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CHAMPIONSHIP RUN Women's track and field continued its dominance of the Heptagonal Championships, winning its third straight indoor title and its fifth consecutive crown counting both indoor and outdoor meets. The Big Red collected points in 17 of the 19 events contested at Barton Hall, with seven firstplace finishes. Hannah Garrity '04 won both the 200-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles; she also tied the meet record in a preliminary round of the 60-meter hurdles. Becky Tucker '05 won both the shot put and weight throw competitions. Other winners were Kari Steed '05 (400 meters), Ibralate Stanley-Ikhilioju '06 (triple jump), and the 4x400 relay team of Steed, Linda Trotter '05, Cameron Washington '07, and Shonda Brown '05. The men's team finished second to Princeton but posted first-place finishes by Rahim Wooley '04 (60 meters), Adam Sansiveri '05 (pole vault), Ryan Schmidt '05 (long jump), and the 4x400 relay team of Michael Nanaszko '04, Greg Simonds '06, Kolby Hoover '07, and Brian Eremita '05.

GREAT GRAPPLERS The Ivy League champion wrestling team finished in the top 20 at the NCAA Division I Championships for the third straight season, riding three All-American performances to an 11th place spot. Dustin Manotti '06 posted Cornell's best finish, placing fourth at 149 pounds. Travis Lee '05, who went 32-0 while winning the national title at 125 pounds last season, moved up to the 133-pound weight class this year and finished fifth, becoming one of the first two Ivy League wrestlers to earn All-American honors three times. Matt Greenberg '03 finished his career by earning All-American honors with a seventh-place finish at 197 pounds.

OLYMPIAN FEAT Chinedum Osuji '96 will represent his native country of Trinidad and Tobago at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens after placing second at the Pan-American taekwondo qualifier. Osuji, who is president of C.W. Taekwondo in Boston, won his quarterfinal match 7-1 and clinched an Olympic spot with a 2-1 win in the semifinals. The championship match was not contested, as Osuji withdrew due to injury.

RAPID RISE Of the 18 Cornell hockey players to reach the National Hockey League, goaltender Matt Underhill '02 may have had the wildest journey. He went from the East Coast Hockey League to starting for the Chicago Blackhawks in less than three weeks, bypassing the usual stint in the American Hockey League. Underhill made his NHL debut on March 4, making 29 saves in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers. He had posted a 9-14-1 record with the ECHL's Florence Pride before signing a tryout contract with the Blackhawks' AHL affiliate in Norfolk. Before playing a game for the Norfolk Admirals, Underhill was called up to replace Adam Munro, who had suffered a concussion. Then, just two hours before his second game with the team, Underhill found out he would start in place of Michael Leighton, who was sidelined with the flu. Underhill was reassigned to Norfolk on March 11.

COACHING STAFF Incoming head football coach Jim Knowles '87 has hired former Big Red player Mike Roark '92 as linebackers coach. Knowles also retained two members of the previous staff, defensive line coach Pete DeStefano and director of football operations Pete Noyes. In other coaching news, former Cornell quarterback Bill Lazor '94 has joined the NFL's Washington Redskins as an offensive assistant under new head coach Joe Gibbs. Lazor was an offensive quality-control coach for the Atlanta Falcons in 2003.

WRECKING BALL It was one of the most famous sports scenes of 2003: a fan reaching above the glove of Chicago Cubs outfielder Moises Alou, preventing him from catching a foul ball in the eighth inning of Game Six of the National League Championship Series. The Cubs went on to lose that game and the series, thus being denied their first trip to the World Series since 1945. Thanks to Grant DePorter '87, the offending ball is no more. DePorter is president and managing director of the HC Restaurant Group, which bought the ball at auction for $113,824.16 and then had it destroyed in an elaborate ceremony at Harry Caray's Restaurant. (Caray was the Cubs' play-by-play announcer from 1982 until his death in 1998.) All proceeds from the event, expected to top $1 million with the sale of commemorative clothing, will go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

ROOKIE HONOR n Although the men's hockey team fell short in its quest for an eleventh ECAC title, finishing second to Colgate in the regular season and losing to Clarkson in the tournament quarterfinals, freshman goalie David McKee was named by the league as its Co-Rookie of the Year. He shared the honor with Brown's Brian Ihnacek. In ECAC contests, McKee posted a 13-6-3 record with a goals-against average of 1.37 and a save percentage of .939.

GEORGE BOIARDI, 22 On March 17, lacrosse player George Boiardi '04 died during a game against Binghamton University. With 2:33 remaining in the fourth quarter, Boiardi, a defensive midfielder, was struck on the chest by a hard shot. He collapsed on the turf at Schoellkopf Field, and the game was stopped. Emergency medical personnel were on the scene within minutes, but attempts to resuscitate Boiardi were unsuccessful. He was transported to Cayuga Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 6:44 p.m.

Boiardi, a four-year starter, was one of four co-captains on this year's varsity squad. Hard working and a swift runner, he was admired by teammates and coaches for his leadership ability, tenacity, and humility. Boiardi was a history major in the College of Arts and Sciences, and he came to Cornell from the Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland, where he was a letterman in football and hockey as well as lacrosse. His full name was Mario St. George Boiardi.

On the day after Boiardi's death, President Jeffrey Lehman issued a statement to the community, saying, "The very qualities that lead us to identify with our teams in victory and defeat now lead us to identify with our team in a moment of tragedy.We mourn together, and we collectively extend our sympathies to the Boiardi family and to all those who knew and loved him." Boiardi is survived by his parents, Mario and Deborah Boiardi, and two sisters. A memorial fund has been established, with the goal of endowing an assistant lacrosse coach's position in Boiardi's name. Gifts should be sent to Laurie Robinson, Director of Development, Cornell University, 55 Brown Road, Ithaca, NY 14850.

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