Whether in the pool, on the course or the mat, a number of NYU sports grinded on with their season this weekend, hoping to head home for Thanksgiving on a high note. The wrestling team tried to repeat an exciting performance from last weekend, the aquatics gang did their best while the cross country team winded up at the National Championships, fighting to the
finish, literally. 

Wrestling 

After a big weekend at the PA/NY Dual last where the Grapplers took all four matches, they participated in the NYS Collegiate Championships at Cornell, a precursor to next weekend’s exciting Grapple at the Garden on Sunday.

With a tough act to follow and lead into, the Grapplers finished in the top third, coming ninth of 27, while their Ivy League hosts took the title. 

Swimming and Diving

The pool players of NYU began their Thanksgiving lead in in Ewing, New Jersey against the College of New Jersey. The women fared considerably better than the men, coming out decisively 223-71 versus the men’s final score of 143-151. 

Despite the men’s struggles, it was their first loss this fall, and there was a number of standout performances to indicate good things to come, including junior Tim Kou’s first-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke.

The women were dominant over TCNJ, with NYU teams coming first and second in the 200-yd medley relay in a field of six. In the 1000-yd freestyle race, freshman Julien Zhu led the pack, breezing through in just 10:36.78, 20 seconds ahead of second place finisher, freshman Jaime Robinson. In the 50-yd freestyle, NYU women owned the top-three spots. 

The women’s team was busy again Sunday, playing Bucknell University at Columbia to round out their weekend. It continued its winning ways there, eeking out the win 151-149. 

Both teams hop back into the pool post-Thanksgiving at the MIT Invitational in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Dec. 2 to Dec. 4.

Cross Country

With the women’s team done for the season after last weekend’s NCAA Atlantic Region Championship, members of the men’s team participated in the DIII National Tournament in Louisville, Kentucky. They finished in 32nd as a team, with a number of strong individual efforts punctuating the
marquee tournament.

Junior Karn Setya was the leader for NYU in the men’s 8k, finished in 25:57.9. Fellow junior Neil Saddler rounded out NYU’s finishers in the top-200 at a clip of 26:06.1 and senior Jorge Maldonado was not far behind the Violet pace-setters, coming in 202nd with a time of 26:09. 

For fans of the shorter distances, track season begins Jan. 13 with the Ramapo Season Opener at the Armory. 

A version of this article appeared in the Monday, Nov. 21 print edition. Email Rachel Ruecker at [email protected].