Men’s tennis starts spring season 3-0

Coming off a three-and-a-half month hiatus, men’s tennis picked up right where it left off.

Chicago won all three of its matches at the Wisconsin-Whitewater Invitational last weekend, defeating Luther College 6-1 Saturday and taking down Wisconsin-Oshkosh 6-1 and Wisconsin-Whitewater 4-3 Sunday. The Maroons, ranked 10th in the Central Region, improved to 5-1 on the season, and have now won five straight. The matches were the team’s first since October 17.

Three singles players and the second doubles squad started off the spring season with a bang, going 3-0 on the weekend. Second-year Vivek Venkataraman, fourth-year Jacob Reckess, and first-year Joseph Tchan defeated all comers on the weekend, and Venkataraman combined with partner first-year Bharath Sithian to squeeze out three 8-6 wins.

The Maroons will face Rose-Hulman today and Wabash and Kenyon tomorrow in Crawfordsville.

—Joe Katz

IM Insider: College Dropouts drop Snatch

Heavyweights Snatch FC and College Dropouts locked horns in a mouth-watering IM soccer quarterfinal on Saturday. The Dropouts were the victors of a scintillating match, creating the prospect of a championship-deciding showdown against TuTh.

After bossing the first-half on the back of some slick play, Snatch were unfortunate to only find themselves 3-2 up.

The match was turned on its head within five minutes of the restart by Greg Gidofalvi’s crucial interventions. A goal-line clearance was followed by the equaliser. The College Dropouts sensed blood, and the shots began raining in as Snatch tired. Gidfolavi gave the Dropouts the lead, and was denied a hat trick only by the excellent play of Brett Rodrgiuez. The College Dropouts ran out 6-3 winners.

“We were ruing our missed chances at the end of the first half, but in the end, we won because of our superior composure and teamwork,” said Ali Winston.

But it was his opponent who had been ominously prophetic at the interval when fearing the consequences of Snatch’s fatigue. In a first half where space was at a premium, some of Snatch’s build-up was mesmeric. Once the game was stretched, the Dropouts’ athleticism allowed them to dictate proceedings.

—Omar Al-Ubaydli

Winter wins UAA honor

Third-year middle-distance runner Jessica Winter was named UAA Athlete of the Week for women’s track and field on Tuesday. It was her first such award in track and field.

Winter won the mile by more than 21 seconds at the Chicago Duals February 5. Her time of 5:04.14 provisionally qualified her for the Division III National Championship on March 12.

Winter has earned Athlete of the Week honors on three previous occassions in her career, all in cross-country.

—Joe Katz