Columbia Lions
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| Institution |
Columbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia's main campus lies in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City...
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| Colors |
Columbia Blue Columbia blue is a light blue tertiary color. The typical Columbia blue is defined by Pantone as Columbia Blue 3 .- Usage, symbolism, colloquial expressions :Fraternities and Sororities...
and White |
| Founded |
1754 |
| Location |
Morningside Heights, New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
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| Conference |
Ivy League The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The term is most commonly used to refer to those eight schools considered as a group...
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| Mascot |
Roaree the Lion |
| Fight Song |
Roar, Lion, RoarRoar, Lion, Roar is the fight song for the Columbia Lions. It was originally titled "Bold Buccaneers" and written with different lyrics for the 1923 Varsity Show Half Moon Inn by Columbia undergraduates Corey Ford and Roy Webb.-Lyrics: ...
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The
Columbia University Lions are the collective athletic teams and their members from
Columbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia's main campus lies in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City...
, an
Ivy LeagueThe Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The term is most commonly used to refer to those eight schools considered as a group...
institution in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The current director of athletics is M. Dianne Murphy.
Ivy League athletics
The eight-institution athletic league to which Columbia University belongs, the
Ivy LeagueThe Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The term is most commonly used to refer to those eight schools considered as a group...
, also includes
Brown UniversityBrown University is a private university located in Providence, Rhode Island, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III...
,
Cornell UniversityCornell University is a private university located in Ithaca, New York, USA, that is a member of the Ivy League.Cornell counts more than 255,000 living alumni, 28 Rhodes Scholars and 41 Nobel laureates affiliated with the university as faculty or students...
,
Dartmouth CollegeDartmouth College is a private, coeducational university located in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA. Incorporated as "Trustees of Dartmouth College," it is a member of the Ivy League and one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution...
,
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
,
University of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private research university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and is one of several institutions that claims to have been the first university in America...
,
Princeton UniversityPrinceton University a private university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League and is considered one of the Colonial Colleges....
, and
Yale UniversityYale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Yale has produced many notable alumni, including five...
. The Ivy League conference sponsors championships in 33 men's and women's sports and averages 35 varsity teams at each of its eight universities. The League provides intercollegiate athletic opportunities for more men and women than any other conference in the United States. All eight Ivy schools are listed in the top 20 NCAA
Division IDivision I is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States....
schools in number of sports offered for both men and women.
The Lions
Columbia University was founded in 1754 and currently fields 29 co-ed, men’s, and women’s teams. Women's teams are cooperatively organized with the university's
Barnard CollegeBarnard College is a women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1902...
. All Columbia teams compete at the
Division IDivision I is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States....
level in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The school's
footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
team competes at the NCAA Division I FCS level.
It is believed that the school adopted the nickname "Lions" as a reference to the institution's royal past. The University was originally named King's College since its charter in 1754 by King George II of
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The lion is the animal depicted on the English coat of arms. Only after the American Revolution was King's finally renamed
Columbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia's main campus lies in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City...
.
History
Intercollegiate sports at Columbia date to the foundation of the baseball team in 1867. Men's association football (i.e. soccer) followed in 1870, and men's crew in 1873. Men's
CrewRowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
was one of Columbia's best early sports, and in 1878 the Columbia College Boat Club was the first non-English school to win a race at the
Henley Royal RegattaHenley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held every year on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. The Royal Regatta is sometimes referred to as Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage...
. The third ever men's intercollegiate soccer match was played between Columbia and
Rutgers UniversityRutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in the state of New Jersey. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766 and is the eighth-oldest college in the United States...
, with Rutgers winning 6 to 3. Columbia joined the
American footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
movement soon after Harvard and Yale played their first game in 1875—in 1876, Columbia, Harvard, and Princeton University formed the Intercollegiate Football Association. In addition, the Lions'
wrestlingCollegiate wrestling is the style of amateur wrestling practiced at the college and university level in the United States. Collegiate wrestling is sometimes known as folkstyle wrestling because by and large, it is the style that emerged out of the folk wrestling styles practiced in the early...
team is the nation's oldest.
