Sports Shorts
MOVING UP For the first time in 50 years, the men's lacrosse team will have one of its own at the helm. Ben DeLuca '98 was named head coach on June 17, one day after previous Cornell coach Jeff Tambroni was introduced as the new head coach at Penn State. DeLuca has been on the Big Red staff since 2002, helping the team win eight Ivy League titles and being honored as the national Assistant Coach of the Year in 2007. During his playing career, DeLuca was a four-year letter-winner and served as captain his senior year.
STRONG SHOWING The men's rowing team posted its best performance since 1981 at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships, placing third overall. Cornell was the top team from the East, finishing behind only Washington and California. All four Cornell boats reached the grand finals, with the open four with coxswain finishing first and the varsity eight finishing third. A week after Cornell's IRA success, the program launched an $8 million boathouse expansion project. A new two-story addition will be built on the east side of Collyer Boathouse along with a storage area next to Robinson Shell House.
RACQUETMAN Squash player Alex Domenick '12 represented the United States at the World University Games in Melbourne, Australia, in June. Domenick helped the U.S. squad to a bronze medal in team play and finished 14th in the individual matches.
WORLD'S BEST A pair of Cornell lacrosse alumni can now say they are world champions. Max Seibald '09 and Ryan McClay '03 were members of the U.S. National Team that won the Federation of International Lacrosse World Championship in England in July. Both earned All-World honors after helping the U.S. to a 6-1 record including a 12-10 title-game victory over Canada. And while McClay was in England, his wife, Laura Brandt '03, gave birth to the couple's first child, Lilly.
DESERVING DOZEN Twelve new members will join the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame during the 33rd annual induction ceremony in October, including five former All-Americans, one Olympic medalist, and one current head coach. The former All-Americans are Kurt Bettger '81, soccer; Greg Bloedorn '96, BA '95, football; Wade Bollinger '82, lacrosse; John Hanson '99, football; and Eric Kusseluk '97, soccer. They will be joined by Olympic rowing silver medalist Michael Staines '71 and current baseball coach Bill Walken-bach '98, as well as Emily Germano Harding '00, MS '05, track and field and cross country; Amy Finkelstein Snider '94, soccer; Jennifer Watkins '95, PhD '08, track and field; Steve Wilson '97, ice hockey; and Raymond Zagars '76, ME '77, sprint football.
GOING PRO Three members of Cornell's Sweet 16 men's basketball team have signed contracts to play professionally overseas. Jeff Foote '10 and Jon Jaques '10 will compete in the Israeli Premier League; Foote signed with Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv while Jaques inked a deal with Ironi Ashkelon. Louis Dale '10 will play for BG Göttingen in Germany's top league, Basketball Bundesliga. Teammate Ryan Wittman '10 played for both the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks in NBA summer leagues and is a strong prospect for a deal stateside.
FASTER AND FASTER Morgan Uceny '07 continues to impress on the international track circuit. At a meet in Lausanne, Switzerland, Uceny ran a 4:20.40 in the 1500 meters, the seventh-fastest time in the world in 2010 and the tenth-fastest ever by an American. Uceny also finished fifth in the USA Track and Field Championships in the 800 meters. Muhammad Halim '08 posted Cornell's best finish at the national meet, placing fourth in the triple jump, while Garrett Huyler '09 was 11th in the high jump.
THE FUTURE IS NOW The incoming crop of men's hockey players comes from as close as Ithaca and as far away as Belarus. Coming to Lynah Rink are goaltender Andy Iles '14, an Ithaca native and veteran of the U.S. National Development Team; defensemen Kirill Gotovets '14 from Belarus and Mathieu Brisson '14 from Quebec; and forwards Rodger Craig '13 from Alberta, Armand de Swardt '13 from Texas, and Dustin Mowrey '14 from British Columbia. They hope to fill the open spots on the squad left by the graduation of six seniors and the loss of forward Riley Nash '11, who signed a pro contract with the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes.