To the Harvard community:

As students, professors, family members, administrators and alumni gather to honor the Class of 1998, we in The Crimson's sports department would like to take a moment to congratulate all of the athletes, many of whom are seniors, who helped make the 1997-98 athletic year an outstanding one for Harvard.

In this academic year, Harvard sports teams recorded eight league championships, qualified for 16 separate national tournaments, captured a national title and provided some of the most exciting moments in the school's storied history. Apart from the sheer accomplishments of such teams as football, women's soccer and women's basketball, it was the energy surrounding their feats that caught our attention and made our jobs so enjoyable.

So, too, did the accomplishments of several members of the graduating class. Tom McLaughlin has already begun his professional soccer career in MLS. Matt Birk will have a chance to play with his hometown team in the NFL. Tim Fleiszer will be chasing down quarterbacks in the CFL. And one week from today, Allison Feaster will make her debut in the WNBA.

Harvard also may have had its best rookie class ever, from tennis phenom James Blake to track and field star Dora Gyorffy. And let us not forget that each hockey team had a pair of freshmen that took the ECAC by storm--Chris Bala and Steve Moore for the men, and Angie Francisco and Kiirsten Suurkask for the women. There was also a men's basketball player by the name of Dan Clemente who emerged as one of the Ivy League's premiere shooters. The future of Harvard sports looks just as promising as its present.

These are just a few of the athletes who take pride in providing us, their fans and their peers, with flashes of joy and lifelong memories. So on this day, which celebrates the passage of some into a new stage of life, we would like to salute all the Harvard athletes who made the most of the old one.