Big Time  SPRINT FOOTBALL'S PERFECT SEASON IS NO SMALL FEAT

iN THE OLD DAYS, THEY CALLED IT the Eastern Lightweight Football League, a name that left the sport-- originally limited to players of 150 pounds or fewer--burdened with an unfortunate acronym, and something of an image problem. Now the players are bigger, and a new-and-improved moniker-- the Collegiate Sprint Football League--arrived in 1998. But the game is the same: it's old-school football, played under standard NCAA rules by athletes who tip the scales at no more than 172 pounds. "The league's credo is that it allows the average-size American male to play college football," says Terry Cullen, MBA' 66, Cornell's longtime sprint coach. "So, as the population has grown larger, so has the weight limit."

Cullen has been with Cornell's program since 1965, when he served as offensive coordinator under his father, Cornell Athletic Hall of Famer Bob Cullen. The senior Cullen, who died in 1996, is a legendary name in sprint circles: he's credited with saving the league after a post-war lull, and the championship trophy was named after him in 1984. At Cornell, he remained a co-head coach with his son after his formal retirement in 1979. One guesses that this season would have been particularly sweet for father and son: On October 27, Cornell's sprint squad downed powerful Army to deliver the team's first championship since 1986 and its first perfect season since 1982. So Terry Cullen can finally add another Cullen Trophy to the award collection in his Schoellkopf Hall office.

Sprint football enjoys a storied history-- Jimmy Carter and Donald Rumsfeld are alumni of the game--but a low profile in college athletics. University of Pennsylvania president Thomas Sovereign Gates is credited with founding the sport in 1934 as a response to ever-growing player size. Coining the motto "Football for All" and adopting the same 150-pound weight limit used in lightweight crew, he encouraged greater participation among those with less-dominating physiques. In 1936, Cornell joined the league, which now includes Penn, Princeton, Army, and Navy. Some sixteen schools, including Yale and Columbia, have fielded sprint teams over the years, but the number of programs has been dwindling; the most recent to drop out was Rutgers in 1990. Historically, the two service academies tend to trade championship titles. Cullen attributes this to their superior conditioning-- and perhaps attitude. "They have a real military arrogance about having Ivy League teams beat them," he says.

No wonder--it doesn't happen very often. Cornell's 6-0 campaign this year included a 16-10 overtime defeat of Navy at Schoellkopf on October 6 that marked the Big Red's first win over the Midshipmen since 1998. Princeton and Penn fell next, at 35-0 and 21-7. In the 26-7 finale at West Point, Cornell's league-leading defense proved the decider, with Army losing nine turnovers, including a fumble recovery for a touchdown that put the visitors up 10-0 in the first quarter. The Black Knights of Army--who had not lost to Cornell since 1992--couldn't muster any points until garbage time, when a touchdown with 1:25 to play spoiled the shutout. It was a dominating finish for a team that exceeded even Cullen's typically optimistic expectations. "I always think it'll be a great team," he says. "But this bunch has been a joy to work with."

As befits the name, speed is the biggest distinction between the sprint game and "big-guy football," as Cullen calls it.With all players at roughly equal size, linemen can chase down running backs and coaches can employ any number of curious defensive schemes. Physically, the smaller players don't back down from their larger brethren. "In most ways, it's actually a much harder-hitting game because there's no fear factor," Cullen says. "They play with a little more reckless abandon."

They also play for more modest rewards. The crowds are small, there's no recruiting, and league rules forbid scouting and field phones; in a sense, the game itself is something of a no-glory throwback to the college ball of a few generations ago. "This is a very old-fashioned league," says Cullen, who likes to emphasize his team's superior skills in the classroom. The team has a "4.0 Club" for its academic all-stars, and his coaching duties typically include writing recommendations for various scholarship applications. "We kill academically," he says. "Where else would you have two potential Rhodes Scholars on your football team?"

Those players--who go on to be doctors, lawyers, and businessmen--tend to remain fierce supporters. The program is entirely financed by its 12,000-strong alumni group, and in 2001 Cullen's position was endowed by a gift from Jay Carter '71 and his wife, Juliann Reisner Carter '71. (Yes, the Terry Cullen Head Coach of Sprint Football is . . . Terry Cullen.) Explayers give blood as well as money: each September, alumni return to campus and strap on their pads for a full-contact scrimmage against the rookies. "It's no powder-puff game--it's rock 'em, sock 'em," says Cullen of the ritual, won this year by the alums, who are fined $2 for every pound they've put on since their playing days. "After the game, they all say, ‘I've still got it.' But, once the euphoria wears off, they're hurting."

