Two Strong Finishes, One Great Start 

WRESTLING AND HOCKEY EXCEL IN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS; LACROSSE OPENS WITH SIX WINS

Standouts: Wrestler Troy Nickerson '09 had a sensational freshman year, making it all the way to the NCAA championship final in the 125- pound weight class. Goalie David McKee '07 was once again a star for the men's hockey team, holding opponents to 2.08 goals per game and setting school records for consecutive games played and career shutouts. After the Big Red's 1-0 triple-overtime loss to Wisconsin in the NCAA regional final, he left school to sign a professional contract with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.Wisconsin went on to win the national championship, defeating Maine 5-2 and Boston College 2-1.

cORNELL'S WRESTLING AND MEN'S hockey teams closed the season strong, although both are perhaps lamenting what might have been. After once again securing the Ivy League title, the wrestlers sent eight competitors to the NCAA Division I tournament in Oklahoma City. The team finished fifth overall, with four members earning All-American honors: Troy Nickerson '09 (125 pounds), Dustin Manotti '06 (157 pounds), Jerry Rinaldi '07 (197 pounds), and Joe Mazzurco '06 (184 pounds). Last year's team took fourth in the tournament, with Travis Lee '05 winning his second national championship.

This year, Nickerson was the story of the tournament--and the season--for the Big Red. A five-time New York State high school champion at Chenango Forks High School,Nickerson finished the regular season with a 32-1 record and was named both rookie of the year and wrestler of the year in the Ivy League--the first male athlete to earn both honors in the same season. In Oklahoma City, he defeated four straight opponents to advance to the championship match against Joe Dubuque of Indiana, a fifth-year senior and the defending national champion. Nickerson lost 8-3, but said afterwards that the match would provide him additional motivation for his sophomore season. Dustin Manotti did almost as well, falling to his first opponent but then winning five consecutive matches to capture third place. Rinaldi was 3-2 to finish fourth, and Mazzurco took sixth in his weight class.

The hockey team won 22 games and was selected for the NCAA tournament, but again closed its season with a bitter overtime loss. The icers battled injuries, especially to defensemen, all year, yet still managed to finish only one point out of first place in the ECAC regular season. The Big Red then downed Clarkson in two straight double-overtime nail-biters at Lynah Rink to advance to the semi-final of the league tournament, where they blanked Colgate 2-0. But on the next night everything went right for a red-hot Harvard team, which defeated the Big Red 6-2 to claim the ECAC title.

The team's NCAA tournament appearance had a strong feeling of déjà vu. Once again, they were sent to the Midwest--this time to Green Bay, Wisconsin--where they battled back from a 2-0 deficit in the first game to win 3- 2. (Last year, their opponent was Ohio State; this time, it was Colorado College.) On the next night, they faced a powerful Midwestern squad playing in front of thousands of their own fans in a tightly contested game that went into overtime. This year the opponent was Wisconsin, not Minnesota, and it took three overtime periods of hard-fought scoreless hockey before Cornell was defeated 1-0. Goalie David McKee '07 came up with perhaps the greatest performance of his stellar career, stopping 59 Badger shots, many at close range, before a Jack Skille one-timer went into the net at 111:13. The exhausting game--the second-longest in NCAA hockey history--turned out to be McKee's last in a Big Red uniform. A week later, it was announced that he was leaving school to sign a pro contract with the NHL's Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

Back in Ithaca, the men's lacrosse team got off to its best start since 1987, winning its first six games and rising to number two in the national rankings. They faltered in the seventh contest, falling to Penn 8-6 on a rainy day in Philadelphia, but rebounded the following week to trounce Harvard 10-3 in Cambridge. Senior Joe Boulukos and freshman Max Seibald each tallied three goals for the Big Red as they improved their record to 7-1.

