By August 27, 2004
Tennis is a cruel sport. Bad calls, broken strings, clipped net chords — a countless number of things can go wrong. Your best shot can become your worst. The player you used to mop the court with is suddenly beating you 6-0, 6-0. No one needs to tell the women’s tennis team this. Despite potential and tenacity, the squad has struggled in recent years, going 7-9 last season with only one Ivy League win. Yet, just as a fresh can of balls can put new life in your game, so too can a new coach, which is exactly what the Red are hoping for with the naming of Laura Glitz as the new Carl H. Meinig ’31 Head Coach of Women’s Tennis. Becoming the eighth coach in program history, Glitz takes over the position from interim head coach Tom Brownlie ’98. Glitz brings with her an impressive tennis resume that boast experience as both a player and a coach. An All-America selection at Arizona State, Glitz spent four years on the WTA Tour playing in all four Grand Slam events. Before coming to Cornell, she worked as tennis pro in Pennsylvania and most recently served as the assistant coach to Princeton’s renowned Louise Gengeler. Working with Gengeler, Glitz described half partnership, half mentorship and felt the experience has smoothed the transition to head coach. “[Gengeler] was helping me with what I need to do to become a good head coach,” said Glitz. “Last year I did a lot of the duties as head coach, so it hasn’t been that big of a transition yet.” Glitz inherits a Cornell program virtually intact from last year, including seniors Akane Kokubo and Erika Takeuchi, both second team All-Ivy players last year. Last year’s lone departing senior, Laura Leigh Tallent, will return for the fall to volunteer as an assistant coach. “It’ll be nice because obviously [Tallent] knows the girls, plus she’s a great player,” Glitz said. Having met and seen only about half the team, Glitz is unsure what to expect. Ironically, the one match she missed last year was Princeton and Cornell. She was having foot surgery, while the Tigers beat the Red 6-1. “I’m not sure exactly why the team hasn’t done better, because it definitely has all the tools to be a good program,” said Glitz. “The one thing, from just talking with the captains, is that they just need to be in a more disciplined atmosphere.” Glitz plans to focus on all aspects of the game from technique, to training, to mental preparation. “The one thing everybody said about this team is that they’re very good fighters. If you have that then I think you can improve,” Glitz said. “My goal will be just for us to be as prepared as we can when we go to play. Then you let it happen and whatever’s going to happen happens.” Recruitment will also be one of Glitz’s top priorities. She plans to bring in 14 or 15 potential recruits for visits this year with the hopes that 4 or 5 of them will be playing for her in the fall. “That’s obviously the basis of your program,” She said. “You’ve got to keep feeding your program every year, otherwise you end up at the bottom.” Glitz looks forward to playing against Princeton and relishes the idea of a victory over her old team. “I definitely would like to take them down,” she said. While she refrained from making predictions about the outcome or about possibly recruiting some transfers from Princeton. Glitz faces a tough road ahead this coming year. Both Harvard and Penn are bringing in strong recruits, while Yale and Princeton are perennial contenders. At the other end of the spectrum is Brown, which at the moment has yet to find a head coach to replace its coach of 19 years, Norma Taylor. While the addition of Glitz alone is unlikely to bring the Red home an Ivy League crown this year, it may just be the fresh can of balls needed to revitalize the women’s tennis program. Archived article by Paul TestaSun Staff Writer
By August 27, 2004
Following last year’s superb season, during which the Cornell wrestlers placed 11th at the NCAA championships, Rob Koll, the David R. Dunlop ’59 Head Coach of Wrestling, and his staff started solidifying their recruiting class for this year. The fruits of those labors are 10 accomplished freshmen from across the country, to whom Koll will look to continue the success of his program in the coming years.Six of the newcomers earned high school All-America honors and are among several who should make an immediate impact on the Red’s lineup. Three high school All-Americans will join the squad’s lightweight classes, including Nick Bridge (Galloway, NJ), Mike Rodriguez (Kennewick, Wash.), and Jordan Leen (Chattanooga, Tenn.). Bridge joins his older brother, Ryan, on the Red after a successful career at Absegami High School, where he captured the state championship at 125 pounds as a senior after placing third and fifth during his junior and sophomore seasons, respectively. He was victorious in his final 32 matches and helped his team to a perfect 90-0 record in dual meets over the course of his career. Bridge was ranked third among all senior wrestlers from New Jersey by InterMat. One of the top grapplers from the state of Washington, Rodriguez was a two-time state champion whose bid for a third title came up short due to an injury at this year’s state finals in the 125-pound bracket. He began his career at Kamiakin High School with a second-place finish at 103 pounds as a freshman. In 2003, Rodriguez was also a junior national champion in Greco-Roman at 112 pounds. Leen, considered the top senior wrestler in Tennessee by InterMat, was a four-time state champion at the Baylor School and is coming off a first-place finish at the NHSCA Seniors National Wrestling Championships in the 130-pound bracket. For his efforts at nationals, he was featured in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd.” The all-time winningest wrestler in Tennessee history (214 victories), Leen helped Baylor capture three state titles and a pair of state dual championships. A trio of middleweight wrestlers should make a strong impact as freshmen, led by All-America honorable mention selections Steve Anceravage (Bloomsburg, Pa.) and Drake Hovis (St. Louis, MO), along with Mike Mackie (Brandywine, Pa.). Anceravage completed a highly successful career by capturing a state title at 152 pounds after helping his team win the Class AA state dual championship. He was a state runner-up as a junior and earned fourth- and sixth-place finishes at the 2003 junior nationals in Greco-Roman and freestyle, respectively. Despite being one of a few scholastic wrestlers entered at the 2003 junior world trials, Anceravage lost just twice and won five matches against NCAA Division I wrestlers to place sixth among 37 contenders at 145 pounds. Hovis was a three-time state champion at The Whitfield School and captured fifth-place at the 2003 junior nationals freestyle competition after a fourth-place cadet finish the previous year in Greco-Roman. The Missouri Wrestling Association’s wrestler of the year in Class 1, Hovis finished his high school career with a record of 160-5. He also was named to Wrestling USA magazine’s high school All-America academic team. A second-place finisher at the Pennsylvania state championships as a junior, Mackie also took home a third-place finish as a senior for Brandywine Heights High School. Mackie won the District III championship in 2004 and went on to earn the 173-pound title at this year’s War at the South Jersey Shore. As for the upper-weight classes, the Cornell will bring in three talented grapplers who have a chance to break into the starting lineup early on. Zach Hammond (Mays Landing, N.J.) spent last year training as a post-grad at national powerhouse Blair Academy after graduating from Absegami High School in 2003. Competing with Blair’s college team, Hammond captured second place at 235 pounds at the NCWA national championships and defeated the reigning high school national champion, Adam Cooney. Hammond was a third-place finisher for Absegami at the 2003 New Jersey state championships after earning sixth place the previous year. An honorable mention high school All-American, Doug Weidner (Perkesie, Pa.) was a state-runner-up as a senior at Pennridge High School after finishing fourth as a junior. Weidner won the fifth-place bout at the 2003 Beast of the East tournament. Stephen Yanchuck (Bristow, Va.) was a four-time placer in the Virginia state tournament during his career at Brentsville District High School. His best finish was second as a junior at 215 pounds and after moving up to the 275-pound class as a senior, Yanchuck earned a sixth-place standing. In the 2004 Virginia vs. Maryland all-star meet, Yanchuck posted a win to help the Virginia B team earn a victory. Archived article by Everett HullversonSun Assistant Sports Editor