This weekend was a big one in the world of NYU sports, as some seasons wrapped up while others began. The cross country team made waves in conference action, while the women’s volleyball team limped to finish its season and swimming and diving continued to flourish. Meanwhile, the wrestling team started its season after last weekend’s alumni game.

Cross Country

In the biggest week of action yet for cross country, the men’s squad were crowned ECAC Division III champions on Saturday, beating 17 other teams in a thrilling day at the Hudson Valley Sports Dome in Milton, New York.

Though they didn’t have a first-place finisher this time around, sophomore Brandon Shirazi led NYU with a time of 27:10.8 in the 8K race, finishing second in a field of 111. Freshmen Ben Karam and Jack Lillian also cracked the top 10 with times of 27:25.8 and 27:37.5, good enough for fourth and sixth respectively. The rest of the team was equally stellar, placing in the top 20. The Violets finished with 35 points, 27 less than the United States Merchant Marine Academy.

Just two weeks remain in the season, as the Violets travel back to Glassboro, New Jersey this Saturday for the NCAA Atlantic
Region Championship.

 Swimming and Diving

For the first time this year, the two parts that make up NYU’s swimming and diving team were split up, as the Violets’ swimmers hosted the NYU Fall Invitational this past Friday and Saturday while the divers competed on the road against West Chester University in Pennsylvania. The swimmers remained perfect this season, defeating Ursinus College and the Stevens Institute of Technology. Meanwhile, the Violets took three out of four diving events.

This was business as usual for a Violets team that has been firing on all cylinders this year, a tradition of success running back a few seasons. NYU dominated the relay events, and junior Tim Kou secured another victory, leading the pack in the 100 and 200-yard breaststrokes. The women were even more dominant, decimating their competition in a thrilling 18-for-18 weekend. Sophomore Noel Leung led the Violets.

After a week off, the divers will rejoin the swimmers on Nov. 19 as the Violets head to Ewing, New Jersey to face the College of
New Jersey.

Women’s Volleyball

The NYU women’s volleyball team had an uneven weekend at the UAA Championship in St. Louis, Missouri to finish what has been an equally uneven regular season. The Violets dropped two out of three in sweeps to Emory University and Case Western Reserve University before defeating Brandeis University in five sets to finish the season 16-16, hoping for an ECAC
postseason bid.

Friday may have been NYU’s most trying day of the year, as the Violets dropped six sets to two teams with no set being within five points. Second-seeded Emory made quick work of the Violets (25-19, 25-8, 25-15) before Case Western did much of the same (25-13, 25-20, 25-19).

However, the Violets finished strong against struggling Brandeis (25-23, 25-27, 25-13, 20-25, 15-10). Sophomore Gretchen Cash led the team with 22 kills, while junior middle blocker Rayne Ellis continued to get the job done with seven kills. Sophomore setter Katie Goyette facilitated the Violets’ attack with 47 assists.

With just a .500 record, the Violets await their fate in hopes they’ll be given an at-large bid to the ECAC postseason tournament.

Wrestling

The Grapplers’ season officially kicked off at the Monarch Tournament hosted by King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. NYU finished fifth in a 12-team field.

Grapplers new and old made their presence felt. Freshman Blaise Benderoth and senior John Messinger were victorious in their respective weight classes of 165 and 174 pounds. Junior Raymond Jazikoff almost became the third champion, finishing second at 157 pounds. The Grapplers nearly edged out York College for fourth place, behind by half of a point.

The team returns to the mat this Saturday at the PA/NY Dual in Riverdale against a slew of local schools.

A version of this article appeared in the Monday, Nov. 7 print edition. Email Michael Thompson at [email protected].