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STRONG FINISH After losing all of its Ivy League games last year, the Cornell football team was the surprise of this year's Ancient Eight season, posting a 4-3 league mark and finishing third behind Harvard and Penn. After a slow start, the Big Red won three of their last four games, including a heart-stopping comeback victory over Columbia in which they rallied from a 26-7 fourth-quarter deficit to win 32-26. “I'm incredibly proud of this team,” said first-year head coach Jim Knowles '87, whose squad had been picked to finish last in the preseason media poll.

GOALIES ON WHEELS A pair of former Big Red hockey goalies have traded their blades for bikes as they raise funds to fight cancer. Ian Burt '01 and Alanna Hayes '99 will celebrate their honeymoon by riding across the country from California to Florida. The trip, which will start on March 23, is planned to cover 3,159 miles in 65 days. The couple, who live in Toronto, will be married in a formal ceremony in Burt's hometown of London, Ontario, two days before leaving for the bike trip. (They were wed in a civil ceremony this past May.) They hope to raise $10,000 for the Strang Cancer Prevention Center and the Willow Breast Cancer Support and Resource Services in honor of friends and family members who have died from the disease. To learn more about their trip and the opportunities for sponsorship, go to www.ridethedistance.org.

NET GAIN After waiting 11 years to win an Ivy League title, the volleyball team probably didn't mind sharing it--but with three other teams? Under first-year head coach Deitre Collins, the Big Red went 10- 4 in the Ivy League. Harvard, Yale, and Princeton posted identical league records, so a playoff was held over the weekend of November 20–21. Cornell downed Princeton on the first day but lost in the finals to the Yale squad, which advanced to the NCAA tournament. Elizabeth Bishop '07 was named Ivy League Player of the Week three times during the season; she led the league in kills with more than five per game.

ACADEMIC HONORS Cornell was one of five schools to receive an All-Academic award from the United States Track Coaches Association. Cornell's team GPA of 3.11 ranked fifth among NCAA Division I teams, mirroring the success the squad enjoyed on the track, winning last year's outdoor Heptagonal championship and taking second in the indoor Heps meet.

BACK ON THE MAT Clint Wattenberg '03 has rejoined the wrestling team, this time as an assistant coach. A two-time All- American at Cornell,Wattenberg spent most of last season in Ithaca training for the U.S. Olympic trials, where he finished fourth after losing to eventual Olympic gold medalist Cael Sanderson in the semifinals. In addition to training and helping head coach Rob Koll with the team last season, Wattenberg also earned a master's degree in exercise science at Ithaca College.

DOUBLE THREAT It's not unusual for a Cornell hockey player to be selected in the professional draft--but it is unusual when he's not drafted by a hockey team. Matt Moulson '06 was taken by the Rochester Knighthawks in the fourth round of the indoor National Lacrosse League draft in October. Moulson played in one game for the Mississauga Tomahawks in the Ontario Lacrosse Association last season after leading the Big Red hockey team with 18 goals and 35 points. He was a ninth-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2003 National Hockey League draft. Rochester's roster includes former Cornell All-American Pat Dutton '99, who also played for the Rochester Rattlers in outdoor Major League Lacrosse.

Big Meet OCTOBER 29, 2004 Bruce Hyde '06 became the first Cornell runner in 11 years to win the men's Heptagonal Cross Country Championships when he covered the five-mile Van Cortlandt Park course in 24:35.5. Hyde, who earned first-team All-Ivy honors, finished four seconds ahead of runner-up Lucas Meyer of Yale. Not content with that, Hyde went on to win the NCAA Northeast Region Championship--becoming the first NCAA regional winner in Cornell history--and qualify for the NCAA national championship meet, where he finished 27th and was named an All-American.

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