Sports briefly: Lacrosse and softball hope to continue success, rowing teams to take on Ivy competitors

Track and Field
The Columbia men and women will travel to Princeton, N.J., this weekend to participate in the Larry Ellis Invitational. The meet, which will play host to 35 teams from around the nation, is one of the last meets before the Ivy League Championships at Yale. The tournament will begin Friday night and continue all day Saturday. This will be a good opportunity for the Lions to measure themselves up against some of their fellow Ivy League competitors and will also allow athletes with national aspirations to compete against other top athletes from across the nation. Junior Sharay Hale will look to improve her times in both the 200m and 400m dashes. Men’s hammer throw will be the opening event, followed by the rest of the field events and then the sprints and longer distances.

Lacrosse
The Columbia lacrosse team (4-8, 1-4 Ivy) is in the midst of a three-game winning streak after its victory over Bucknell this Wednesday, a game that saw sophomore midfielder Olivia Mann and senior attacker Gabrielle Geronimos combine to score eight goals. The Light Blue will head into this weekend facing Ivy League opponent Harvard (8-4, 4-1 Ivy) in Cambridge, Mass. The Lions recently won their third-ever conference game and are looking to improve their record in the Ancient Eight even further against the Crimson. Harvard comes into the match fresh off a 16-6 domination of No. 26 Boston University. However, the Light Blue similarly crushed the Bison on Wednesday 16-7, and Yale 10-3 last Friday. Junior goalkeeper Karlee Blank will be key to Columbia’s success—in last weekend’s Ivy League match up, she recorded 15 saves. Offensive powerhouse sophomore Kacie Johnson, who currently holds the Columbia record for most goals scored in a single game with eight tallies earlier this season, will also be a major factor for the Light Blue. The game is set to begin at Harvard Stadium at 1 p.m.

Softball
The Light Blue softball team (11-24, 3-9 Ivy) will be traveling to Princeton (13-21, 4-8 Ivy) this weekend to take on the Tigers in two consecutive doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday. The Lions will have only one day of rest, as they played a doubleheader against Rider yesterday afternoon, which saw the Lions sweep the Broncs. The Light Blue won the first game 9-1, and the second 10-1. The Tigers, on the other hand, will have the benefit of a full week’s rest, since their midweek game against Monmouth this Wednesday was canceled. Last weekend, the Light Blue split its weekend against the Big Red (20-18-1, 7-5 Ivy), losing both of Saturday’s games 1-2 but coming back to sweep Cornell 6-0 and 6-4 on Sunday. Princeton wasn’t so lucky last weekend, as it was swept by Penn. Currently, the Tigers sit just above the Lions in the Ivy League South Division. The first pitch is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday at the Class of 1985 Field.

Men's lightweight rowing
The Columbia lightweight rowers will be heading to the Orchard Beach Lagoon in Pelham, N.Y., to compete for the Geiger Cup this Saturday. Last weekend’s outing saw Columbia’s varsity eight take second in the Dodge Cup, edging out Penn, but finishing 14 seconds after Yale. This weekend’s regatta will see the Lions race against both Cornell and MIT.

Men's heavyweight rowing
The men’s heavyweight rowers will be in Syracuse, N.Y., this weekend to compete against Boston University and Syracuse for the rights to the Doc Lusins Trophy. Last weekend, the Light Blue could not overcome strong winds and low temperatures and placed third as it raced for the Blackwell cup against Penn and Yale in difficult racing storm-whipped conditions.

Women's rowing
The women’s rowing team will travel to Providence, R.I., this Saturday to compete for the Dunn Bowl against fellow Ivy League schools Cornell and Brown. The Light Blue had last weekend off, and most recently participated in the George Washington Invitational the weekend of April 9, which saw Columbia win 12 of 13 races and its varsity eight triumph over Oxford University. This Saturday’s regatta is set to begin at 1 p.m.