The Columbia football team won the Rose Bowl in 1934, upsetting
Stanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university located in Stanford, California, United States...
7-0. Columbia also hosted the first televised sporting event: on May 17, 1939, the fledgling NBC network filmed the
baseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The goal is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot square, or diamond...
double-header of the Light Blue versus the Princeton University Tigers at Columbia's Baker Field at the northernmost point in Manhattan.
Men’s teams
Baseball,
Basketball,
Cross Country,
Golf,
Gymnastics,
Hockey,
Lacrosse,
Heavyweight Rowing,
Lightweight Rowing,
Rugby,
Skiing,
Soccer,
Swimming and Diving,
Tennis,
Track and Field,
Football and
Wrestling.
Women’s teams (Columbia-Barnard)
Archery,
Women's Basketball,
Cross Country,
Fencing,
Field Hockey,
Women's Golf,
Lacrosse,
Women's Rowing,
Women's Soccer,
Softball,
Women's Swimming and Diving,
Women's Tennis,
Track and Field, and
Volleyball,
Achievements
Columbia University hosts one of the oldest and most storied traditions of athletics in the United States.
Football
Columbia was one of the first schools to take up the game; Columbia's 1870 contest with
RutgersRutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in the state of New Jersey. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766 and is the eighth-oldest college in the United States...
was the second intercollegiate football game ever played.
The Lions compete in the
Ivy LeagueThe Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The term is most commonly used to refer to those eight schools considered as a group...
, which is part of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-AA.)
The football program unfortunately is best known for its record of futility set during the 1980s: between 1983 and 1988, the team lost 44 games in a row, which is still the record for the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. The streak was broken on October 8, 1988, with a 16-13 victory over archrival
PrincetonThe Princeton Tigers are the athletic teams of the Princeton University. The school sponsors 31 varsity sports. The school has won one NCAA national championships in men's fencing, six in men's lacrosse, three in women's lacrosse, and eight in men's golf....
. That was the Lions' first victory at Wien Stadium (which was already four years old, having been opened during the streak.) Even before the streak, the Lions had long been regarded as one of the worst football teams in the country (although the program has achieved respectability in recent years.)
The program was much more successful in the first half of the 20th century, and was at times a national power. The 1915 squad went undefeated and untied. The 1933 edition of the Lions won an unofficial national championship by upsetting the top-ranked
Stanford IndiansThe Stanford Cardinal is the nickname of the athletic teams at Stanford University.-Nickname and mascot history:Following its win over Cal in the first-ever Big Game in 1892, the color cardinal was picked as the primary color of Stanford's athletic teams...
7-0 in the
Rose BowlThe Rose Bowl can refer to:* Rose Bowl , a stadium in Pasadena, California* Rose Bowl Game, an annual American college football bowl game* Rose Bowl Aquatics Center, a training facility located adjacent to Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California...
on New Years Day 1934.
Lou LittleLou "Luigi Piccolo" Little was an American football coach.- Coaching career:...
, who coached the team from 1930 to 1956, is in the
College Football Hall of FameThe College Football Hall of Fame, located in South Bend, Indiana, USA, is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. It is situated in the renovated downtown district, near convention centers and not far from the campus of Notre Dame...
.
Pro Football Hall of FameThe Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, United States, on September 7 1963 with 17 charter inductees...
r
Sid LuckmanSidney Luckman, known as Sid Luckman, was an American football quarterback for the Chicago Bears from 1939 to 1950. During his 12 seasons with the Bears he led them to four NFL championships. Luckman was the first modern T-formation quarterback and is considered the greatest long range...
played his college ball at Columbia, graduating in 1938. Luckman is also in the
College Football Hall of FameThe College Football Hall of Fame, located in South Bend, Indiana, USA, is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. It is situated in the renovated downtown district, near convention centers and not far from the campus of Notre Dame...
. Other Lions to have success in the NFL include offensive lineman
George StarkeGeorge Lawrence Starke is a former American football offensive lineman who played for the Washington Redskins in the National Football League....
, the
Washington RedskinsThe Washington Redskins are a professional American football team based in the Washington, D.C. area. The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, which is in Prince George's County, Maryland. The team's headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn, Virginia, a community...
