by Robert D. Cornell

Women’s tennis won an unprecedented third consecutive Patriot League championship with a 6-3 win over Army. It was the first conference title under new coach Rene Vidal.

Following a 5-0 blanking of host Bucknell in the semifinals, top seeded Colgate swept all three doubles matches and the singles players won three of six matches with Army.

Freshman Amy Wachenheim won the number one singles match and teamed with Sam Kohn ’99, last year’s tourney MVP, for an 8-1 doubles win. Kohn won her singles match 6-1, 6-3. Lisa Ongseng ’01 won her singles match and, with captain Leslie Frank, had a doubles win, too. Alison Brown ’98 and Cyan Brakhage ’01 won the third doubles match 8-4.

Assisting Vidal, who took over the program this summer, is Beth Todd, former boys coach at Cincinnati Day School.

Colgate men’s and women’s crew will begin competing as varsity teams in 2000–2001, announced President Neil Grabois in September. Additional university support for crew will be phased in over the next three years until the teams are officially elevated to varsity status in 2000.

As a varsity sport, men’s and women’s crew will be overseen by a head coach and three assistants. Fred Cressman, at Colgate since 1995, will continue as head coach under the new arrangement.

Jason Ballum ’97, captain of the 1996–97 men’s crew, was named to the U.S. Rowing Association’s Academic All-America second team.

Ballum rowed for three years in the men’s varsity 8 and served as president of the Rowing Club in 1995. After graduating as a double major in psychology and education and earning the Charles Thurber Award as the education depart-ment’s top concentrator, Ballum stayed on campus to work in the admission office.

Former assistant women’s rowing coach Michelle Borkhuis and partner Linda Muri won the silver medal in the women’s lightweight pair at the World Championships held in France in September. The Australian took first place by 30 feet. Borkhuis helped lead the Colgate novice crew to a silver medal at the Champion International Collegiate Regatta last May.

The soccer team provided the win (2-1 over Drexel) to complete a perfect night for the dedication of Van Doren Field, which honors Chester A. Van Doren ’40. The team presented Mrs. Magie Van Doren, joined by her sons Dirk ’81, a former soccer player, and Craig and grandson Chet, with the game ball following Colgate’s first home match ever under the lights.

Men’s soccer coach Mike Doherty picked up the 100th win of his coaching career when the Red Raiders defeated Navy 2-1 on Sept. 13. Colgate made it a sweep of the Patriot League service academies with a 3-0 win over Army during Homecoming Weekend. Doherty, who is in his 13th season as head coach, is a two-time winner of the Howard Hartman Award, which is presented to Colgate’s coach of the year, and was named Patriot League Coach of the Year in 1992 when his team won the league championship and broke into the national rankings.

Former Colgate football and lacrosse player Bill Smith ’90 has been appointed Associate Executive Director for Compliance and Championships of the Patriot League. He had been working for two years as the Director of Compliance and Student-Athlete Advisor at Wagner College on Staten Island.

Vickie Sax, assistant softball coach and head field hockey coach at Mansfield University, has been named head softball coach at Colgate. A 1985 graduate of the University of Iowa, Sax was an extremely successful head coach at Vestal (NY) High School, where she was New York State Softball Coach of the Year in 1995.

Members of the ’77 team returned to campus to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Red Raiders 10-1 season, the most wins ever by a Colgate football team. The players were introduced during halftime of the Lehigh game and everyone looked ready to play. Alas, no help was needed with Colgate building on its 41-7 halftime lead for a 61-28 final victory.

The Red Raiders opened the hockey season at Michigan, beating the fifth-ranked Wolverines 2-1. It was the first home loss for Michigan in 36 games. Colgate lost the second game 6-4 but the season was off to a high flying start.

The team’s Jan. 17 game at Cornell will be televised by Empire Sports Network as part of the ECAC Ice Hockey Game of the Week. The game will be carried live at 7 p.m. The Red Raiders were picked to finish sixth in the ECAC race, while Cornell was picked third.

Congratulations to senior golfer Jon Ryan, who was named to the all-Patriot League team after leading the Red Raiders to a fourth-place finish in the league championship. Ryan was tied for sixth in the individual standings. Also, kudos to senior golfer Steve DuBarry, who had a hole-in-one on the par-3, 212-yard 11th hole at the ECAC Upstate New York qualifier at the Saratoga Spa State Park course, helping the Red Raiders to second place and qualifying for the ECAC finals.

Looking ahead to the winter season, here are some special dates to mark on your calendar. The men’s basketball team will be playing in the Seton Hall Tournament Dec. 22–23 in the Continental Arena at the Meadowlands Sports Complex; the hockey team will meet Cornell on Jan. 10 at the Nassau Coliseum and play against York University in the Buffalo Showcase at the Marine Midland Arena on Nov. 30.

The women’s basketball team will be in Miami Dec. 31–Jan. 1 for the Florida International Tournament.