The Ancient Eight was fairly quiet this week — the last week there will be quiet in the Ivies for the next 10 months. As the fall sports season will begin to get underway this weekend, Ivy excitement is close at hand. Here’s one final summer vacation look around the Ancient Eight.
Brown
The Bears’ women’s soccer team will be the first in action this season, when it kicks off its schedule on Friday with a home game against Vermont.
Columbia
Recent Columbia grad Jonathan Reese was signed to the New York Jets practice squad on Monday. Reese, a running back, was the most prolific rusher in Lions history. He graduated in 2002.
Paul Fernandes will begin his second tour of duty as the Lions’ baseball coach this spring. He has previously served as Columbia’s Associate Athletic Director for Programs. In that capacity, he oversaw the operation of several Columbia teams.
Dartmouth
Dartmouth alum Adam Nelson won a silver medal in the shot put in the IAAF World Championships, which were held in Paris last month. Nelson threw a 29-9, nearly two feet behind gold medalist Andrei Mikhnevich. Nelson also won silver medals at the 2000 Olympics and the 2001 World Championships.
Harvard
Linebacker Dante Balestracci was named to the Buchanan Award Watch List by The Sports Network. The Buchanan Award is given to the top defensive player in Division I-AA.
In addition, men’s soccer player Kevin Ara was named to the Hermann Trophy watch list. The Hermann Trophy is college soccer’s equivalent of the Heisman trophy.
Penn
Former Quaker Sam Burley placed fourth in the 800 meters at the IAAF World Championships, only to be disqualified for running out of his lane. He posted a time of 1:46.63, eliminating his chance to advance to the next round.
Senior Matt Haefner was named to the Hermann Trophy watch list. The Penn soccer team was ranked No. 3 in the Mid-Atlantic region in the NSCAA poll.
Heavyweight rower Andrew Kelly won a gold medal in the men’s pair with coxswain at the World Rowing Championships in Milan.
Princeton
Recent Princeton graduate Trevor Smith was awarded the ITA/Arthur Ashe Award at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, N.Y. Smith is the son of tennis legend Stan Smith. The elder Smith is a former U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion and a friend of the late Ashe.
Rachel Becker, the former women’s lacrosse star was named a finalist for the Women’s Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year Award. Becker was the 2003 Ivy League Player of the Year in women’s lacrosse.
Yale
Former Bulldogs football coach Carm Cozza was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame on Aug. 9. Cozza coached the Elis for 32 years, recording 159 wins before his retirement in 1996.
Archived article by Owen Bochner