This week, we welcome another new sport, baseball, bringing the total number of teams to the odd number of 11. The men’s basketball team’s valiant efforts against Iowa and Indiana saw them shoot up a little, even without an actual win. Otherwise, the top spot remains the same, though the women’s swimming team made a strong push to take it from them. Here you go:
1. Women’s Tennis - Sweet home Carolina for the ‘Cats, who went into the Tar Heel State and dominated this weekend. No. 2 Northwestern beat the University of North Carolina 5-2, romped Princeton in a 6-1 and capped the Southern-fried weekend on Sunday with a 5-2 victory over Duke.
2. Women’s Swimming - Even though the ‘Cats finished fifth overall at the Big Ten Conference Championships, senior Andrea Hupman dominated, setting a Big Ten meet record for the 100-yard freestyle and breaking several NU records in the process. Had the team finished a little higher, they might have stolen the top spot, but for now they’ll wait for the NCAA Championships in a month.
3. Softball – The Wildcats suffered their first losses of the season this week, falling to San Diego State and then losing to UCLA on Sunday. But NU cleaned up on the rest of their California trip, beating ranked squads LSU and Texas. Highlight of the week: Lauren Delaney threw a no-hitter against the Oregon Ducks.
4. Women’s Lacrosse - Continued domination by NU’s proudest. The Wildcats pummeled Rutgers 21-4 this weekend. Five Wildcats also were named as early candidates for the Tewaaraton Trophy, the top prize for lacrosse athletes.
5. Fencing - Junior Sam Nemecek finished second overall in foil competition at the Midwest Conference Championships this weekend. The team didn’t do too shabby overall either, finishing third for the entire tournament. Plenty of other Wildcats did well, too, including Natalie Wong (finished sixth in foil) and Joanna Niklinska (tied for third in epee).
6. Women’s Basketball - Finally, they picked up a win! NU beat Penn State 70-58 to nab their first Big Ten conference win (beating the men to it) and end a long losing streak. I don’t care if they lose every other game this season – this one puts them in the top ten.
7. Baseball - Wildcat baseball kicked the season off with a trip to California State University Northridge, where they beat the Matadors twice, downing them 13-7 Friday and 3-2 Saturday. They fell to Northridge on Sunday, but still won the series, so give them credit.
8. Men’s Basketball - Yes, the ‘Cats lost two more Big Ten games this week and still have yet to record a “W” in the conference, but they gave it their all. NU came within two points of knocking off the Iowa Hawkeyes earlier in the week, and came oh-so-close to upsetting high-ranked Indiana Saturday night. The Wildcats played two great games, and came up just a little short. Special kudos to Kevin Coble, who scored a career-high 37 points against the Hoosiers.
9. Wrestling - NU didn’t look sharp at the end of the Big Ten duals season. The team dropped contests to Wisconsin and Indiana. The ‘Cats will have to wait until the Big Ten Championships starting March 8 to get another crack at wins.
10. Men’s Tennis - The ‘Cats lost their opening Big Ten game of the season to Michigan, 6-1. If they played more games, maybe they could have landed a little higher, but one game, one loss, doesn’t look pretty.
11. Men’s Swimming - Big Ten Championships….next weekend. No more idleness for these guys.