BADMINTON
The badminton team finished its regular season undefeated and with the national title. UCSD began the year with a number of impressive victories, especially by the women’s team, which swept both San Diego State and UC Santa Barbara. Badminton also hosted its 15th annual Sun God Badminton Tournament in February, winning it for the second consecutive year. In April, UCSD got the opportunity to host 22 teams in the national championships, and the host team pulled out a victory over UC Irvine. However, UCI got its revenge and took the league title.
The team recognized its male Player of the Year as Chhay Taing, who worked his way into the No. 1 position, and the badminton team’s female Player of the Year is Dede Davis. She is a nationally ranked player, and this year has been her strongest. She reunited with her doubles partner Dara Walsh this year, and they finished the season undefeated in league matches.
CYCLING
UCSD cycling had a competitive team this year and was led by captains Joe Merlone and Tona Rodriquez-Nikl. With strong performances all year by Geoff Rapoport on the men’s side and Laura Resor and Megan Wemmer on the women’s side, UCSD finished in fifth place at the Western Collegiate Cycling Conference, qualifying the team for the national championships hosted by UC Berkeley. At the nationals, UCSD finished in 11th place, with Rodriguez-Nikl and Rapoport finishing 27th and 33rd place in the men’s race, respectively, and Resor finishing 17th in the female race.
DANCESPORT
Led by head coach Peter Edwards and captains Lindy Cabot and James Hua, the dancesport team took home several trophies over the course of the year. The team danced its way to a first-place finish at the annual Day by the Shores, a UCSD-hosted event which drew 1,500 dancers from 22 different schools. The team also excelled at Stanford’s Cardinal Classic, with the pairings of Patrick Chen-Tracy Hajkowski and Sean Gentry-Abby Wong taking first-place finishes. Later in the year, the dancesport team hosted “”A Day in Paradise,”” a benefit showcase in Price Center Ballroom.
The team is looking forward to next year, where it will likely have the talent and experience necessary to compete nationally.
DANCE TEAM
The UCSD dance team, led by captain Kanchan Dudani and head coach Natalie Adcock, danced this year at several national competitions, as well as UCSD sporting events, Sun God and Admit Day.
The highlight of the year was an April trip to Daytona, Fla., where the team competed in the National Cheerleading Association Nationals — one of the largest dance competitions in the United States. The team finished ranked among the top 15 teams in Division II.
EQUESTRIAN
The equestrian team had several strong performances this year, with several individual riders competing at the national championships. The team hosted the first competition of the year, with UCSD’s Lisa Calvino, Linda Torres and Meredith Tosta taking first place in individual divisions, while the team placed first overall.
The team hosted another English Competition in February, but came in a close second place to USD. At the Cal Poly Pomona Western/English Competition, UCSD came out again with many individual awards and took home the Reserve Champion Team award.
The team qualified several riders to compete at the national championships in Tennessee, but sent only two — Kate McComas and Natalie Freeman. For both riders, it was their first time competing nationally, but they still had notable finishes, with Freeman placing ninth in the walk-trot and McComas finishing 11th.
ICE HOCKEY
The UCSD ice hockey team had a successful year, capped by a six-game winning streak in November to re-establish their playoff potential. Led by a new head coach, UCSD alum Reid Hankins, the team took some time to get settled. But once UCSD found its sync, the team was hard to beat.
After winning the league championship three years in a row, the Tritons were surrounded by high expectations. And after starting its season 0-3, UCSD was facing an uphill battle back to the top.
In November, the team traveled to Washington state to face four schools in four days. Although it was a grueling schedule, the Tritons responded with intensity in their games. The turning point arrived during the game against Walla Walla. UCSD came out flat, much like they had in the beginning of the season. After an inspiring speech by the coaching staff and some talk amongst themselves, the team responded, scoring three goals in a 15-second span on the way to a 12-6 win.
The Tritons finished their regular season with a record of 12-6. Despite late success, UCSD narrowly missed out on a playoff bid.