' "
Head HogThe Hogs was the nickname for the offensive line of the Washington Redskins of the National Football League during the 1980s and early 1990s. Renowned for their ability to control the line of scrimmage, the Hogs helped the Redskins win three Super Bowl championships under head coach Joe...
," during the 1970s and 1980s, quarterback
John WitkowskiJohn Joseph Witkowski was an American football player. John Witkowski was the winner of the 1982 Asa A. Bushnell Cup for leadership, competitive spirit, contribution to the team, and accomplishments on the field, Witkowski holds 12 Columbia Lions passing records, six total offense marks, and five...
in the 1980s, and defensive lineman
Marcellus WileyMarcellus Vernon Wiley, is a retired American football defensive end who played 10 seasons in the National Football League for four different teams. He was selected with the 22nd pick of the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft out of Columbia University by the Buffalo Bills...
in the 1990s. Perhaps the most famous personality associated with Lions football was a running back who had limited success on the field: the writer
Jack KerouacJack Kerouac was an American author, poet and painter. Alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, he is considered a pioneer of the Beat Generation....
left school and went on the road after one injury-marred season at Columbia. Another Lions back who became legendary for his accomplishments off the gridiron was baseball great
Lou GehrigHenry Louis "Lou" Gehrig was an American baseball player in the 1920s and 1930s, chiefly remembered for his prowess as a hitter, his consecutive games-played record and its subsequent longevity, and the pathos of his farewell from baseball at age 36, when he was stricken with a fatal disease...
, who was a two-sport star at Columbia.
The current head coach,
Norries WilsonNorries Wilson is the 18th head coach of the Columbia University football team, and the first African-American head football coach in the Ivy League....
, is the first African-American head coach in the history of Ivy League football. He has served as the Lion's head coach since 2005.
Baseball
The great
Lou GehrigHenry Louis "Lou" Gehrig was an American baseball player in the 1920s and 1930s, chiefly remembered for his prowess as a hitter, his consecutive games-played record and its subsequent longevity, and the pathos of his farewell from baseball at age 36, when he was stricken with a fatal disease...
played college ball at Columbia before being signed by the Yankees in 1923, after his sophomore season. In 1939, the Lions hosted the first sporting event ever
televisedTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
live in the United States: a doubleheader against the
Princeton TigersThe Princeton Tigers are the athletic teams of the Princeton University. The school sponsors 31 varsity sports. The school has won one NCAA national championships in men's fencing, six in men's lacrosse, three in women's lacrosse, and eight in men's golf....
, broadcast live from Baker Field.
Lions who have made it to the
Major LeaguesMajor League Baseball is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. Specifically, Major League Baseball refers to the organization that operates the National League and the American League, by means of a joint organizational structure that has developed gradually between...
include
Gene LarkinEugene Thomas Larkin is a former switch-hitting first baseman, designated hitter and right fielder in Major League Baseball who played his entire seven-season career with the Minnesota Twins. During his playing career he wore #9 for Minnesota, and was a member of both the 1987 and 1991 World...
and
Fernando PerezFernando Perez is an outfielder for the Tampa Bay Rays. He is a switch hitter who throws right-handed.-Early life:Perez eventually moved with his family to West Windsor Township, New Jersey, where he attended elementary and middle school and played little league...
.
Men's basketball
Columbia was one of the first schools to take up basketball. The Lions' rivalry with
the Yale BulldogsYale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Yale has produced many notable alumni, including five...
is the longest continuous rivalry in NCAA college basketball (tied with the Yale-Princeton rivalry): the two teams have played each other for 108 seasons in a row, going back to the 1901-1902 season. The Lions were the unofficial national collegiate champions in 1904, 1905, and 1910, based on the Helms Foundation rankings. The 1903-1904 and 1904-1905 teams went undefeated.
