Checking In

Back in February, TigerBlog wrote about the situation in which two-time former women's soccer captain Brea Griffiths Kroeker found herself.

Brea was the rock of a defense that made its way all the way to the NCAA Final Four in 2004, her senior year. She had also been the captain a year earlier, when Princeton also reached the NCAA tournament.

In fact, the Tigers played in the tournament all four of her years, with nine total NCAA games. Of those nine games, Princeton won five of them.

Brea was a seemingly indestructible force on those teams. When TB caught up with her last winter, she was battling a very uphill struggle with her health.

To be honest, even after she explained it, TB still doesn't understand what exactly it was. All he knows is that it's been a four-year fight, and it really took a toll on her.

Now?

Brea emailed TigerBlog earlier this week with the link to her update, which she posted on YouTube. You can see it HERE.

She clearly has come a long way in the last few months. She looks great and sounds strong, and she's smiling from the start of her five-minute video. Then again, she was smiling before too, and her attitude seems to have been great throughout this entire ordeal.

Hopefully, she continues to improve.

The video, by the way, had more than 100 views when TB saw it. He's assuming many of those are her former teammates, the ones who have supported her as she has gone down this path.

Hey, once you're a Tiger, you're always a Tiger.

The 2017 women's soccer team made a great run last year, almost equaling the achievement of Brea's senior year. That achievement, by the way, has never been matched by any other Ivy League women's soccer team.

The 2017 Tigers came close though. Princeton reached the NCAA quarterfinals last year, and as you probably remember that run included a stunning 2-1 win over 21-time NCAA champ North Carolina in the Round of 16 that is up there with any win any Princeton team has ever had.

The 2018 Tigers kick off their season three weeks from today with a weekend trip to New Hampshire and Boston University. The women's soccer team also plays the first home event of the 2018-19 academic year with a game against St. Joe's four weeks from today.

TigerBlog talked to one of his colleagues at a non-Ivy school yesterday and he mentioned how his women's soccer team was scrimmaging already.

The summer will be over soon, obviously, at least in college athletics terms. There are still a few weeks left, of course, and the weather around here can only be described as classic New Jersey summer now, with heat and humidity and a chance of thunderstorms every day.

Elijah Barnes of the men's basketball team is one of many Princeton athletes who have stayed around here all summer. Barnes, a native of Middletown in Monmouth County, isn't that far from home to begin with, and he was part of the Princeton University Preparatory Program, which helps high-achieving, low-income students in Mercer County prepare for college.

TigerBlog read about that program in a really well-done story by Maddie Pryor on the princeton.edu site about how some Princeton basketball players have been spending their summer in various spots around the world. You can read it HERE.

The story focuses on the summers of Barnes and then a few of his teammates - Elias Berbari, Jerome Desrosiers and Vittorio Reynoso-Avila - and women's basketball player Taylor Baur, all of whom traveled a little further than Barnes did.

The players talk about their experiences around the world and how they've attempted to stay in basketball shape for the coming seasons. It's definitely worth a read.

Basketball practice starts Sept. 29, which is technically next month. Both teams figure to have interesting seasons for 2018-19, as the women look for a second straight Ivy title and the men look to bounce back after missing the Ivy tournament last year, one year after going a perfect 16-0 in the league, winning the regular season and the first Ivy tournament. 

The Ivy tournaments are in March, with is still a long, long way away.

For now, TigerBlog hopes you have a great summer weekend.

There aren't too many of them to go for 2018.