Sports

Winter Wrap-Up

Women’s Basketball: The Yellowjackets women’s basketball team wrapped up a highly successful season in the NCAA Division III Final Four in March. The first trip to the Final Four was an exciting one for the team, which lost to the eventual tournament winners, Trinity University, 63–54, in the semifinals. Although the Yellowjackets led for the first 10 minutes, Trinity topped them 18–16 with 9:35 left in the first half and retained the lead for the rest of the game.

GOAL: Erika Smith ’04 was named a Kodak/ WBCA First Team All-American.

The consolation match against top-ranked University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire ended in a 82–77 loss in double overtime. Rochester led for most of the game, until Eau Claire tied the score at 60 in the last few seconds of regulation play. In the first overtime, the teams tied at 64, but the Yellowjackets were outscored 18–13 by the Blugolds in the second overtime.

“This was definitely one of the best games I have ever been involved in,” head coach Jim Scheible told the Campus Times. “We used both of these games to show that we belonged here.”

The Yellowjackets ended the season with a record of 24–6, winning all home games (16–0) and setting a school record for victories.

Men’s Basketball: The men’s basketball team capped off a strong season by reaching the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Division III playoffs and finishing with a final record of 23–4.

The Yellowjackets, who earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III national championships for the second consecutive year, hosted—and defeated—Western Connecticut State University, 73–62, in the second round of the tournament after a first-round bye. The Yellowjackets lost to Amherst College in the Sweet 16 a week later at the sectional championships hosted by Williams College.

One of the regular season’s most exciting wins was an 83–82 overtime victory over top-ranked (and previously unbeaten) Washington University in the Palestra. Jeff Joss ’03 blocked the potential game-winning shot at the overtime buzzer. Rochester was 22–3 in the regular season.

Six players combined for a total of 14 postseason honors: Jeff Joss ’03, Seth Hauben ’05, and Andy Larkin ’04 were all named First Team All-UAA. Tim Sweeney ’03, Gabe Perez ’05, and Brian Jones ’04 were Honorable Mention All-UAA. Joss was named to one postseason All-America team. He and Hauben were named First Team All-Region.

Swimming and Diving: The Yellowjacket women turned in one of their strongest seasons, finishing 8–2 in dual meets and second in the UCAA championships, which the Yellowjackets hosted. The men’s team was 4–5 in dual meets and finished sixth at the UCAA championships. Both men and women finished seventh at the UAA championships.

Indoor Track and Field: The women’s team finished fourth at the New York State championships and 26th at the ECAC championships. Anni Barbi ’05 was fourth in the state indoor pentathlon championships. The men’s team finished fifth at the New York State championships and 12th at the ECAC championships. Jacob Budny ’04 was once again the state indoor pentathlon champion.

Squash: The Yellowjackets finished the campaign with a 10–9 record and a final rank of 20th in the National Intercollegiate Squash Racquets Association polls. Allen Fitzsimmons ’03 qualified as an individual for the NISRA championships.