Tigers Sweep At Heps

Princeton's men and women both won the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country championships this afternoon at Van Cortlandt Park in New York.

On a picture perfect Halloween Day, the men slipped past Columbia 58-61, while the women crushed the field, finishing with a record 17 points after going 1-2-3-5-6, led by Liz Costello's win in Heps record time.

The men ran first on the redesigned course at the park, which has now hosted 60 of 61 Heps races. The start of the men's race followed shortly after the conclusion of the two Big East championship races.

Dartmouth's Ben True won the race, setting a meet record in the process. Michael Maag, who won the race last year, finished second behind True, as the Tigers went 2-4-6 before a Columbia runner crossed the line. By the time the next Princeton runner finished, Columbia had had seven runners cross. This led to a scramble in front of the fence near the official tent to see who had won. When the math was done, Princeton had won for the third straight time.

The women's race was no contest, as the only drama was whether the Tigers could go 1-2-3-4-5. They almost did, but a lone Harvard runner snuck in at fourth.

A complete release and final results will be available on goprincetontigers.com shortly.

Nathan Ford Makes "The Office"

For those fans of Ivy League football and the television show "The Office," then the subtlety of last night's script wasn't lost on you.

Andy and Dwight, in competition for Angela, engaged in quite a bit of back-and-forth centered around Cornell, Andy's alma mater. At one point, Dwight, successfully trying to get under Andy's skin, mentions Cornell quarterback Nathan Ford by name.

Ford, of course, is actually Cornell's quarterback.

Unfortunately for Princeton fans, the script didn't mention that Ford's next game is against Princeton, tomorrow at 1.

The complete episode of "The Office" can be seen at nbc.com.

Peteraf Goal-Scoring Run Moves Her To Elite Company

Sarah Peteraf scored two more goals Wednesday night in a 3-0 win over Bucknell. The senior now has 11 for the season, a remarkable total considering she had four goals for her career prior to this year and didn't score at all a year ago.

Peteraf, who was also named to the District II CoSIDA Academic All-America second team, has moved into the upper echelon of Princeton women's soccer history. She is now one of just six players in program history to have reached 11 goals in a season (three have done it twice), and she is one of only three players (along with Esmeralda Negron ’05 and Emily Behncke ’06) to reach the 11-goal mark in the last 25 years.

Peteraf has scored seven game-winning goals (two in overtime), and she also has scored 11 of the team's 20 goals (55%). No player to play for Julie Shackford at Princeton has scored at least 50% of the team's goals in a season.

A Football Tradition Continues

Today is Wednesday. With a football game on the schedule Saturday, that can only mean one thing: football media luncheon.

The luncheons (which are available on TigerZone) are familiar to those who attend them. They start out with Director of Athletic Media Relations Craig Sachson as he welcomes those in attendance, introduces the people at the front table and then gets the opposing coach for the weekend on the speaker phone. Media members direct their questions to Sachson, who then relays them to the coach on the other end. Nothing earth-shattering ever comes from these luncheons, as football coaches have a unique talent for using any different combination of words to basically say "I'm not going to tell you if we're changing quarterbacks" or "do you really think I'm going to share with you if our injured defensive star is going to play?"

The interesting part of the luncheons is their history. There is no record of when they started, but they definitely date to at least the 1950s. Generations of Princeton media, sports information personnel and coaches and players have participated in various locations and formats, but the luncheon itself has endured.

At one point, they were held at the Nassau Inn and other upscale locations in town. For at least the last 25 years, they've been in one of three locations: the Zanfrini Room in Jadwin Gym, the roof of Fine Tower and the current location of the press box in the football stadium.

Roger Hughes, since he became the head coach in 2000, moved the luncheons from Tuesday to Wednesday. He also instituted the policy of bringing an assistant coach with him and funnelling questions to them, so that he is not the only one who speaks. It's always been a good opportunity for players (usually two are there) who don't always get the spotlight to have their moment in the sun.

There have been all kinds of mishaps through the years, usually related to a coach who doesn't answer on the other end of the speaker phone, a player who doesn't show up or a malfunction of the speaker phone itself. We tried extending this to basketball a few years back, but it never caught on.

It'll be interesting to see what the next 10 years brings as far as the football luncheons, as the media world continues to evolve and the future of many newspapers is tenuous at best.

For now, it's another day of a long-standing Princeton football tradition.

