Traveling Tigers

When TigerBlog's colleagues Kim Meszaros and Karen Malec left on their respective international trips with the Princeton women's lacrosse and Princeton women's squash teams, he wished them good times, good weather and good food.

The women's lacrosse team is currently in Italy for its fall break. The women's squash team also is in Europe, in their case in Portugal. 

Before they left, the weather forecasts weren't great. Judging by what TB has seen on social media, so far at least the teams have been met with blue skies.

The women's lacrosse team was at Pompeii yesterday. That, of course, is the site of the famous eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. From what TB could see, the weather was perfect.

Also, it appears that, not shockingly, there have been carbs on the trip as well. Kim posted on her own social media that there was a pizza-making class, and she smiled as she displayed the final product.

The women's squash team, from their own Instagram story, spent the day at a training session in Lisbon and then seemed to be having salads for lunch. Again, the weather seemed to be cooperating.

It's already Wednesday, which means that the trips are already in their mid-point. They certainly fly by. 

TigerBlog has been on four of these international trips. They are remarkable opportunities for the players, and everyone else who goes, to have an amazing group experience that brings them closer together and also gives them a week that they'll never forget. 

There are cultural events. There are social events. There are service events. There are sporting events. There is practice and competition. And it's all packed into a week, far from home.

What more could you ask for if you were a college athlete? 

The NCAA permits teams to make these trips once every four years. At this time last year, TB was with the men's lacrosse team in Andorra and Spain. 

The best way to keep up with these teams is through their Instagram pages, both the teams and the individual athletes. In many ways, it's like you're there with them. You can certainly see what a great experience they're all having. Those who have made it possible are owed a huge thank you.

The Princeton campus this week is relatively quiet, as most students are home for the break. Fall and winter teams are practicing and competing, of course.

Not every team who flew somewhere headed east. In the case of the men's water polo team, they went west, to spend the week in California. 

Princeton is currently ranked sixth in the country in men's water polo. The program, which reached the NCAA quarterfinals last year, is in a phenomenal place, literally and figuratively. The figurative part is that Princeton is an established national power. The literal part is California, where the best teams are located.

So far on the trip, Princeton has defeated UC Irvine (ranked ninth) and UC Santa Barbara (ranked 10th). Today's challenge? That would be at No. 1 UCLA, at 9 Eastern time tonight. 

The Tigers will have a day off tomorrow and then play four more times at the Santa Clara Invitational, where they will take on three more ranked California squads: No. 15 Pacific, No. 12 San Jose State and No. 5 Pepperdine. They will also take on Division II Fresno Pacific before flying home. 

After the Tigers return home, they have two more regular season weekends, with matches at Brown, Harvard and MIT next weekend and then home matches against LIU and Iona at DeNunzio Pool Nov. 4. Beyond that is the Northeast Water Polo Conference tournament, which will be held at Harvard Nov. 17-19 and which will decide the league's automatic NCAA tournament bid.

For now, though, it's spring break. From where the women's lacrosse and squash teams are to where the men's water polo team is, that's about a 7,000-mile distance. 

These are weeks that these traveling Tigers will always remember.