Over the course of this past weekend, the Hopkins men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to Penn State and University of Delaware to compete in the Penn State National Invitational and the Delaware Thomson Invitational. Throughout the course of these two tournaments, several individual records were broken.
Since the middle of December, the Hopkins women’s basketball team has played in 11 additional games. During that time, the Lady Jays went 8-3, bringing their record to 9-6 in the Centennial Conference and 10-9 overall. Dating back to Jan. 8, the team has won eight of their last nine games, all in conference.
Leading up to this past weekend’s matchup in Lexington, Va., the Blue Jays had several tough matchups to start off the New Year. Early in January, Hopkins competed in the Waynesburg Invitational. Leading the way at 125 lbs was sophomore Paul Bewak who clinched an individual title for the team. His efforts, along with seven other wrestlers who placed in the top six, earned the Blue Jays a third place finish. The team finished only behind Olivet, currently ranked seventh in the nation in Division III, and West Liberty, the 12th ranked school in Division II wrestling.
The month of January has been kind to the Hopkins men’s basketball program. After starting off the season 5-5, the Blue Jays have turned the corner in 2013. Not only has Hopkins gone 7-2 since the first of the month but, more importantly, the Jays have won three straight games against conference foes since their heart-wrenching double overtime loss against Franklin & Marshall on January 16.
On Sat., Jan. 26, the Hopkins women’s fencing team participated in the Philadelphia Invitational at Temple University. The team came out with one victory and five losses.
Super Bowl XLVII guarantees to be unique. The most immortal game in American sports will feature two brothers, John and Jim Harbaugh, born 15 months apart, pitted against each other as head coaches. Let’s just call it, the Super Baugh.
Currently on a three-game winning streak, men's basketball has been putting up one strong performance after another. Losing only two games out of a possible ten in the new year, it appears they've unlocked some secret to success. That secret? 6'2'' junior guard Jimmy Hammer.
After running the table to start the year going 6-0, the Hopkins men’s fencing team defeated MIT (16-11) and Boston College (15-12), and lost to Yale (15-12), Brown (17-10), and host Brandeis (17-10) on Sunday at the Brandeis Invitational. The squad’s overall record now stands at 8-3. Two standouts emerged for the squad as freshmen John Petrie and Josiah Yiu paced the Jays with 10 wins each in Foil and Sabre, respectively.
The Hopkins men’s and women’s swimming teams traveled to Gettysburg to compete in the final Fall Fast Festival this past weekend. The Jays came out strong and did not look back, tallying 1129.5 points to take the top spot.
In nearby Annapolis, MD the men’s track team kicked off their ‘12–’13 season at the Navy Invitational with a strong performance against several Division I teams.
The women’s basketball team’s 6’-1’’ senior star, Alex Vassila, has emerged this young season as a force in the middle of the court for the Jays. Vassila leads the team in points per game with a 12.1 average, while scoring at an impressive .440 field goal percentage and leading the team with 10.2 rebounds per game. Even more remarkable, this Saturday, Vassila became the all-time blocks leader with 150 blocks for her career, surpassing Katie Kimball in the program’s record books.
On Saturday the Hopkins wrestling team traveled to York, Pa. to compete in the New Standard Corporation Invitational at York College.
The Lady Jays finished a three game stretch against Gettysburg, Ursinus, and Dickinson with a record of 2-1 (1-2). Against Gettysburg, the Lady Jays fell behind early in the second half after a 10-0 rally by the Bullets, and lost 54-48.
Hopkins escaped last Thursday night with a 66-59 win over home team Gettysburg, as the Blue Jays hit six straight free throws in the final 23 seconds to secure the victory.
The Hopkins women’s soccer team ended their storied run at the NCAA Division III National Championship this past weekend with a loss to the top-ranked, defending national champion, Messiah.
Although their season began with a loss, the future has been looking increasingly promising for the JHU men’s basketball team.
Starting the season in whirlwind fashion, the Lady Jays are already well underway into their 2012-2013 campaign in search of their first Centennial Conference championship. Despite their first bout of play, with an overall 2-3 result, Hopkins has been ranked 2nd in the conference in preseason polls behind powerhouse Haverford. The road to the championship will be paved by senior captains KaraLea Follmer, Sarah Higbee and the unstoppable force of Alex Vassila.
The Hopkins women’s cross country team made history on November 17 at the Division III NCAA National Championships in Terra Haute, Indiana. The team totaled an astounding 158 points to capture its first NCAA Division III Cross Country Title at the LaVerne Gibson Championship Course. They defeated the runner-up school, Wartburg, by 63 points, the greatest margin of victory in a women’s Division III championship race since 2002. The title is the first women’s national championship in not only cross country, but also in any women's sport in Hopkins history. And as if all of these incredible accomplishments weren’t enough to satisfy any championship team, three Blue Jay runners finished in the top-35 to achieve the status of All-American. Freshman Hannah Oneda led the Blue Jays down the stretch and finished in 10th place, while junior Holly Clarke and senior Annie Monagle finished 25th and 32nd respectively.
Although they’ve been overshadowed by the women’s cross country National Championship victory, the men’s team also proudly made Hopkins history, admittedly, in less dramatic fashion. The squad’s 20th-place finish at the NCAA Division III Men’s Cross Country National Championship in Terre Haute, IN on Saturday was a program best and reflects the depth and strong direction the Hopkins Cross Country program is headed. The Blue Jays accumulated 475 points for their first top-20 finish in program history as North Central University took the team title with 167 overall points. Calvin College and Haverford College tied for second place, scoring 188 points. Individually, Tim Nelson of University of Wisconsin-Stout led the race to win the individual title in 24:26. Junior Max Robinson burned the trail for the Jays, finishing 77th overall in 25:33. Robinson ran an extremely bold race, charging out with the front of the pack early, only to fall back towards the final stages of the course. “I took the race out hard to try and put myself in position to finish well,” exclaimed Robinson, adding, “but then I faded towards the end of the race.” Placing in the second slot for Hopkins was senior Josh Budman, in the final cross country race of his career. The senior poured every ounce of determination into the race, improving his time by a massive 49 second margin, finishing 105th in 25:45. Other stand-outs for the squad were Julian Saliani and Josh Baker who each cut roughly 30 seconds off their time from the Pre-National Meet. Saliani placed 113th overall in 25:46, while Baker slotted in at number 122 in 25:50. Hopkins’ overall top-five was topped with the 233rd place finish of freshman Schaffer Ochstein in 26:45. Head coach Bobby Van Allen emphatically praised his squad, “The guys ran an incredible race, we moved up six spots from our first time here last year in 2011.” (Courtesy of Hopkinssports.com) However proud the head coach might have been, Robinson flatly disagreed. “I think the team had an off day,” concluded the junior runner, adding, “finishing in the top 20 in the country was nice, but we could’ve definitely been in the top 15. Individuals like Josh Budman, Julian Saliani, and Josh Baker had great days, but I think we were capable of much more as a team.”