During the years just before the Ivy League formally became a sports conference, the Lions made it to "March Madness" on two occasions. In 1948, they were one of eight teams in the tournament, losing in the East regional semifinal to the eventual champion Kentucky. The 1951 team went undefeated in the regular season and were one of the 16 teams invited to the championship. The Lions lost 79-71 to eventual semi-finalist
IllinoisThe Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Big Ten Conference. Home games are played at Assembly Hall, located on University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's campus in Champaign....
for a final record of 21-1 (best record in the nation that year with win-loss percentage of .956) The 1951 team is, however, sadly best known for the tragic story of its brilliant but troubled star forward
Jack MolinasJacob "Jack" L. Molinas was an American professional basketball player and one of the key figures in the point shaving scandal that almost destroyed NCAA basketball. Molinas attended Stuyvesant High School and graduated from Columbia University in 1953...
, who eventually ended up in prison for crimes related his longtime involvement with gambling and who was murdered in 1992 in what appeared to be an organized-crime related assassination. Molinas still holds several school scoring records.
In 1957
Chet ForteFulvio Chester "Chet" Forte, Jr. was an American television director and sports radio talk show host.-Early life:...
was a consensus All-American and UPI player of the year for NCAA Division I; he averaged 28.9 points (fifth in the nation.) He is even more famous for his later work as a producer for ABC Sports, especially on the program
Monday Night FootballMonday Night Football is a live television broadcast of the National Football League. Originally airing on the ABC network from to , Monday Night Football was the second longest running prime time show on American broadcast network television and one of the highest-rated, particularly among male...
. The 1957 team had 2,016 rebounds, fourth highest in NCAA Division I history, even though they played only 24 games.
The Lions have only won the official
Ivy LeagueThe Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The term is most commonly used to refer to those eight schools considered as a group...
championship once, in 1968, when they reached the "Sweet Sixteen" in the NCAA national tournament. Two members of the 1968 team went on to play professional basketball:
Jim McMillianJames M. "Jim" McMillian is a former pro basketball player. After starring at Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn, McMillian played college basketball at Columbia University. He led Columbia to a three-year mark of 63-14, and their last NCAA Tournament appearance in 1968, his sophomore year...
and
Dave NewmarkDave Newmark is an American former professional basketball player. A 7'0" center from Columbia University, he played in the NBA from 1968 to 1970 as a member of the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks. He then spent the 1970-71 season in the ABA as a member of the Carolina Cougars...
. (NFL great
George StarkeGeorge Lawrence Starke is a former American football offensive lineman who played for the Washington Redskins in the National Football League....
was also a member of the Lions' basketball team in that era.)
Jack RohanJohn Patrick "Jack" Rohan was an American college basketball player and coach. The Bellerose, New York native was men's head basketball coach at Columbia University between 1962 and 1974, and returned in 1991 to coach until 1995. He is the most successful coach in Columbia basketball history...
was voted Coach of the Year in 1968.
The Lions had a powerful squad in the late 1970s, even though they never won the Ivy League championship or made it to post-season play. In 1979, the diminutive
point guardPoint guard , also called the one or "the ball-handler", is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position -- essentially, they are expected to run the team's offense by controlling the ball and making sure that it...
Alton ByrdJoseph Alton Byrd is an American basketball player. He grew up in the San Francisco area, where he was a high school basketball star. He continued to be a basketball star at Columbia University, where he was one of the best point guards in the country in spite of his small stature...
won the
Frances Pomeroy Naismith AwardThe Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award is a college basketball award in the United States intended to honor shorter-than-average players who become stars in the game. The award, named in honor of James Naismith's daughter-in-law, was established for men in 1969 and for women in 1984...
, given to the best player under 6 feet in height. Byrd never made it to the NBA, but he moved on to a legendary career in European pro basketball.
Women's basketball
Until the 1980s, the women's basketball team (like the other women's teams) was known as the Barnard Bears, playing under the aegis of Columbia's affiliated undergraduate women's college,
Barnard CollegeBarnard College is a women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1902...
. (Women enrolled in the university's other schools were eligible to play for Barnard, and today Barnard women are eligible to play for the Columbia Lions.)
The women's basketball team did not join the Ivy League until 1986-1987. The Lions have been a perennial cellar dweller, reaching their low point in 1994-1995, when they went 0-26. They have never finished higher than 4th in the league standings. The Lions' 13-15 season in 2008-2009 was the best of the past 23 years.