Heps On The Horizon

Forget the fact that it is snowing in Princeton today. Come Friday, it'll be back to being sunny and in the 60s, which might actually be a bit warm for the event going on at Van Cortlandt Park in New York City.

The 61st Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country championships will be run this Friday, with the men first at 12:30 and the women to follow an hour later. Princeton is the defending champion in both races and the highest-ranked Ivy school this year.

If you've never been to Heps and are going to be in NYC, it's worth the trip up to the Park. The day features plenty of team camaraderie, not to mention food, as each school will have its tent set up near the finish line.

As for the race itself, the runners start, make a long sweeping run through the park, disappear in the woods and then reappear for the final sprint. There's always a bit of drama as spectators try to figure out the placings before they're officially announced.

If you're a true Ivy League sports fan, it's one of the must-sees.

Fall Races Coming To The Wire

This weekend brings with it November, which means that the fall Ivy League races are starting to wind down. As of now, no Ivy League championship has been awarded for 2008-09 in any sport, though the first two of the 33 that will be won in this academic year are guaranteed to be decided this Friday.

In all, five Princeton teams still have a realistic chance to think in terms of a fall Ivy League championship. That hardly means that any of the five will win.

The first two championships to be decided will be Friday, which happens to be Halloween, at the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country championships at Van Cortlandt Park in New York City. Van Cortlandt Park has hosted 60 of the last 61 Heps cross country championships.

Princeton is the defending champion in both the men's and women's divisions. The women are a prohibitive favorite again and a legitimate national contender. The men's team is ranked higher than any other Ivy team, but there are several serious challengers, most notably Cornell, Dartmouth and Columbia.

The Ivy League field hockey championship essentially comes down to this Saturday's game between Princeton and Cornell in Ithaca. Both teams are 5-0 in the league; no other team has fewer than two league losses. The winner of the game will clinch at least a tie for the Ivy League championship and will also clinch the Ivy League's spot in the NCAA tournament play-in game, which either Princeton or Cornell will host Tuesday, Nov. 11.

Princeton has outscored its league foes 25-4; Cornell has outscored its foes 14-7. The loser of the game Saturday can still get a share of the league title with a win and a loss by the winner the following week, when Princeton its at Penn and Cornell is home against Dartmouth. Penn and Dartmouth are both 3-2 in the league.

The women's soccer race is pretty wide open heading down the stretch and can still go in all sorts of directions. Harvard, at 4-1-0, is in first after its win over Princeton Saturday night; Princeton and Columbia are next at 3-1-1. Princeton plays at Cornell and home with Penn. Harvard is at Dartmouth and home with Columbia, while the Lions are at Yale this weekend as well.

The best case scenario for Princeton is wins in its last two games, a Yale win over Columbia and a Columbia win over Harvard. There are countless other scenarios as well that yield one champion or multiple champions, and Penn and Yale are still mathematically alive in some scenarios. Princeton, with a strong RPI, is still alive for an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament should the Tigers not win the league's automatic bid.

The women's volleyball race is basically at the midpoint, and Princeton and Yale are tied with one league loss apiece, though Yale defeated Princeton 3-0 in New Haven in the first meeting. Princeton and Yale meet Nov. 15 at Dillon Gym.

Cornell is a strong third in the league race at 6-2, while Penn is at 4-3. The Quakers are the only team to knock off Yale in the league this season.

Princeton-Harvard Football Updates

Final
Harvard 24, Princeton 20
A stop and Princeton has to go about 75 yards with no timeouts. A conversion and the game is over ... Pizzotti keeps for the first down. Game over.

Updated as clock approaches one minute
Gordon stopped by Koch. 4th and 5 for Harvard. Letting clock run. Timeout with 56 seconds to play.

Updated as clock runs
Harvard 3rd and four at the Princeton 25.

Updated 2:32 to go.
Anderson was forced from pocket and threw short to Matt Zimmerman. Stopped short of the first down, he attempted to pitch to Culbreath, but the ball squirted free. Culbreath fell on it, but it was a loss of two. Harvard ball.

Updated 2:44 to go.
Anderson sacked for a loss of 11 by Eric Schultz and Glenn Dorris. It's 4th and 18 at the Princeton 34. Going for it.

Updated 2:55 to go
Third and 5.

Updated
Meko McCray returns to the Princeton 42. Tigers need a TD. Two timeouts left. Plenty of time.

Updated 3:34 in fourth
Harvard 24, Princeton 20
Harvard went for it, converted and then hit a big pass to Luft. Crimson ball inside the 10. Gino Gordon then takes it the final 8. Touchdown.