MEN’S LACROSSE
The men’s lacrosse team’s playoff dreams ended with a tough battle and one double-overtime goal by Chapman University. Yet the team remains proud for its efforts in gaining national attention as an emerging team with a lot of potential.
At the start of the season, the Tritons quickly realized that they had a blend of talent. Senior attackman Ross Stensrud was poised for competition after struggling with past injuries, and UCSD captain and defenseman Chris Washington had the experience to shutdown opponents. The Tritons got a second weapon offensively with the addition of freshman Nick Dean. The team also had a solid backup cast, including senior attackman Matt LaFiandra, the three midfield Bretts (Brett Williams, Bret Loughridge, and Brett Northart) and goalkeepers Wade Tam, Jody Hochstein and Matt Etchepare.
Nationally, UCSD was relatively unknown — unranked in the polls and perennial underdogs. However, heads quickly turned as the upsets began to mount with wins over UCLA, Minnesota-Duluth and Arizona.
Riding a three-game winning streak going into the Western Collegiate Lacrosse League quarterfinals, UCSD faced Chapman, to whom the Tritons lost earlier in the season by a single goal. History would again repeat itself when the playoff game ended with another one-goal win for Chapman, 12-11.
At the end of the regular season, UCSD was ranked No. 3 in its division with a 10-4 record, just behind Chapman and national champions UCSB. The Tritons were also nationally ranked at No. 16, their highest finish ever.
WOMEN’S LACROSSE
The women’s lacrosse team, led by captain Lindsey Reeves, was unable to pull out wins this season, despite having a competitive team. UCSD finished its season winless after several close calls against teams like Loyola Marymount and University of Arizona. UCSD’s Elaine Lui, Elaine Horowitz and Lauren Heintz led the offensive, and Amanda Overton, Kim Woo and Crystal Grover supported the team on defense. Despite their statistical shortfalls, the women’s team gained experience for the year ahead.
MEN’S RUGBY
Led by veteran player and captain Matt Jones, the UCSD men’s rugby team came out swinging in its first match against UCLA, soundly defeating the Bruins 51-11. However, the season quickly turned sour, with several losses to UCSB, SDSU and USD. Yet UCSD regained its confidence with a solid 36-12 win over Long Beach State in February. The Tritons will try to rebuild their game in preparation for next year in the hopes of advancing to the playoffs.
WOMEN’S RUGBY
It was a memorable year for the UCSD women’s rugby team, which advanced to the national semifinals in 2003.
The team, led by captain Abby George, finished its regular season undefeated. The season began with the UCSD-hosted Scrum by the Sea tournament, where the team took first place for the second year in a row. Most of UCSD’s regular season games were blowouts, including an 81-0 win over Occidental and a 53-0 win over Arizona State. The only team that posed a challenge to the Tritons was UCSB, in a nail-biting defensive battle that ended with a 5-3 UCSD win.
After a strong regular season, UCSD was chosen to host a bracket of the national playoffs. In the Sweet 16 bracket, solid kicking by Kirstin Hartos and a defensive edge gave UCSD the win over UNC-Chapel Hill, 16-10. In the Elite Eight bracket against Dartmouth, UCSD was able to pull off its final shutout of the year, winning easily by a score of 38-0.
Yet, the fairy tale year came to an end when UCSD suffered two losses in the Final Four at Stanford, losing to Illinois and Penn State to finish the year ranked No. 4 in the nation. The experience, however, will help UCSD in the future, and one rugby news publication even noted that UCSD “”is a year away”” from the national championship.
SAILING
The team had its ups and downs all season, but UCSD sailing consistently pushed their boating skills to the limits. The season schedule had the team traveling nearly every weekend to locations all along the California coast, plus one trip to Hawaii. Led by captains Chris Nilsen, Ryan McDonnell, Jordan Meyer and the Varsity A-Team of Sean Anderson and Heather Martinelli, UCSD had several notable successes. Its highest finish came at Vallejo, Calif., when the team took home the third-place prize.
Yet the sailing team’s highlight of the year came not in the form of a trophy, but rather with the purchase of two new boats — the first fleet addition in over five years. With the “”twins”” in UCSD’s arsenal, the team hopes to hone its skills in preparation for next year’s tournaments.
TRIATHOLON
The triathlon team is hard at work training for their next race. Despite having lost some of their star athletes to graduation or professional leagues, UCSD still has a solid team. Male athletes Eric Mellers and John Finke are consistently competitive, while Amy Knapp, Natasha Cridler and Michelle Wedemeyer support the team in the female races. Led by captain Chris Richardson, UCSD hosted the second annual Dirty Dip-N-Dash and placed eighth as a team at the Wildflower Triathlon.
The team still has the majority of its summer season ahead, with races at Camp Pendleton, San Jose, Calif., and Los Angeles coming up soon.
MEN’S ULTIMATE DISC
The men’s ultimate team had another great season, just barely missing out on a bid to nationals. Led by Mike Cenzer, the team began its season with the annual Warm-Up Tournament, veteran players were refreshed and new members garnered experience.
At the Santa Barbara Invite Tournament, UCSD went 5-2 before losing in the semifinals. At the Stanford Invite, UCSD went 1-3 on the first day, but advanced to the finals of the B-bracket before losing to Washington State.
Once the playoffs began, UCSD kicked it into high gear, winning sectionals with a blowout over UCSB. UCSD’s B-team also had a strong showing, winning every game before losing to UCSB.
At regionals, UCSD rolled into the finals with five straight wins against teams like UCLA and Arizona. The final was against rival Colorado, who pulled out a double-overtime 16-15 win in a marathon match to end UCSD’s streak and its dreams of playing at nationals.
WOMEN’S ULTIMATE DISC
Last year’s national championship win over Stanford was a hard act to follow, yet the UCSD women’s ultimate team still performed competitively. In its first event at Santa Barbara, UCSD advanced to the finals before losing to Stanford. In February, UCSD hosted the annual President’s Day Tournament, where the team had several notable wins, including a comeback over University of British Columbia before falling again to Stanford in the semifinals.
At the Stanford Invite Tournament, UCSD again performed strongly, led by the defense of co-captain Alicia White, but still lost to UBC in the semifinals.
After the regular season, UCSD stepped up the intensity of the gameplay, winning both the sectional and regional championships without losing a single game. UCSD entered the National Tournament as defending champions but with a No. 3 ranking. The team came out strong with two wins, but lost to their long time rival Colorado and to Massachusetts Institute of Technology to end its hopes of a second-consecutive national title.
WATERSKI
Early in the school year, but late in the summer season, the UCSD waterski team took off to its best season in history, placing second at the Western Conference Regional Championships and qualifying the team for the competitive Division 1A nationals. Peter Mehrof and Katie Ambrose excelled in the men’s and women’s divisions, with additional support from captains Tim Odell and Alicia Adams. The team finished eighth at nationals.
UCSD Waterski also hosted and won the annual Dustin Newell Memorial Oktoberfest Event, which is dedicated to the memory of the former UCSD skier.
In the recent months, the waterski team has picked it up, finishing in third place at the Paradise Found Competition.
WRESTLING
In its inaugural year as a club sports team, the UCSD wrestling team has turned some heads to what may be a potential wrestling powerhouse. Led by head coach Tony Ontiveros and captain Dave Hall, the team competed successfully against other teams in its division. After a slow start to the season, the team emerged at the San Jose State Dual Meet Championship. Brent Mori, Quiche Roura, Eric Smith and Dave Hall all got crucial pins to take a third-place overall finish.
At the Western Regional Championships in Reno, Nev., UCSD had some solid individual showings, including a first-place finish by Kyle Kleinschmidt, a second-place finish by Smith, and two third-place finishes by Roura and Wang in their respective weight classes. UCSD sent several wrestlers to the national championships, but were unable to place.
— Compiled by Anu Kumar
Sports Editor
