The Spirit Of Princeton

Princeton baseball coach Scott Bradley continues to be a great person to follow on Twitter.

Here's a case in point:

Hey Jesse!!
I had a great view!! I remember that when you stepped on home plate you looked at me and said, “Let’s see him catch that one!”
🤣🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/iskZ5sTXdz

— Scott Bradley (@CoachBradley9) April 27, 2022

That's awesome stuff right there. 

Princeton's coaches are extraordinary people, and they are for the most part excellent communicators as well. As for the athletes, well, they too are extraordinary, and in fact they are on a whole other level of being extraordinary.

It's easy to take for granted when you're around them all the time. Every now and then, it's good to have a reminder that these are not your average 18- to 22-year olds. 

Judging by the responses that TigerBlog got from yesterday's guest entry from senior women's lacrosse player Gaby Hamburger, maybe he should try to get other athletes to write about their experiences as well.

As has been the case for years, decades, the best people to speak about Princeton Athletics are the athletes themselves. They're an extraordinary group, these athletes, who come here and negotiate something that isn't very easy to do: playing a varsity sport while succeeding at the top undergraduate university in the country.

They all have their stories. That's why TB enjoys having the athletes on podcasts so much. He can ask them the same questions and get a variety of answers, all under the common thread of being athletes at Princeton. 

For all of these years, TigerBlog has said over and over that the best part of working here has been the opportunity to get to know the athletes as they compete and then see where they go with their lives and careers after that. 

To TB, they really do embody the spirit of Princeton.

If you want to put a capital S on that, there is one who officially does. The news came down yesterday of the winners of the Spirit of Princeton Award.

According to the official language: 

The award recognizes those who have demonstrated a strong commitment to the undergraduate experience through dedicated efforts in student organizations, athletics, community service, religious life, residential life and the arts.

The award has been won by athletes many times through the years. This year's group of seven winners includes three who are members of Princeton's varsity teams. There are two male winners, and they are both varsity athletes. 

Sally Jane Ruybalid has been a familiar face on the bench at Jadwin Gym in her role as women's basketball manager. Elijah Barnes of the men's basketball team and Alex Charles of the men's soccer team both won Ivy League championships this past year, but that's hardly all that they've been doing during their Princeton careers.

Here are their write-ups from the release (which can be seen HERE).

Sally Jane Ruybalid, a senior from Trinidad, Colorado, concentrating in architecture and pursuing a certificate in urban studies. Ruybalid is a manager for the varsity women’s basketball team and sings in the Princeton Chapel Choir. She is a leader in Butler College, serving as a peer academic adviser (PAA) and member of the Residential College Leadership Team (RCLT).

Elijah Barnes, a senior from Freehold, New Jersey, concentrating in history. Barnes is a forward on the varsity men’s basketball team and a founding member of the Black Student-Athlete Collective (BSAC). Off the court, he is a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, is involved with the Princeton University Preparatory Program (PUPP) and helps new citizens register to vote in Trenton.

Alex Charles, a senior from Durham, North Carolina, concentrating in the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) and pursuing a certificate in statistics and machine learning. Charles is a defender on the varsity men’s soccer team and a founding member of the Black Student-Athlete Collective (BSAC). Off the field, he is a Writing Center Fellow and part of the Princeton Charter Club. He also volunteers with Academic Success Today, a mentoring organization connecting Princeton students with students in middle school. 

Congratulations to all of the winners, and especially to those who also have represented the athletic department. They've done so in a way that stands out from all of the others, and given how high the bar is set by that group, that is not something that's easy to do.