Updated 4:59 in fourth
Brad Stetler has a sack and then a big tackle on a third down play. It's 4th and 1 for Harvard at its 46. Harvard timeout. Each team with two timeouts remaining. What would you do here?

Updated 7:16 remaining in fourth
Princeton 20, Harvard 17
Ben Bologna's 28-yard field goal caps a 15-play drive. The march took 7:44 off the fourth quarter. Princeton converted three third-downs.

Updated 11 plays and 82 yards into the drive.
Anderson to Thanheiser and it's first and 10 Tigers at the Harvard 17. Thanheiser seven catches for 109 yards. Drive has taken 5:25.


Updated in Harvard territory
Anderson runs 16 yards off a scramble to the Crimson 40.

Updated as drive continues
Four minutes and counting. Drive reaches the Princeton 44. Culbreath converts a third-and-0ne. He now has 150 yards on 26 carries.

Updated still on first drive
Anderson completes one to Adam Berry on a third-and-long. Tigers out to the 30.

Updated first drive of fourth
Princeton gets some breathing room on an Anderson pass to Thanheiser out to the 14. Ryan Barnes then saved a huge gain by Princeton when he deflected Anderson's pass intended for Trey Peacock.

Updated start of fourth quarter
Princeton 17, Harvard 17
Thomas Hull of Harvard punts to the Princeton 1 on the final play of the third quarter. Tiger ball, 1st and 99.

Updated 2:22 remaining in third
Princeton , Harvard 17
Harvard tightened after a first-and-goal. Ben Bologna kicked a 25-yard field goal, and we're tied. Culbreath closing in on 150 yards.

Updated 13:19 remaining in third
Harvard 17, Princeton 14
Pizzotti went back to pass, had no one open and ran 33 yards for the TD.

Updated start of third quarter
Rain has started, and thew ind has picked up. Wind is at Harvard's back in the third.

Halftime stats
Jordan Culbreath 16 carries for 118 yards and two TDs. Anderson is 5 for 13 for 75 yards. Kopolovich was 3 for 5 for 29 yards. Pizzotti is 11 for 13 for 170yards and the touchdown. Thanheiser has four catches for 66 yards for Princeton; Levi Richards has three for 51 for Harvard. The first half featured 410 total yards between the teams.

Updated halftime
Princeton 14, Harvard 10
Matthew Hanson intercepted a tipped ball in the end zone with four seconds left to end a Princeton scoring threat.

Updated 3 min left in half
Princeton 14, Harvard 10
A Buchignani sack ends the Harvard drive. Culbreath carries for nine yards on first down to give him 101 yards on 13 carries.

Updated 8:46 left in first half
Princeton 14, Harvard 10
Harvard puts together a nice drive to cut into the lead. Pizzotti to Chris Lorditch for the score on a 15-yard pass.


Updated end first
Princeton 14, Harvard 3
Couldn't have gone much better for the Tigers. QB rotation is effective. Culbreath is having a good day. Quarter ends with Harvard with a 4th and 1 at the Tiger 42. Harvard goes for it, and Pete Buchignani makes a big stop. Princeton ball.

Updated 2:33 in first
Princeton 14, Harvard 3
Culbreath gets hits second TD, this one a nine-yard run. The big play on the drive was a 4th down pass from Anderson to Will Thanheiser. Culbreath now with 54 yards on eight carries, with two TDs.

Updated 8:39 in first
Princeton 7, Harvard 3
Long pass from Chris Pizzotti to Matt Luft (42 yards) sets up short field goal.

Updated 11:58 left in first
Princeton 7, Harvard 0
Jordan Culbreath carries in on a short run for the Tiger touchdown. Kopolovich was the QB for the whole series. Culbreath with four carries for 20 yards and the TD.

Updated
Meko McCray recovers a fumble on the punt after Princeton's first series. First and 10 Tigers at the Harvard 20. Kopolovich at QB.

Updated
Dan Kopolovich replaced Anderson on the second play. Anderson came back for the third.

Updated start of game
Princeton receives the opening kickoff. Starting quarterback is ... Brian Anderson.

The 101st meeting between Princeton and Harvard is moments away. The Central Jersey weather forecast isn't helping attendance, as heavy rain and possible thunder and lightning is in the offing. Temperatures are in the mid-60s.