Men's and women's soccer
Columbia's soccer program traces its origins to the same Columbia-Rutgers game that the
gridiron footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
program counts as its first contest. (The 1870 Columbia-Rutgers game was played by a set of rules which combined elements of present-day soccer and rugby.) The Lions soccer team has a long history of success, spanning three centuries, highlighted by national collegiate championships in 1909 and 1910 (Intercollegiate Soccer Football League), and a second-place finish in the 1983 NCAA championship. Dieter Ficken was named
NSCAAThe National Soccer Coaches Association of America is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. the NSCAA has grown from a handful of college soccer coaches to more than 22,000 members, making it the largest coaching organization in the world. Its members coach at all levels of...
Coach of the Year in 1983 after the Lions' 1-0 double-overtime finals loss to seven-time champion
Indiana UniversityIndiana University, founded in 1820 as the Indiana State Seminary and renamed the Indiana College in 1846, is a nine-campus university system in the state of Indiana...
. 18 Lions players have been first-team all-Americans, and
Amr AlyAmr Aly is a retired American soccer forward. He attended Columbia University where he won the 1984 Hermann Trophy as the college player of the year....
earned the 1984
Hermann TrophyThe Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top male and female college soccer players.In 1967, Robert Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League and the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the NPSL's successor, the North...
national player of the year award.
The women's team was the 2006 Ivy League champions.
Women's cross-country
- Caroline Bierbaum won the 2005 women's cross country Honda Sports Award (most outstanding NCAA women's cross country athlete of the year) and was NCAA Division I runner-up with a time of 19:46.0
- Top-25 national finishes from 2000 through 2005
- Five straight Heptagonal Ivy League Championships: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005
Fencing
- Coed NCAA champions: 1992 and 1993
- Coed NCAA runners-up: 1990 and 1991
- 7 coed individual national championships
- 6 coed weapon team national championships
- 16 top-6 coed national finishes in 17 years, 1990-2006
- Men's NCAA champions: 1951, 1952, 1954 (tied), 1955, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1971 (tied), 1987, 1988, and 1989
- Men's NCAA runners-up: 1956, 1957, 1958, 1970, and 1986
- 21 men's individual national champions
- Women's NCAA runner-up: 1989
- 2 women's individual national champions
Men's rowing
- In 2008, the men's heavyweight crew had a regular season record of 10-1 and finished sixth in the nation at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship being the only Ivy League school in the Grand Final
- In 2003 the men's lightweight crew team finished second in the nation by just two seconds
- Won the Varsity 8s at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association regatta at Poughkeepsie in 1895, 1914, 1927, and 1929
- Won Varsity 4s at the 1879 Rowing Association of American Colleges regatta at Lake George
- In 1878 the Columbia College Boat Club won the Visitor's Challenge Cup at the famed Henley Royal Regatta in the first-ever defeat for an English crew rowing in English waters (1st Race, defeated University College, Oxford; final, defeated Hertford College, Oxford)
- Won Varsity 6s at the 1874 Rowing Association of American Colleges regatta at Lake Saratoga
Men's swimming and diving
- Head Coach: Jim Bolster
- 8 individual NCAA Division I championships
Women's swimming and diving
- 4 individual NCAA Division I championships
- Cristina Teuscher
Cristina Teuscher is a former freestyle and medley swimmer from the United States, who was a member of the Women's Relay Team that won the gold medal in the 4x200m Freestyle a the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Her winning teammates were Jenny Thompson, Trina Jackson, and Sheila Taormina...
, 1999-2000 Honda-Broderick CupThe Honda-Broderick Cup is a sports award for college-level female athletes. The awards are voted on by a national panel of more than 1000 collegiate athletic directors. It was first presented by the late Thomas Broderick, owner of a sports apparel company, in 1977, with the first award going to...
winner (NCAA Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year)
Men's tennis
- Ivy League Champions 2009
- Ivy League Champions 2007
- NCAA Division I tournament appearances, 1984, 1987, 1998, 2000
- Robert LeRoy, two-time NCAA singles champion, 1904 and 1906
- Oliver Campbell and A.E. Wright, NCAA doubles champions, 1889
- Oliver Campbell and V.G. Hall, NCAA doubles champions, 1888
Men's track and field
- 3 outdoor track and field individual NCAA Division I championships
- Once sported the world's fastest man, Benjamin Washington Johnson
Ben Johnson or Benjamin Johnson may refer to:* Ben Johnson , Canadian sprinter* Benjamin Johnson , English actor* Benjamin Johnson , United States federal judge...
