A Year in Penn Sports: 2010-11

There were championships, record-setting performances and other memorable athletic achievements during the 2010-11 school year at the University of Pennsylvania. And for the second straight year, we at the Gazette are here to count down the 10 biggest ones as we look back at the year that was in Penn sports. Enjoy.

Senior forward Jack Eggleston hugs freshman guard Miles Cartwright after winning the first -- and only -- Big 5 game of his career (Philly.com)

10) Big wins in Big 5: Penn’s basketball programs are still not where they’d like to be in terms of competing for championships, but both certainly took steps in the right direction this year by finally beating Big 5 opponents. In January, the women’s team topped La Salle for its first Big 5 win since 2004 – a result that also marked the program’s 400^th overall victory. And not long after that, Penn’s senior class – led by the rock of the program, Jack Eggleston – beat a city opponent for the first time with a Palestra triumph over Saint Joseph’s. Baby steps, right?

9) An All-American kind of guy: Wrestling in the NCAA Championships right here in Philadelphia, Zack Kemmerer took eighth place in the 141-pound weight class to become the 25^th All-Ameican in the program’s illustrious history. The program’s 24^th All-American was teammate Scott Giffin, who entered the Penn record books last year but couldn’t repeat his success at this year’s NCAA Championships.

8 ) Lacrosse dances together: As I wrote in the recent issue of the Gazette, the women’s lacrosse team had a down year by its own standards as it lost in the Ivy League playoffs and the first round of the NCAA tournament. But Penn sports fans should be enthused that both lacrosse teams made the NCAA tournament in the same year as the mean’s team earned a berth for just the third time since 1989.

7) Volleyball spikes back: Fresh off capturing a share of its second straight Ivy championship, the women’s volleyball team beat Yale in a five-set thriller to book their ticket to the NCAA tournament. The Quakers lost in the first round at NCAAs to Ohio, but it’s clear this program is on the move.

6) Putting the tie in title: The Penn women’s soccer team would have preferred to beat nemesis Princeton in the final game of the regular season. But a scoreless tie did the trick too, giving the Quakers an Ivy League championship and a berth in the NCAA tournament, where they played well but lost to a good Penn State team in the first round. It was the program’s second league title in the past four seasons.

Paul Cusick C'11 officially signs a contract with the Philles (Penn Athletics)

5) From Penn to the pros: Not since 2004 had a Penn athlete been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, but this year two Quakers were chosen. In the 29^th round, pitcher Paul Cusick went to his favorite team, the Philadelphia Phillies, and in the 47^th round, pitcher Vince Voiro was picked by the San Diego Padres. Cusick is already playing with the Phillies’ Gulf Coast League affiliate, although Voiro may opt to return to Penn for his senior season so he can try to go higher in next year’s draft. Either way, both players will try to soon join Penn alum Mark DeRosa in the Big Leagues.

4) Freshman phenom: Women’s tennis star Connie Hsu was literally unbeatable for Penn during the spring, winning all 20 of her singles matches, capturing Ivy League Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year plaudits, and becoming the first Quaker to qualify for the NCAA singles championships since Alice Pirsu did it in 2003. Then, at NCAAs, Penn’s star freshman knocked off the fifth overall seed, Notre Dame’s Kristy Frilling, in a dramatic three-set match. Hsu finally lost in the Round of 32 to Virginia’s Lindsey Hardenbergh.

3) Madness at Rhodes: It was an electric atmosphere at Rhodes Field when Penn hosted Bucknell in the first round of the NCAA men’s soccer tournament, and the Quakers responded with their most dramatic win of the season. Christian Barreiro, a rising senior, scored the game-winner in sudden-death overtime to lift the Quakers into the second round, where they lost to powerhouse Maryland.

2) Higher and faster: Freshman high jumper Maalik Reynolds and sophomore distance runner Leslie Kovach were both recently named All-Americans after they represented Penn very nicely at the NCAA Track and Field Championships. Before that, Kovach set three school records (indoor 5,000 meters, outdoor 5,000 meters, outdoor 5,000 meters), while Reynolds easily smashed the school’s high jump mark while winning the Championship of America at the Penn Relays. I wrote a feature on these two track stars for the current Gazette, which you can read here.

The Penn football team hoists up their Ivy League championship trophy (Penn Athletics)

1) A championship unlike any other: It’s one thing to win an outright Ivy League football title. It’s another thing entirely to do so by running through the conference unbeaten for the second straight season, all while honoring former teammate Owen Thomas and spirit coach Dan “Coach Lake” Staffieri, both of whom passed away before the season began. And if that wasn’t enough, the Penn football program earned its 800^th win earlier in their historic fall campaign. Kudos to these Quakers for raising the bar as to what it means to be a champion.