A quick look around the world of Columbia and Ivy League sports to see who’s hot and who’s not.
Three Up:
1. Men's swimming and diving—It may not have won the Ivies (it came in third), but what a great performance by the team. It broke numerous school records, won individual and relay events, had the best swimmer in the event (Hyun Lee) and the best swimmer at Ivies in the past four years (Adam Powell), and Powell likely booked a trip to NCAAs with a time of 19.62 in the 50 free. Despite the fact that Powell and Lee are both graduating, the long-term future looks bright.
2. School spirit—Anyone who was at the double overtime loss to Yale on Friday will testify to the fact that everyone at that game was into it by the end. The crowd was constantly berating the ref for admittedly questionable calls, distracting Yale players at the free throw line, and chanting Columbia players' names as they went to the bench or fouled out. Even though the team lost, it was nice to see students come together like that.
3. Kyle Smith—The aforementioned loss had to be crushing for the team. It had many missed opportunities to grab a lead in both overtimes, but simply failed to convert. Despite this, Smith had his team more than ready to go against Brown just 24 hours later, as Columbia jumped out to a 20-point lead at halftime. That folks, is a coach who knows how to push the right buttons on his squad.
