Craig Austin, first team All-Ivy

Men's Basketball Defies Odds, Captures Third Place Craig Austin Named to First Team All-Ivy

Defying the predictions of sports writers who picked the men's basketball team to finish at the bottom of the Ivy League, Columbia defeated Dartmouth 70-63 in the season's final game last Saturday at home to secure a tie with Harvard for a third place conference finish, giving the Lions their best Ivy showing in seven years.

At the close of the successful season, the Lions also are represented among the best of the Ivy players: Columbia sophomore forward Craig Austin of Marilla, N.Y. has been selected first team All-Ivy League by a vote of the league's head coaches, it was announced this week.

Austin is the Lions' first player to earn first team all-league honors since Tom Casey and Buck Jenkins in the 1992-93 season. He is the first Columbia sophomore to be chosen All-Ivy since Jenkins in 1990.

Austin led the Lions in scoring with 14.2 points per game, assists with 2.8 per game, and steals with 1.1 per game. He ranked among the top 10 in the league in scoring, free throw percentage (.772) and field goal percentage (.447). In January, Austin became the first sophomore to be named captain of the Columbia men's basketball team.

Coach Armond Hill reflected on the season: "We came together as a group. We've made progress this year as a team and as a program."

After suffering a tough two-point defeat to the Crimson on Friday night, March 3, the Lions displayed their resilience the following day, pulling away from the Big Green in the second half after finishing the first half even at 29. Despite a 9-0 Dartmouth run to start the second half, Columbia answered with their own 26-4 run over an eight minute span and never looked back.

"To end it on a positive note was good. I was happy they bounced back," Hill said. "It was a good sign of the strength, character and maturity they have for a young team."

Treg Duerksen had a team-high 16 points, including three 3-pointers, and Craig Austin added 15 en route to the victory. It was the last game for Patrick Hernandez, the team's only senior, who received several emotional ovations from the crowd of more than 1,200 in his 14 minutes of play. The men finished the season with a 13-14 overall record, 7-7 in the Ivies.

Senior Catherine Tubridy played her last game for Columbia.

Women's Basketball Celebrates Historic Night In Cambridge

Last Friday proved to be an historic night for the women's basketball program as the Lions recorded their first-ever victory over the Harvard Crimson, and their sixth conference win set a record for the most Ivy victories in the program's history.. Winless in 30 previous tries, the Lions went up to Cambridge as big underdogs and left with a 62-56 victory before a stunned crowd.

Despite being down early 9-0, the Lions took advantage of Harvard's 13 first half turnovers and used two strong runs, 12-4 and 21-11, to gain the lead and hold it throughout the second half.

Senior Catherine Tubridy scored 12 points and had 5 assists, and junior Shawnee Pickney added 11 points and 3 steals.

"It was definitely an emotional game," Tubridy said. "But we were pretty focused on winning."

She downplayed the significance of her own Columbia basketball career coming to a close, saying, "I didn't think about it a lot." But, she added, "You do develop a special bond with your teammates."

The women dropped their last game of the season to Dartmouth 67-57. The team finished at 7-19 overall, 6-8 in the Ivies.

Men's Swimming & Diving Collects Victories and Honors

The Men's Swimming team placed sixth out of 10 teams at the season ending Eastern Championships in East Meadow, Long Island, and there were several awards that went to Lion athletes and coaches.

Three Columbians placed first in competition. Senior Gered Doherty won and set a meet record in the 100-yard freestyle; junior Mark Fichera won the 3-meter dive; and junior Matt Schultz won the 100-yard backstroke.

Upon completion of the competition, Doherty was one of three swimmers to share the Moriarty Award, presented to the highest scoring swimmer in the competition. Fichera claimed the Michael Award, as the highest scoring diver in the meet.

Columbia's coaches, Jim Bolster and Gordon Spencer, swimming and diving, respectively, were both winners of the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League Coach of the Year award in their sports.

Indoor Track & Field Boasts Three All-Eastern Athletes

In Boston, Men's & Women's Indoor Track competed in the IC4A Championships and the ECAC Championships, respectively.

Senior Jason Gibbons won the mile for the men's team. First-year Erin Raggio placed sixth in the 800 meters and senior Sarah Feeley took sixth in the high-jump for the women. The three athletes received All-Eastern honors for their achievements.

Wrestler Matt Greenberg Places Fourth at Championships

First-year Matt Greenberg wrapped up the season with an impressive fourth place finish at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Championships in Annapolis, Md.

Wrestling at 197 pounds, Greenberg just missed upsetting Penn's Mike Fickell, the second seed, which would have given Greenberg a third place finish. As a team, Columbia finished 11th out of 14 teams.