Sports briefly

Lacrosse
The Lions lost their final game of the year to Binghamton 12-11 after leading at halftime. However, attacker Kacie Johnson finished up her sophomore year by recording the most number of goals scored in a single season at Columbia. Johnson recorded five goals against the Bearcats, putting her total at 59.

Columbia came out strong in the beginning of the first half, quickly taking a 4-1 lead. Junior attacker Taylor Gattinella scored three of the four goals. The Light Blue continued to hold its lead as the half progressed, notching five more tallies—two by the hands of freshman midfielder Paige Cuscovitch—before halftime arrived. The Lions went into the intermission with a 9-5 lead over the Bearcats. Junior Kelly Buechel scored out of the gate to give Columbia a five-goal lead early in the second half, but things went downhill from there. Binghamton notched five unanswered tallies in fifteen minutes to tie the game. Freshman Ashley Rinere scored one more for the Lions to take the lead again, but Binghamton tied things up just over a minute later. The Bearcats sealed their win with a goal in the final minutes of the contest.

This game was the last for many Lions, who will graduate at the end of this year. Seniors Mollie Andreae, Flannery Gallagher, Gabrielle Geronimos, Emily Kager, Caitlin Mullins, and Caroline Seery are the only class in the history of Columbia lacrosse to graduate with two conference wins, thanks to the Light Blue’s victory over Yale on April 15.
—Rebeka Cohan

Softball
The Lions dropped both of their Senior Day games at home on Friday to Penn, 12-4 and 0-9. Columbia traveled to Philadelphia on Saturday for its final two games of the year, losing the first 6-3 but coming from behind in the nightcap to win 9-5.

Friday’s games saw Penn’s bats come alive while the Light Blue’s remained fairly dormant. Columbia was leading after the first inning—senior Maggie Johnson doubled to bring senior Anne Marie Skylis and freshman Morgan Cook home. The Quakers tied things up at the top of the second, and Johnson replaced freshman Prophet Gaspard at the mound after two innings. Unfortunately for the Lions, the Red and Blue blew the game open and scored eight runs in the top of the third. The nightcap wasn’t much better for the Light Blue, as it was shutout by Penn pitcher Cailyn Hennessy.
The Lions split their final doubleheader of the year, dropping the first after Penn scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Columbia trailed 5-0 at the top of the sixth in the nightcap, but its bats exploded to give the Lions a come-from-behind win. Sophomore Jennifer Bergeron singled up the middle to drive in five of the six runs recorded in the top of the sixth. Columbia added three runs in the top of the seventh to seal the deal.
—Rebeka Cohan

Men's heavyweight rowing
The men’s heavyweight rowing team continued to struggle this weekend, losing the Maxwell Stevenson Cup to Navy in New Jersey. The eight rowed well in the beginning and middle of the race, but faltered in the middle, allowing Navy to pull ahead. Navy took first in the Varsity Eights, Columbia second, and George Washington University third. In the second varsity eights, Columbia placed fourth behind two Navy squads and GW. Freshman Eights has been a highlight for the Lions--they placed second in the event on Saturday—which bodes well for the future of the team.
—Molly Tow

Women's rowing
The women’s rowing team saw both victory and defeat this weekend, as the unranked Light Blue team rowed against nationally ranked squads Virginia, Princeton, and Tennessee on Saturday in Princeton. The Lions edged out 19th-ranked Tennessee in the Varsity Eights, but could not top Virginia and Princeton, who are ranked No. 5 and No. 1 in the nation, respectively. The Light Blue was neck and neck with the Cavaliers near the end of the race, but ended up placing third by two seconds. The Lions finished last in second varsity eights, third varsity eights, and varsity fours A. They also finished fourth behind two Virginia teams and Tennessee in varsity fours B.
—Molly Tow

Track and field
The largest track meet in the United States has come to a close, as the final two days of the Penn Relays saw several strong performances from the Lions on Friday and Saturday.
Freshman Cody Love took 22nd overall in the 400m hurdles, competing against some of the top athletes in the nation. Love’s time was 53.12 seconds, which was fast enough for a first-place finish in his section.

The men’s distance medley relay team took sixth place overall in the Championship of America race, which pitted the Light Blue against a difficult list of competitors. Despite the challenging field, the team managed to finish ahead of numerous national powerhouses, including No. 15 Virginia Tech. The squad also finished off Ivy League rivals Penn and Dartmouth, the only other Ivy teams competing in the Championship of America relay. The finishing time of 9:44.91 was tallied by junior Adam Bhenke, freshmen Sam Miner and Harry McFann, and sophomore anchor Mark Feigen.
The men’s 4x800m relay team completed the weekend with the fourth fastest time in school history. Freshman William Kovalczyk joined seniors Dylan Isaacson, Matt Stewart, and Jeff Moriarty to finish in 7:23.95, good for ninth place in the Championship of America. The Lions finished just ahead of Cornell as anchor Moriarty was able to hold off a late push by the Big Red’s Will Weinlandt.
Penn Relays was the final meet before the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships on Saturday, May 7 and Sunday, May 8 in New Haven, Conn.
—Jeremiah Sharf