SEASON RECAP: Ivy Title Escapes Crimson Women

Sometimes, appearances can be deceiving.

It looked as if Harvard was destined for the title. The team was peaking at the right time, winning the last two tournaments before the Ivy Championships.

The Crimson even beat its closest rival, Columbia, by nine strokes at the Roar-ee Invitational just two weeks before.

First place was expected. But in a wide-open Ivy League championship, Harvard finished its stellar season on a sour note, falling to Columbia, Princeton, and Yale en route to a fourth-place performance in West Trenton, N.J.

Coming in behind Princeton could have been anticipated, as the Crimson fell to the Tigers in the fall season both at the Princeton Invitational and at the Yale Invitational. But in these matches, the team only lost by twelve and two strokes, respectively.

At the Ivy championships, Harvard was 31 strokes behind the second-place Tigers and lost by an astonishing 41 strokes to Columbia, the same Lions Harvard had downed just two weeks before.

The 50-stroke turnaround was something completely unanticipated.

However, the conditions from the Roar-ee Invitational to the Ivy championships changed dramatically. For the former, temperatures were in the thirties, with strong winds a consistent factor. At the Ivies, conditions were much improved.

The difference in conditions may have been the edge Columbia needed, as the Crimson handled the cold the best at Roar-ee.

“It was a really challenging two days for everyone who was there, not optimal conditions,” Harvard coach Kevin Rhoads said following Roar-ee. “But given that it was probably the coldest we’ll play all year, we managed to do well.”

The team continued its winning ways a week later, dominating fellow Ivy rivals Dartmouth and Brown to conclude its regular season.

But as is the case with the best-laid plans, Harvard could not follow through at the Ivy Championships to gain that elusive title.

Individually, however, the Crimson still put together great performances on the day—none better than that of sophomore Emily Balmert. For the second year in a row, Balmert earned All-Ivy League status, posting a team-leading score of 238 on the weekend. Last year, Balmert was the league’s individual champion.

Suffice to say, she will be a powerhouse for the Crimson in the years to come.

In addition, freshman Sarah Harvey continued her stellar season with a 16th-place individual performance.

Factor in a fifth-place showing at the Roar-ee, and Harvey’s play in 2007 suggests that much will be expected next year from the rookie.

—Staff writer Walter E. Howell can be reached at wehowell@fas.harvard.edu.