TOP FROSH  Troy Nickerson isn't the only member of the Class of 2009 to have already made a mark in the Cornell record books. In women's basketball, Jeomi Maduka '09 was named the Ivy League rookie of the year and earned second-team All-Ivy honors. Maduka, who was joined on the Ivy all-rookie team by guard Kayleen Fitzsimmons '09, was fourth in the league in scoring (14.8 points per game) and fourth in rebounds (7.8 per game). She also earned second-team All-Ivy honors in indoor track, finishing second in the long jump at the Heptagonal Championships with a school-record jump of 20 feet, 3-3/4 inches. She also took second in the triple jump. More honors were won by Adam Gore '09, who was named the Ivy League men's basketball rookie of the year after setting Cornell freshman records for scoring (12.9 points per game) and threepointers (82). Gore, who earned Ivy League rookie of the week honors eight times, was joined on the All-Ivy second team by Lenny Collins '06.

LYNAH EXPANSION  The sold-out attendance count of 3,836 for Big Red hockey games will soon be no more. As soon as the last home game was played in March, Cornell moved ahead with a Lynah Rink expansion project that will add more than 400 seats, as well as new locker rooms, equipment rooms, and offices. Most of the changes will be made to the building's south side, which faces the Schoellkopf Crescent parking lot. The west end of the building will also be renovated to accommodate improved storage and laundry facilities.

OLYMPIAN FEATS  The 20th Olympic Winter Games had a Big Red tint, as multiple Cornell connections could be found on the rinks and slopes of Turin, Italy. Melody Davidson, on leave from her position as head coach of the Cornell women's hockey team, led the Canadian women's hockey team to its second straight gold medal, posting a perfect 5-0 record. Competing for the U.S. team, Travis Mayer '04 finished seventh in men's mogul skiing; he won a silver medal in the event at Salt Lake City in 2002. Ice dancer Jamie Silverstein '07, skating with partner Ryan O'Meara, finished in sixteenth place, while Matt Savoie, who deferred his admission to the Law school to compete at Turin, placed seventh in men's figure skating. In addition, Emily Hughes, daughter of John Hughes '70, MBA '71, JD '74 (captain of Cornell's 1970 national champion men's hockey team), and Amy Pastarnack Hughes '71, MBA '74, sister of David Hughes '04 and 2002 gold medalist Sarah Hughes, finished seventh in ladies' figure skating.

HOOPS EXEC  Bryan Colangelo '87 has taken his award-winning career as an NBA executive north of the border. On February 28, Colangelo was named president and general manager of the Toronto Raptors, ending his 17-year tenure with the Phoenix Suns. Colangelo spent 11 years as GM of the Suns and was named the 2004–05 NBA Executive of the Year after the Suns won a leaguehigh 62 games.

HEP HEP HOORAY  While Barton Hall is no longer the full-time home of the Heptagonal Indoor Championships each spring, Cornell is still home to the Heptagonal titles. This year, the women's team won its fifth straight Heps indoor championship while the men's team earned its third title in four years. The women scored in 15 of 18 events, taking six first-place finishes along the way while running their overall Heps streak, including both indoor and outdoor meets, to nine. Morgan Uceny '07 won her second straight 800-meter title with a meet-record time of 2:06.88, and went on to earn All-American honors in the 800 with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA championships. Sheeba Ibidunni '06 collected two Heptagonal titles, winning the weight throw and shot put. Other women's Heps champions were Sarah Wilfred '07 in the high jump, Jamie Greubel '06 in the pentathlon, and the 4x400 relay team of Linda Trotter '06, Cameron Washington '07, Christina Cossell '07, and Uceny. The men's team won only two individual titles--Evan Whitehall '07 in the pole vault and Rayon Taylor '07 in the triple jump--but added 11 second- and third-place finishes to beat runner-up Princeton by 20 points.

SAFE AT HOME  Erin Sweeney '04 has returned to the softball program, this time as a part-time assistant coach. A four-year starter at Cornell, Sweeney was an assistant coach at St. Anselm College last season. During her Big Red playing career, Sweeney set season and career records for stolen bases and helped the team to Ivy League titles in 2001 and 2004. Cornell finished 29-17-1 last season and was second in the Ivy League.

ON THE RUN  Max King '02 was selected to represent Team USA in the world cross country championships after finishing third in the U.S. championships on February 19. King, who lives in Bend, Oregon, and is a research chemical engineer, covered the 12K course in 35:20, taking third by seven seconds. The world championships were held April 1–2 in Fukuoka, Japan; King finished 57th.