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The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/2002/02/07/johnson-museum-spring-preview/)

February 7, 2002

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Johnson Museum Spring Preview

By wpengine | February 7, 2002

Although winter in Ithaca often seems a dreary period, the Johnson Museum of Art has given us four reasons to be cheerful, well five if you count the grand opening of the Two Naked Guys Caf

Grapplers Favored Against Columbia

By wpengine February 8, 2002

Tomorrow the men’s wrestling squad will host Columbia. This implies two things: the Red will improve its record to 4-3 overall, and Columbia will walk away with their second pitiful loss in a row. At least, that’s what head coach Rob Koll predicts. He explained, “Yeah, we’re going to easily beat Columbia this weekend.” Actually, that’s not quite as brazen as it initially sounds; after all, Columbia did fall 46-0 to Penn last Saturday. In a moment of conservatism, Koll cautioned that although Columbia isn’t much competition, the Red is trying not to completely overlook any further matches. Last weekend it fell to the Pennsylvania Quakers, who are ranked eighth nationally, in a 21-9 loss that was closer than the score would suggest. Koll lamented, “Our guys kind of overlooked Penn last weekend. We had a couple matches that either could have been locked up or should have been locked up, and managed to slip away.” Koll was pleased to announce that several wrestlers have stepped up their performances this spring and are proving to be great assets to his squad. He stressed, “Alejandro Alvarez has really turned around his season after a 3-10 start, winning 9 of his last 10 matches. Also, Chris Pirch, who has never seen the light of day prior to this year, is wrestling with a tremendous amount of heart and having some success. “It’s gratifying as a coach to see these guys pull through. I know how hard they have been working, especially Sean Wing. Sean is a senior who could maybe top 200 pounds if he were soaking wet with a bottle of gatorade in his hand, and he has been man-handling 270 and 280 pounders this season.” The coach stressed that it is extremely important this time of year to keep all the guys flu-free, because the guys who are winning are the guys who are at full health. Koll encourages all his men to get flu shots and dress warmly. Koll emphasized, “Coaching at Cornell is like coaching at no other school. I came from South Carolina, and if the kids there complained of school work or cold weather, I would have to look them in the eyes and laugh. Here at Cornell, it’s a completely different story. “Here I have really tried to balance coaching with academics and I really feel that academics come first. I have had to shorten my practices and encourage the guys to work out more intensely but for shorter time periods. These guys have a whole lot to contend with, and it’s a real challenge to have a competitive program with such a rigorous academic schedule,” noted Koll.Archived article by Adam Zwecker
Women Squashers Host Trinity

By wpengine February 8, 2002

After a three week layoff, the women’s squash team will host a very important weekend with major individual and team implications. Tomorrow the Red hosts Trinity, the nation’s top team and perennial favorite for the NCAA team championship. On Sunday, the Red will have to gear back up and prepare for the Ontario Team Challenge here in Ithaca. As expected, All-American and world-ranked senior star Olga Puigdemont-Sola has provided brilliant play in each of the Red’s matches and has carried the squad — at times all by herself — for much of the season. Puigdemont-Sola is undefeated in match play, playing at the number one spot in each contest, and is looking forward to her final attempt at a national title run. Other contributions have almost exclusively come from the Red’s next two slots. Seniors Andrea McNeely and Melinda Lee have played in the number two and three spots, respectively, for the Red all season long. These veterans will be called upon this weekend for huge performances against their powerhouse opponents, as will the younger bottom half of the lineup, which has struggled due to a lack of experience. The lady squashers boast a very unique mix of players, having six upperclassmen to accompany four first-year players. It is a learning process for the young team and as the season progresses the wisdom of the veterans being relayed to the younger generation should begin to materialize. Hopefully that process will be propelled by the importance of this coming weekend and the wagon will begin to operate at full speed rather than hobbling on three wheels alone. The Red’s strongest performance of the year came against Penn earlier in the season. It was the only match that saw a strong performance from the entire team from the first seed down to the ninth. The Red took the first four and the last three brackets in the lopsided victory and displayed a strength in depth that has been absent since. The Red is currently 2-5 in match play and cannot count on Puigdemont-Sola alone if it plans on stealing a match from the strongest program in the nation year in and year out.Archived article by Scott Jones