Elsewhere

Yes, the big story in Princeton Athletics this week was the men's lacrosse NCAA championship.

There were other stories, of course. For instance: 

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Freshman women's golfer Thanana Kotchasanmanee finished tied for 12th at the NCAA championships last weekend. That's the best finish ever by an Ivy League women's golfer at the event. 

Only four Ivy League women's golfers have ever qualified as individuals for the final NCAA rounds, and all four are Princetonians. The highest previous finish among that group was 37th, by Kelly Shon in 2013. The other two were Mary Moan (T40th; 1997) and Maya Walton (T113th; 2017).

Kotchasanmanee was tied for third after the first round and was in contention throughout. It was a great performance, one that certainly makes you wonder what the rest of her career has in store. 

You'll get your next chance to see when she competes at the U.S. Women's Open next weekend in Los Angeles. Kotchasanmanee earned her spot in the field when she won a qualifying event in Virginia. 

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Speaking of Kotchasanmanee, she is a native of Thailand who went to high school in Rome — the one in Georgia, where she attended the Darlington School. 

TigerBlog has a long history of learning how to spell names of Princeton athletes that are challenging. He figures that names like hers are actually relatively easy to get right, since they make you focus so much at the beginning. 

From his time as the men's tennis contact, TB can tell you that it took maybe three times to figure out how to spell the last name of the No. 2 singles player Top Nidunjianzan. Also, Tosan Evbuomwan was a challenging one, and TB can still only get that one right if he sounds it out, even though it's not how it's actually pronounced. 

One of the Princeton men's lacrosse alums TB saw the other day has a name that has always been way more of a challenge: Phillip Robertson. When there are names like his, or Zach/Zack, it's so much harder to remember how many "l"s or whether it's an "h" or "k" at the end. 

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What was the greatest clutch shot in the history of Princeton Basketball? 

Well, here is TB's entry, quoting himself from the women's basketball team's win over North Carolina State in the 2023 NCAA tournament:

The Tigers trailed in this one 63-55 with five to play. Along the way, the Tigers had a 1 for 24 shooting stretch (yes, that's not a typo) while NC State had a 17 for 22 stretch of its own. And yet Princeton was still in the game. Princeton got a three from Grace Stone and another three from Kaitlin Chen to make it a one-point game with less than a minute to go. It was still that way when Princeton got the ball back on a steal by Stone with just 11 seconds left. Out of the timeout, Stone then drained a three from the corner. Ballgame. It was an extraordinary shot, one that was put up with complete confidence, and which splashed through while barely moving the net. 

As he thinks back on it, that shot was beyond clutch.  

Stone will be back in Jadwin Gym moving forward, as she has joined head coach Lauren Gosselin's staff as Director of Operations. Gosselin. That's another name you have to practice a few times to spell correctly, with the two "s"s and the one "l" — TB thinks. 

Here is what Stone had to say about her new job: 

"I am incredibly excited to be back with Princeton Women's Basketball. My four years as a player were the best four years of my life. I can't wait to step back into the winning culture that is Princeton Women's Basketball and help the continued success of a program that has made me who I am. It feels good to be back and Go Tigers!" 

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The NCAA track and field regionals are underway in Kentucky. Greg Foster (long jump) and Jacob Nenow (10,000) have already qualified for the Championships, to be held in Eugene, Ore., beginning June 10. 

There are four other men who will try to join them today after advancing past their first rounds Wednesday: Joey Gant in the 400, Connor McCormick and Collin Boler in the 1500 and Jackson Clarke in the 200. Foster will also run in the 110 hurdles today as well. 

The women sent 17 athletes to Kentucky for the qualifying rounds as well. Those 17 began competing yesterday, with the final rounds set for tomorrow.  

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Lastly, the women's lightweight rowers will look for a fifth straight national championship at the IRA regatta in Sacramento tomorrow and Sunday.