year and 7-0 in conference play. MIT scored the first three points of the match and later held an 8-4 lead. Endicott countered with a 6-1 spurt which put it in front for a majority of the frame. Five ties ensued until a strike by Kenneth M. Siebert ’14 ended a long rally to give the Engineers a 21-20 edge. A kill from William B. Evans ’14 increased the margin, which prompted a timeout from the Gulls. After the break, both sides traded points, and another Siebert blast closed the set. Endicott jumped out to a 6-3 advantage in the second game, but MIT responded with a 9-3 run to pull ahead. The Gulls capitalized on several miscues by the Engineers, tying the set at 13. An Endicott service error followed by an ace from Siebert gave MIT some breathing room. However, both squads exchanged serves as a kill from Endicott’s Jeremy Siden brought the Gulls within one point. MIT countered by registering an 8-2 run to wrap up the set.
Sports Shorts
The men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in a tri-meet against Williams and Moravian on Saturday. Both teams took first place by a wide margin.
Upcoming Home Events
Tuesday, February 8 Men’s Volleyball vs. Endicott College 7 p.m., Rockwell Cage
The Red Sox are back
Welcome back. For some of you, this has been a four-month hibernation from reading or thinking about professional baseball. I’ve kept tabs on all of you. In Dallas, you despaired for the plight of Tony Romo, agonized over Wade Phillips, and fell back in love with Jason Garrett. In Alabama, you invested your life savings in a Cam Newton legal defense fund and vowed to take those bureaucrats at the NCAA to the Supreme Court over Newton’s eligibility, if it came to that. In Green Bay, you went to your neighborhood Packer shrine and thanked the Cheesehead gods for giving you a general manager with the guts to say “no” to Brett Favre and “yes” to Aaron Rodgers when it came down to it in 2008. In New England, you thought that this year was going to be better than the 18-1 2007 season, until it wasn’t.
Packers vs. Steelers: Our picks
The Super Bowl is once again upon us, when the collective attention of the nation will be directed towards their TV screens watching the Packers and the Steelers take one another on in Dallas. Who will win? The Tech’s Sports staff weigh in, with bragging rights on the line …
Swim and Dive fall to Amherst
The MIT Swimming and Diving teams took to the pool against Amherst College on Saturday. Despite strong efforts, neither the men’s nor women’s team were able to come away with a victory. The losses were the first of the season for both teams.