SEASON RECAP: Crimson Claims Crown, Decimates Competition

Coming off a historic campaign and its first-ever Ivy League championship in 2007-08, the Harvard women’s golf team looked to stay atop the Ancient Eight standings and advance among the ranks nationally in 2008-09. While the Crimson would have liked to end the season on a slightly better note, Harvard accomplished precisely what it set out to do in this year’s campaign.

Capturing its second Ivy League title in as many years and placing three women on the All-Ivy team—including inaugural Ivy Rookie of the Year Christine Cho—the Crimson steamrolled through its Northeast competition.

“This season went phenomenally,” incoming captain Claire Sheldon said. “Winning all but one of our tournaments is really impressive, and we performed very well week in and week out throughout the season.”

Claiming titles at the Princeton Invitational and the Yale Fall Intercollegiate tournament for the first time in Harvard history were highlights for the Crimson in the year’s early stages. But the Harvard women did not rest on their laurels after such early-season victories, continuing their winning ways at Lehigh, Brown, and out in California before taking second at the RoarEE Invitational in mid-April, finishing behind Princeton.

The Crimson responded to its lone defeat of the year by besting the Tigers and Yale the following week to take home the Ancient Eight crown, and qualifying for the NCAA Regional Championships on the campus of The Ohio State University in the process.

There, Harvard would match its finish from a year ago, placing 19th out of a field of 21, a few key rounds away from mixing it up with some of the nation’s top collegiate programs from the Midwest and West Coast.

“Our scoring average per round has been getting lower ever since I came to Harvard,” Sheldon said. “However, we did not have as many remarkable rounds as we did a year ago. If we are able to combine our consistent play from this year with some extraordinary rounds here and there, we should be able to improve our finishes in a national tournament.”

Senior Emily Balmert, Harvard’s first individual Ivy League champion in program history in 2006 and the first women’s golfer and second Crimson golfer to earn All-Ivy four times, also recognized the steady improvement Harvard women’s golf has seen over its recent campaigns.

“The team has gotten stronger every year over the past four years,” Balmert said. “We have amazing depth, as you could take any five of us to any tournament and get a similar result. That type of team can withstand the test of time, and our recruits next year will be great additions.”

The Crimson welcomes two new rookies next year, including the highest-ranked recruited player in Harvard history, who should be able to contribute greatly to the team’s efforts.

With these new additions next year, the Crimson looks to maintain its grip on the Ancient Eight crown and to continue its progress nationally.

“This was our second time at the regional tournament, and I feel it can act as a huge learning experience for us,” Sheldon said. “We can gain a great message from the event, and while it will be tough to recover next year with the three seniors that we lose, I feel next year has the chance to be a really fun year for us.”

—Staff writer Thomas D. Hutchison can be reached at tdhutch@fas.harvard.edu.