-- David Dudley

Big Game  November 10, 2006

The men's basketball team opened the season in spectacular fashion, traveling to Evanston, Illinois, and defeating Northwestern 64-61. It was Cornell's first win over a Big Ten team since 1968. Sophomore guard Adam Gore led the Big Red with 20 points and freshman Ryan Wittman added 18. The result was in doubt until Wittman nailed two free throws with seven seconds on the clock. Gore--the team's leading scorer last year--was injured in the last minute of the game, and a subsequent exam revealed a torn ACL, which ended his season.

THREE-PEAT It may be too early to call them a dynasty, but the women's volleyball team can now claim dominance after winning the Ivy League championship for the third straight season. The Big Red wrapped up the title with a 3-0 win over Princeton on November 11. Elizabeth Bishop '07 led the way with 15 kills and 10 digs, earning Ivy League Player of the Week honors. The win gave the team an 18-8 regular season record, a 12-2 mark in league play, and a spot in the NCAA championship tournament.

BACK-TO-BACK For the first time in its history, the field hockey team has posted consecutive winning seasons in the Ivy League. This year, the Big Red finished 4-3 and tied for second place--Cornell's best finish since 1997. Three players earned post-season laurels, with Belen Martinez '09, Katlyn Donoghue '09, and Sarah Miller '07 all receiving second-team All-Ivy honors.

HUSTLING HARRIERS Cornell women took two of the top three spots at the Heptagonal cross country championships, lifting the team to third place overall, its best finish in four years. Second-place finisher Toni Salucci '07 posted the tenth fastest time in meet history, 17:14.9 over five kilometers, which bettered her personal best by 77 seconds. Nyam Kagwima '07 was third with a personal-best time of 17:55.4. Despite falling early in the men's race, Jimmy Wyner '08 ran the second- fastest Heps time in school history to finish second, less than three seconds behind two-time Ivy champion Ben True of Dartmouth. Wyner crossed the line in 24:32.0, more than 70 seconds better than his previous best. Sage Canady '07 also earned All-Ivy honors with a tenth-place finish, as Cornell finished fifth overall, its best showing since 2000.

GLOBETROTTER Jeff Aubry '99 has returned stateside to continue his professional basketball career, joining the Miami Tropics, a new team in the American Basketball Association. A 6'10" forward best known for his rebounding and shot-blocking abilities, Aubry most recently played in Argentina and has made stops in Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Poland, Spain, Peru, and Chile. He also played for the Fayetteville Patriots in the National Basketball Development League.

IN THE PITS Most people in professional sports would take offense to being called a "bush leaguer," but Chad Walter '93 probably wouldn't mind.Walter is the crew chief for the No. 5 Lowe's Chevrolet driven by Kyle Busch in NASCAR's Busch Series. The team is part of the Hendrick Motorsports stable, which also fields Nextel Cup cars for 2006 champion Jimmie Johnson and four-time champion Jeff Gordon. Kyle Busch finished seventh in the 2006 Busch Series standings, after recording 12 top-10 finishes, including a first at Bristol Motor Speedway in August.Walter became crew chief for the team in August 2005.

SOCCER STAR Scott Palguta '05 enjoyed an outstanding sophomore professional season, helping the Rochester Raging Rhinos reach the championship game of the United Soccer League's First Division. Palguta started all 28 regular season games at center back and anchored a defense that recorded a league-high 14 shutouts. He was named to the USL First Division Team of the Week three times. Goalkeeper David Mahoney '05 also saw action in the USL First Division, playing four games for the Seattle Sounders while on loan from the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer.

ON THE MOUND A lot of recent graduates are still looking forward to their first promotion, but Rocky Collis '06 had to wait only two months. Collis, a 28th round draft pick of the Seattle Mariners in baseball's 2006 amateur draft, got a late-season call-up to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League, one step short of the majors. He began the season in the Arizona Summer League (Rookie League), where he was 2-1 with four saves and 3.55 ERA. Fellow alumnus Chris Schutt '04 also had a successful season, posting a 5-2 record with eight saves and 2.67 ERA for the Single-A Fort Myers Miracle. He also went 1-0 for the Double-A New Britain Rock Cats.