Congratulations

Today begins with congratulations to TigerBlog's longtime friend and colleague Michael Mahoney. 

Formerly at that school in West Philadelphia that issued TB a diploma that he now keeps in a bin in the bottom of his closet, Mahoney will now be working as the Senior Associate Commissioner for Strategic Communications and Media Relations for the Atlantic 10 Conference. 

There aren't many better people in college athletics, or anywhere, than Mahoney. He's one of those people everyone seems to 1) know and 2) like. 

It's good to see him taking a new step in his career. TB can root for the A-10. 

Question for you: How many schools are in the Atlantic 10? 

There are 14 full-time members and five affiliate members in either men's lacrosse or field hockey. TB remembers when the league was the Eastern 8, including Villanova and Pitt. Does Mahoney know all this history? He'll figure it out quickly if he doesn't. 

Keeping with the theme for today, what else is worthy of congratulations? 

There's Princeton Athletics, for one. Specifically, there's this video:

Congratulations go out to everyone involved, those who made the highlights and those who made the video. That's a decade's worth of highlights for most places. That was all in one athletic year at Princeton. 

The 2025-26 year will be remembered for a long time around here, what with 20 league championships, an individual national champion, a team national champion, another NCAA runner up and so much more. One of the teams that won its league championship was the softball team, and one of its stars this spring is the next to be congratulated. 

That would be Graciela Dominguez, who is headed to the Central American and Caribbean Games in the Dominican Republic, where she will compete for the host nation later this month. From the RELEASE: 

Dominguez hit .427 in 2026, the fourth-best single-season batting average in program history, and had 70 hits, fifth-most in a season in Princeton history. She also helped Princeton set a team single-season record with a .347 batting average. 

Next up is Maile Organek, a coxswain for the men's heavyweight rowing team who guided the second varsity 8 to a gold medal at the IRA championships. You can read THIS FEATURE STORY on the webpage about Organek by another of TB's friends and colleagues Elliott Carr, including this: 

On Tuesday, May 26, she received a sociology degree and was commissioned into the United States Army as a second lieutenant by her grandfather. By Sunday, May 31, she had flown across the country and coxed the Tigers’ second varsity eight to its first gold medal at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship Regatta since 1998. To put a bow on her time at Princeton, Organek was bestowed the highest honor a coxswain can receive in collegiate rowing; the 2026 Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association (IRCA) Coxswain of the Year award.

Elliott's story is very good. 

And then there are congratulations to the five Princeton men's lacrosse alums who have been selected to the Premiere Lacrosse League all-star game, which will be Sunday at 2 in Annapolis. 

Coulter Mackesy, the all-time leader in goals scored at Princeton, finds himself tied with Brown alum Dylan Molloy for the PLL lead in points this season with 20 each. Mackesy, in his second year, is coming off a four-goal, two-assist performance this past weekend in California to lead his Cannons to a 15-12 win over the Redwoods. 

Among the other Tigers headed to Annapolis are, not shockingly, Waterdogs teammates Michael Sowers and Zach Currier. Sowers is tied for the league lead in assists (again, not shocking), and Currier, well, TB didn't bother looking up his stats because they never matter when it comes to Currier. 

Shortstick defensive midfielder Beau Pederson of the Archers will be making his first all-star game appearance. In addition to being a defensive beast, Pederson also has three goals and an assist. 

The fifth all-star is rookie Chad Palumbo. Think you've had a good few weeks? Palumbo has 1) won an NCAA championship, 2) graduated from Princeton, 3) led all PLL rookies in scoring to this point.  

The all-star game will be seen live on ESPN. Congrats to all five.