New Look for Jadwin Gym

Visitors to Jadwin Gym this year will notice some aesthetic changes as the venerable arena celebrates its 40th season in 2008-09.

The basketball floor was buffed clean and repainted in late summer with a new design. There are also 18 banners now hanging above the court, as seen in the picture.

The foreground row represents Princeton's 25 men's Ivy League titles, half of the 50 that have been awarded since Princeton's first one in 1959. The next row honors the 1975 men's NIT champions, the 1967 men's NCAA East Regional team, Bill Bradley's soon-to-be retired No. 42 to be unveiled Friday night, and the 1965 NCAA Final Four team on which Bradley played.

The next row has four banners recognizing the 23 NCAA Tournament appearances Princeton has earned. The last row, left to right, notes the six Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League titles the men won from 1922 to 1955, a 1996 WNIT appearance by the women's basketball team, seven Ivy League women's titles between two banners, and the five men's NIT appearances Princeton has made between 1972 and 2002.

Big Night Looming At Princeton

The four Princeton-Harvard showdowns of Saturday will lure far more people to campus than the events of Friday night. Still, the menu for Oct. 24 is a pretty good one.

The big attraction is the 42 retirement dinner in Jadwin Gym beginning at 7, honoring Dick Kazmaier and Bill Bradley and featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning author John McPhee. Tickets can be purchased at the door.

In addition, there s men's water polo next door at DeNunzio Pool as Princeton and Bucknell meet, also at 7. And, at the same time, the sprint football team hosts first-year program Mansfield at Princeton Stadium. While not in the same basic area, the women's volleyball team will be across campus at Dillon Gym taking on Harvard at 7, and the women's hockey team hosts UConn at Baker Rink, also at 7.

Speaking of the 42 dinner, our friend Harvey Yavener of the Trenton Times offered this take this morning: http://www.nj.com/princeton/times/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/12247347489090.xml&coll=5.

Sydney Johnson on the Ivy League Preseason Basketball Conference Call

Princeton men's basketball coach Sydney Johnson spoke with media far and wide today along with his seven Ivy League colleagues on a preseason conference call. Here is some of what Johnson had to say:

Johnson's opening statement:

"Our team is young. In many ways, even some of our older guys are inexperienced, and yet clearly this is the best time of year. We’re all undefeated, we haven’t lost a game, we haven’t won a game, we haven’t made too many mistakes, and they’re learning. The group is anxious to stake their claim. The staff are excited, the players are excited. We’re just ready to get this thing going."

On what's different from his first season as he approaches his second season as coach:

"Year One was a blur. Everything worked so fast. I felt like it went from [introductory] press conference to recruiting to the first day of practice in about three days. Obviously it wasn’t quite that fast. Year Two, we kind of have a feel for what we like, what we don’t like, not just on the court but in our gameday routine and travel and things like that. In the end, it’s all the same. We have a great style of play. We have some kids who are bringing some enthusiasm, wanting to be good, wanting to challenge people, wanting to compete and so, at the end of the day, when you focus on the basketball part and you focus on mentoring, I think you’re rewarded. There aren’t a lot of things similar that you draw on for some of these similar type of experiences and lessons that you have to pass along to kids. It’s different, but it’s the same."

On the returning players keeping their focus during the offseason:

"They have. I think that there was obviously a challenge made to them in the sense that, we have to want to change our end result. You have to want to change it bad enough that it affects our behavior day to day, not just when the game rolls around, we’re very locked into winning. That preparation goes into play months and months before we play any one team in our league. We have to prepare for them in June, in July, in August. I would say today at this point, our older guys are focused and have a better understanding. That being said, these teams are coming up and that’s the true test. One, the preparing and two, following through and being able to apply everything you’ve done and learned."

On the three-point line being moved back one foot:

"We love that shot. We want to make that shot. Obviously we focus on it in terms of what we do and we’ll continue to go after guys who want to shoot from that line. To be very honest, I don’t think we shot the ball nearly as well as we should have last year or that we wanted to and yet I’m all for moving that line back because I think good players adjust. Whether it was my time here at Princeton or overseas, I felt like I played with a lot of guys who could shoot the ball well. It really didn’t matter what gym or necessarily how far away or what circumstance, what situation. We’re trying to attract those guys now. In addition, we’re coaching our guys to have that on our mind. It really doesn’t matter, one foot back, step up, make the shot, know it’s going in and go down and play defense. I don’t think it’ll affect us, but obviously the games will be the real proof of that."