With the Yale Daily News sports section relegated to the back page and the nature of the variegated schedule of collegiate sporting, it can be easy to miss out on a few headlines or highlights. And, to the best of my knowledge, the News does not publish a recap of every season in Yale Athletics.
[(Fake) Editor’s Note: The News does not.]
As spring is upon us, it seemed like as good a time as any to rectify that gaping hole in our reporting, and fill the reader in on the best parts of the 2018 fall season for Yale Athletics.
Yale women’s volleyball had a historic season, winning 19 games, stomping to an Ivy title and only dropping one conference game along the way. This was the team’s seventh championship in the last nine years.
Several of the players received individual honors as well. Franny Arnautou ’20 was the Ivy League Player of the Year, an All-American honorable mention and, for good measure, also managed to become a minor Twitter celebrity by burying ESPN for featuring a men’s football contest between two schools of which nobody had ever heard, in an entirely irrelevant bowl game, instead of the women’s volleyball National Championship.
Captain Kate Swanson ’19 also repeated as Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year; fellow senior Kelley Wirth ’19 was first-team All-Ivy; and Ellis DeJardin ’22 took home top first-year honors. All in all, an incredible season.
Women’s cross country won the Paul Short Run, while captain Andrea Masterson ’19 broke a personal record and finished fourth in the entire field. Masterson also finished ahead of the whole pack at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships.
Men’s soccer continued its steady upward climb. The Elis finished over .500 for the first time since 2011. In the season’s high point, the Elis tied the nation’s reigning champions, Michigan State. And Nicky Downs ’19 was named first-team All-Ivy. Women’s field hockey went 10–7, which was, like soccer, the team’s best record since 2011. Bridget Condie ’20 earned first-team All-Ivy accolades as well.
Meanwhile, several teams’ seasons bridge the calendar turn. Though both of Yale’s track and field teams competed only once in the fall, their sole contests are worth mentioning. CJ McCord ’19 set a new Yale high jump standard, leaping 2.10 meters, which, for Americans, is roughly seven feet. The women’s side broke a record in the first meet of the season as well. Lilly Enes ’20, Emma Osborne ’21, Aliya Boshnak ’22 and Addison Coy ’21 ran the 4×400 more than a second faster than our school’s previous best, clocking in at 3:47.11.
Men’s heavyweight crew, coming off its second national championship in a row, continued its streak of utter dominance, winning both of its competitions in the fall. Women’s crew won the first of its two races as well.
Women’s basketball now holds a 10–5 record and is currently on a five-game win streak heading into Ivy League play beginning this Friday against Brown. Men’s basketball, after flying to the other side of the world, returned from China 1–0 and now holds a 10–3 record. The Bulldogs are riding a six-game win streak into Ivy League play, also beginning this weekend against Brown.
Men’s hockey is second in the ECAC at 6–2–1. The Elis only stand behind No. 7 Quinnipiac, and both bouts against the Bobcats still remain on the schedule. Our women’s and men’s swimming and diving teams remain undefeated in conference play. And the coed and women’s sailing teams finished the season strong. Coed emerged on top in its culminating regatta while women’s sailing came in at third at its respective competition.
For many of the athletes, their seasons continue into the depths of the winter. For some, they have yet to start. For many of the athletes on teams whose seasons are over, fall of 2019 will bring anew the excitement of the chance at a championship. And yet, for many, with the close of this fall comes the close of their athletic careers. But for all of our athletes, I have only to say, as I have said before, thank you.
Kevin Bendesky | kevin.bendesky@yale.edu