Basketball
It was an unusual scene on March 13: a Yale-Princeton battle for the Ivy League basketball title—at Harvard’s Lavietes Pavilion. The Crimson men had lost to the host of the Ivy League tournament in their last two appearances—and missed out this March in their year to host after an injury-riddled season in which guard Noah Kirkwood ’22 filled in at forward to replace several absent big men (see harvardmag.com/kirkwood-pivot-22). The team fought hard; all six losses to the League’s top three teams came by single-digit margins. But in the end, Harvard (13-12, 5-8 Ivy), finished sixth. The women (13-13, 7-7) fared better. Thanks to strong performances by Tess Sussman ’22, McKenzie Forbes ’23, and Lola Mullaney ’24, the Crimson crushed Dartmouth by 33 points to clinch the final spot in the Ivy League Tournament. There, they lost 72-67 to eventual-champion Princeton, behind good showings from Forbes, Mullaney, and Harmoni Turner ’24. With that loss, the 40-year Harvard coaching career of Kathy Delaney-Smith concluded (see sidebar for in-depth coverage).
Hockey
In an outstanding season for women’s hockey, the team finished with a 22-10-1 record, earning its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2015 and its most wins since that year. The women also captured the Ivy League crown (its first since 2013-2014), won the regular season Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) title (first since 2008), and triumphed in the 2022 Beanpot tournament (first since 2015). They fell in the opening round of the NCAA Championship to powerhouse Minnesota Duluth. The men (21-10-3) also stood out. Behind 47 saves from goaltender Mitchell Gibson ’23 and an overtime goal from Matthew Coronato ’25, the Crimson upset number-one seed Quinnipiac in the ECAC championship game and scored a spot in the NCAA Championship. There, they lost in the first round to Minnesota State.
Squash, swimming and diving, and track
High-quality outcomes were had all around for other Crimson winter sports. Women’s squash earned its seventh straight national title, with four student-athletes earning All-American honors (first team: Hana Moataz ’22, Marina Stefanoni ’24, Amina Yousry ’22. Second team: Habiba Eldafrawy ’25); the men’s squad earned its third straight title and Victor Crouin ’22 placed first in the country.…Men’s and women’s swimming and diving both won Ivy League titles, too. School, meet, and pool records were set by Dean Farris ’22, Jared Simpson ’23, Umitcan Gures ’23, and Raphael Marcoux ’22 in the 200-meter relay, with a time of 1:24.06. Gures set the same trio of records in the 100-yard butterfly, in 44.89. For the women, Georgina Milne ’22 won the Ron Keenhold Career High Point Diver Award for cumulative points over four years, while Katie Laverty ’25 captured the Rick Gilbert Award for recording the meet’s most diving points.…Harvard women’s track finished first in the Ivy League Indoor Championships, and the men finished second. A highlight: in the women’s mile, Maia Ramden ’24, Anna Juul ’22, and Judy Pendergast ’22 finished first, second, and third.
