Who Needs Funding, Anyway?

Many of Harvard's athletes have shunned the spotlight of NCAA sanctioned sports and pursued their interests off the beaten path--in sports ranging from mountain biking to table tennis.

Although the NCAA has yet to recognize these sports, Crimson Sports--in its long-standing tradition of being one step ahead of the game--has not only recognized them, but is now bringing to you a second-semester round-up of club-sports action.

Harvard Mountain Biking Team

Although the reorganization of mountain bike racing under the U.S. Cycling Federation caused the cancellation of this year's Eastern tournament, the Harvard Mountain Biking Team competed in several races over the spring semester.

Last weekend, the squad travelled to Rhode Island and raced The Reaper's Revenge--a 20-mile Eduro course event sponsored by the Eastern Fat Tire Association (EFTA). Over 500 racers competed in every division from beginner to professional.

Placing for the Crimson in the Sport division were co-captain Forrest Briscoe--who finished 7th, and senior Walter Sipe--who finished 23rd.

"We got to train a lot this spring because it was very dry," Briscoe said. "I was really pleased with our performance."

Next year, the U.S. Cycling Federation plans to sponsor a series of mountain bike races, and it will maintain a point system in an attempt to better organize the sport--which is growing more popular with every year.

Harvard-Radcliffe Ultimate Frisbee

The spring season was a busy one for the Harvard-Radcliffe Ultimate Frisbee squad, which competed in several collegiate tournaments in the northeast region.

Most recently, in the Northeast Regional tournament held at Umass-Amherst, the Disciples finished an encouraging 8th out of the 16 teams that competed.

"We did pretty well," junior co-captain Alex Berzofsky said. "We exceeded our expectations and we did better than last year."

In the tournament, the Crimson defeated Umass-Amherst, 13-8, and Columbia, 13-6--but dropped 13-5 and 15-5 decisions to Yale and MIT, respectively.

Harvard qualified for the regionals by virtue of its third-place finish at the sectional tournament--which was held at Tufts. Last year the Crimson failed to even qualify for the regional tournament.

Earlier this spring, the Disciples travelled to Yale to compete in the Yale Cup. Harvard placed third in this event as well--behind both Yale and Vassar.

Harvard-Radcliffe Taekwondo Club

Several members of the Harvard-Radcliffe Taekwondo Club competed in the American Taekwondo Association (ATA) New England Championships April 30, in Tewksbury, Massachusetts--and nearly all returned with some hardware to show for their efforts.

Of the 12 club members that attended the event, ten returned with trophies in at least one of the three competitions--form, one-step sparring or free-sparring.

In the forms competition--in which competitors perform a memorized series of kicks, punches and blocks--club president and instructor, Jordan Schreiber took second place in the third- and fourth-degree men's black belt division. Freshman Victor Chen--who is a Crimson Editor--and senior Richard Chen placed second and third, respectively, in the camouflage and green belt division. Sophomore Richard Chiang placed third in the men's orange and yellow belt division.

In one-step sparring, freshman Erwin Kruger took home first place in the men's orange and yellow belt division. In the free-sparring competition, junior Chris Ricciardi placed second in the men's brown and red belt division, while senior Nils Bastedo won first place in the men's camouflage and green belt division.

"This was the first tournament for most of these students, and I think they did an outstanding job," Screiber said.

Harvard Table Tennis Club

The Harvard Table Tennis squad went 2-3 in the spring season, and due to scheduling conflicts it could not compete in the National Collegiate Team Championships--which were held at Princeton.

The Crimson managed to garner victories over Wellsley and Worcester, but was humbled by BU, Brown and league-champion MIT.

"We're looking to improve for next year," said sophomore Charles Sanders, president and captain of the club. "Next year one graduate student and one freshman--who are better than anyone who's on the team now--will be joining."

The club also invested in a ping-pong playing robot, the NEWGI 2000, to help improve its competitiveness. The technology will allow club members to get quality practice even when the entire club is not meeting.

If your club team's results have not appeared in the preceeding column, and you would like them to be printed in the next club sports round-up, call up Crimson Sports at 5-9666.