Darin Yrigoyen?

Are you serious?

TigerBlog received the typical email he gets prior to an event for one of the teams he covers, asking for a roster and basic team information and needs. Of course, this one was different than any he's ever gotten before. 

The sender was the women's tennis contact at Florida International, where Princeton will play Saturday, before playing at Florida Atlantic Sunday. 

If this was all normal, then why did TB say "are you serious?" Well, that's because the contact at FIU is Darin Yrigoyen. 

If you don't recognize the last name, Darin's father is the great Chuck Yrigoyen, one-time member of the Princeton Office of Athletic Communications and long-time Associate Commissioner at the Ivy League Office. He's also one of the all-time greats in Jadwin Gym lunchtime basketball history and would be a first-ballot Hall-of-Fame, if such a thing existed. 

TB has always said that he'd feel old when the children of athletes whom he covered at Princeton would come to compete here as well, and that's something that's happened quite a few times. Darin Yrigoyen though? TB remembers when he was born, for crying out loud. 

Now he feels old. 

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The Olympic gold medal game in women's hockey will be held today at 1:10 pm Eastern time between the United States and Canada. This isn't exactly the Miracle on Ice; it's more the Inevitable on Ice. 

Maybe in four years, they can have these two play a best-of-seven for the gold and then have everyone else play for the bronze?

Princeton is represented by two players on the Canadian team — Sarah Fillier and Claire Thompson — both of whom already own gold medals from four years ago. The United States team is a heavy favorite this time around, having already taken down Canada 5-0 earlier in the tournament. 

Canada has won five of the previous seven gold medals since women's hockey was added in 1998. The other two belong to the USA. 

Canada won the 2022 gold medal game 3-2 in Beijing.  

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The Ivy League women's swimming and diving championships began yesterday and will run through Saturday at Brown. 

Princeton will be going for its fourth straight championship and 27th overall, which would rank third among Ivy League women's programs all-time, behind the 28 of Princeton field hockey and Harvard women's squash. 

Princeton went 7-0 in the dual meet portion of its Ivy League schedule, though the official champion wil be the winner of the meet in Rhode Island this weekend.  

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By the way, speaking of the Winter Olympics, you know where the next ones will be in 2030? The French Alps, with most of the events about a three or four hour drive from where the current ones are being held. 

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Is .611 a good batting average? 

Actually, a better question might be is .526 a good batting average? That's where Princeton's Graciela Dominguez stood after the opening weekend in Florida, where the Tigers went 4-1. 

Of course that's a great number to put up. It also puts Dominguez in third place on her own team, behind Braeden Hale (she of the .611) and Karis Ford (.545). Hale, a first-team All-Ivy League selection last year as a freshman, ranks seventh in Division I in batting average after the first weekend. 

Mia Valenzuela was named Ivy Rookie of the Week after having at least one hit in all five games, with two home runs and two doubles. Valenzuela came to Princeton from Houston's St. Agnes Academy, which is also the Tigers. In fact, Valenzuela won the school's Tiger Pride Award a year ago. 

Next up for the Tigers (the ones from Princeton) is a weekend in Chapel Hill, N.C., with five more games on the schedule, beginning tomorrow with North Carolina Central and Appalachian State, with another App State Saturday, as well as a game against the host Tar Heels, and finishing up Sunday morning against, of all teams, Rider. 

Princeton and Rider are separated by about eight miles or so, and they will play on a field about 500 miles from either campus. 

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The baseball team will also be in North Carolina this weekend, and next, for that matter. 

Princeton will open its season with three games this weekend at North Carolina State and then be back next weekend for four more at Duke. The weekend after that? There's a trip to South Carolina to start its spring break portion of the schedule.