, the Columbia Comet. The sprintingSprints are short running races in athletics.-The start:Starting blocks are used for all sprint and relay events. The starting blocks consist of two adjustable footplates attached to a rigid frame. Races commence with the firing of the starter's gun. The starting commands are "On your marks" and...
champion's most incredible achievement was at the 1938 Millrose GamesThe Millrose Games is an annual indoor athletics meet held on the first Friday in February in New York City's Madison Square Garden since 1914. The games were started when employees of the Wanamaker's department store formed the Millrose Track Club to hold a meet...
, in front of more than 17,000 fans at Madison Square GardenMadison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, has been the name of four arenas in New York City. It is also the name of the entity which owns the arena and several of the professional sports franchises which play there. There have been four incarnations of...
. His winning time in the 60 yard dash was 5.9 seconds, breaking the world record of 6.2 seconds for the third time in the same day. His final time of 5.9 seconds was rounded up to 6.0 seconds, because the referees claimed it must have been a timing error, arguing that no human being could ever break 6 seconds in the 60 yard dash.
Notable athletes
The Lions have produced such notable athletes as:
- Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig was an American baseball player in the 1920s and 1930s, chiefly remembered for his prowess as a hitter, his consecutive games-played record and its subsequent longevity, and the pathos of his farewell from baseball at age 36, when he was stricken with a fatal disease...
- Baseball
- Eddie Collins
Edward Trowbridge Collins, Sr. , nicknamed "Cocky", was an American second baseman, manager and executive in Major League Baseball who played from to for the Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago White Sox....
- Baseball
- Gene Larkin
Eugene Thomas Larkin is a former switch-hitting first baseman, designated hitter and right fielder in Major League Baseball who played his entire seven-season career with the Minnesota Twins. During his playing career he wore #9 for Minnesota, and was a member of both the 1987 and 1991 World...
- Baseball
- Chris Gomez
Christopher Cory Gomez is a retired Major League Baseball infielder . He bats and throws right-handed.-College career:...
- Baseball
- Chet Forte
Fulvio Chester "Chet" Forte, Jr. was an American television director and sports radio talk show host.-Early life:...
- Basketball
- Jim McMillian
James M. "Jim" McMillian is a former pro basketball player. After starring at Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn, McMillian played college basketball at Columbia University. He led Columbia to a three-year mark of 63-14, and their last NCAA Tournament appearance in 1968, his sophomore year...
- Basketball
- Caroline Bierbaum - Cross Country
- Sid Luckman
Sidney Luckman, known as Sid Luckman, was an American football quarterback for the Chicago Bears from 1939 to 1950. During his 12 seasons with the Bears he led them to four NFL championships. Luckman was the first modern T-formation quarterback and is considered the greatest long range...
- Football
- Paul Governali
Paul Vincent "Pitchin' Paul" Governali was a professional American football quarterback in the National Football League. An All-American at Columbia University, he was the 1942 recipient of the Maxwell Award for College Player of the Year and the first runner-up for the Heisman Trophy...
- Football
- Marcellus Wiley
Marcellus Vernon Wiley, is a retired American football defensive end who played 10 seasons in the National Football League for four different teams. He was selected with the 22nd pick of the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft out of Columbia University by the Buffalo Bills...
- Football
- Amr Aly
Amr Aly is a retired American soccer forward. He attended Columbia University where he won the 1984 Hermann Trophy as the college player of the year....
- Soccer
- Christina Teuscher - Swimming and Diving
- Erison Hurtault - Track and Field
- Lindsey Stephenson - Track and Field
- Erinn Smart - Fencing
External links