Divers hope to qualify for Nationals
While the swimmers have this weekend off, the divers will be traveling to Ohio to compete in the NCAA Diving Zones. Third-years Matthew Staab and Tony Restaino will be competing to qualify for NCAA DIII Championships in just over two weeks. Both divers had strong performances at UAA Championships two weeks ago, with Staab finishing first and second in the 3-meter and 1-meter, respectively, and Restaino taking second and third in those same events. Diving zones will up the ante, however, with just nine spots at Nationals up for grabs and a number of tough competitors vying for their seat at the table. Staab and Restaino both qualified last year and hope to have the same success this time around.
Track and Field heads to Ohio for UAAs
The Maroons traveled to Boston yesterday to compete at the Indoor UAA Championships hosted by Brandeis this weekend. There will be 48 members of the team competing, making this one of the deepest squads Chicago has seen in recent years. The women’s side has a good shot at taking the conference title with 31 scoring positions across the meet—provided it can outscore defending champion Emory and returning runner-up Wash U. The men’s team hopes to improve on its second-place finish last year, but will face significant challenges as most of the conference has improved remarkably since last year. Though some individuals still have Nationals coming up, this meet is the most important remaining for team competition.
Muskeyvalley is Carnegie killer, but no shot at postseason for Maroons
Unfortunately for the Maroons, they’re out of postseason contention. Fortunately for the Maroons, Royce Muskeyvalley is on their side. Last Friday, Muskeyvalley confidently sunk a three-pointer with a few seconds left in the game, giving Chicago the lead and eventually the win—his second game-winner against Carnegie this season. He followed that up with 24 points in the win against Case on Sunday. Wayne Simon also stepped up over the weekend, scoring 44 points in the two games combined. Chicago is still five games out of first place in the UAA, so there wasn’t any shot of making the postseason with or without the victories. However, there is still the chance to upset conference leader Wash U. Watch the Maroons battle the first place Bears this Saturday in the season finale.
Women’s squad on hot streak despite no chance of playoffs
The Maroons have remarkably won six of their last seven games. But even if they had won seven in a row, they would still only be 10–3 in the UAA compared to first place Wash U’s 12–1 record. Like the men’s team, with only one game remaining they are no longer in contention for postseason play. But Chicago’s hot streak is still a good sign for next year. Only two main contributors, fourth-years Maggie Ely and Julie Muguira, are leaving out of a nine-player rotation, so this will largely be the same team next year. The team’s average 81.4 points per game in the last seven contests shows the high level of chemistry and offensive flow that’s been on display.
3–2 record never looked so good
With impact from first-years such as Sven Kranz (No. 2 singles) and Brian Sun (No. 3 singles), Chicago has performed extremely well this season. They have lost only to No. 4 Kenyon—who recently had five players selected to its conference’s All-Decade team of 14 players—and DI UIC. Against Kenyon, Kranz was the only Maroon to win a match. Both Kranz and Sun have been playing doubles this season as well, a feat for first-years to play doubles along with top three singles. Kranz even played No. 1 singles against UIC. Chicago’s wins have come in dominating fashion too, as it defeated Luther and Augustana 9–0 each on February 16. Look for this team to continue to grow as the season moves forward.
