Big Jump  June 9, 2007

At the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, California, Rayon Taylor '07 became the first Big Red athlete to win an individual track and field title in more than 50 years. Taylor took the triple jump with a final-round leap of 53 feet, 8-1/2 inches, which established a new Ivy League record. The last Cornellian to win an individual NCAA championship was Charlie Moore '51, who was first in the 220-yard hurdles in 1951 and went on to capture a gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles in the 1952 Olympic Games. Two of Taylor's teammates also earned All-American honors at the NCAA meet: Muhammad Halim '08, who was eighth in the triple jump, and Morgan Uceny '07, who finished sixth in the 800-meter race.

Sports Shorts

TOP IVIES  With the men's and women's track teams and the men's lacrosse team leading the way, Cornell was the top-ranked Ivy League school in the U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup standings for the 2006–07 season. The Big Red finished a school-best 55th in Division I, placing ahead of such athletic powers as West Virginia, Boston College, and Syracuse in the competition, which awards points based on national finishes in up to 20 NCAA sports, 10 men's and 10 women's.

ROYAL ROW  After winning the IRA national championship, Cornell's lightweight crew crossed the pond to compete in the Henley Royal Regatta, where they were the runner-up for the second year in a row. After defeating the Colgate heavyweight eight in the semifinals, the Big Red rowers fell to the University of California, Berkeley, by one-and-a-quarter lengths in the race for the Temple Challenge Cup.

INDUCTEES  The Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame will welcome 13 new members at the 30th induction ceremony on November 9. They will join 474 athletes, coaches, and friends of Cornell athletics who have already been inducted. The Hall of Fame Class of 2007 is made up of Rebecca Dennison Lupes '97, cross country and track and field; Bill Ellis '72, lacrosse and football; Letitia Ann Hays '51, rifle; Carl Keske '97, wrestling; Chad Levitt '97, football; Peter Pakeman '84, men's soccer; Seth Payne '97, football; Lori Penny Keeler '96, women's soccer; Hal Seidenberg '52, JD '57, football; Ken Torino '75, fencing; James Vaughan '77, men's ice hockey; Amy Wright '94, field hockey and women's lacrosse; and Russell Zelko '62, MD '67, special category, who has served Cornell athletics as an orthopedic consultant since 1975.

STILL GOING  After the college track and field season wrapped up, Cornell athletes continued to make their marks on the national and international scene. Three former Big Red runners posted top-eight finishes at the USA Track and Field Championships in Indianapolis in June. Fresh off her All-American performance at the NCAA Championships, Morgan Uceny '07 finished fourth in the 800 meters with a time of 2:01.75, a personal best. Emily McCabe '06 took seventh in the 10,000 meters at 33:34.05, and Max King '02 was eighth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 8:33.63. While the USATF meet was going on, Rayon Taylor was competing in the Jamaican National Championships, where he took second in the triple jump. Meanwhile, Sage Canaday '08 qualified for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trails in the marathon by posting a time of 2:21.43 while finishing 10th at Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota. His time was just under the qualifying standard of 2:22.00 and broke the previous Cornell record of 2:22.21 that Canaday had set earlier this year.

FAMILY TIES  Riley Nash, a first-round draft choice of the Edmonton Oilers, headlines the men's hockey team Class of 2011, which includes several other familiar names: five of the eight incoming players have a family connection to Big Red hockey. Riley is the brother of Brendon Nash '10, who played in 29 games as a freshman. The Nashes will be one of three sets of brothers on the team next season as Patrick Kennedy joins Michael Kennedy '09 and twins Joe and Mike Devin will join the program as freshmen. Other incoming players with Cornell roots are Jordan Berk, son of Doug Berk '81, who played at Cornell from 1978 to 1981; Tyler Roeszler, son of Geoff Roeszler '81, who also played from 1978 to 1981; and Jacob Johnston, who has one sister, Sarah Johnston '08, on the women's hockey team, and another, Rebecca, who will join the women's team this fall. The other new member of the Cornell program is Dan Nichols, who played for the Bowmanville Eagles in the Ontario Provincial Junior Hockey League.

BIG HITTER  Despite missing 13 games due to Big Red hockey, Justin Milo '10 was named to the Collegiate Baseball Freshman All- American team. Milo, a designated hitter, posted a team-high .426 batting average, which would have ranked second in the Ivy League had he had enough at-bats. As it was, Milo was a unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection. He also scored three goals in 24 games as a forward on the hockey team. Joining Milo as a first-team All-Ivy pick was relief pitcher Blake Hamilton '07, who struck out 34 batters in 38 innings. The second-team infield was painted red as it included second baseman Jimmy Heinz '08, shortstop Scott Hardinger '09, and third baseman Nathan Ford '09. Outfielder Domenic DiRicco '09 earned honorable mention.

GOOD STUFF  Rocky Collis '06 was named the South Coast League Pitcher of the Month for June after posting a 1.83 ERA and going 2-2 in five starts for the Bradenton Juice, an independent minor-league team. He nearly threw the first no-hitter in league history, but gave up a single with two outs in the ninth inning.