With another year of Tufts athletics in the books, the Daily would like to recognize the stars and teams who were a cut above the rest in 2006-07. With one NESCAC champion, one gold-medal winner, and even a sophomore rookie, today's award winners exemplified the best the Jumbos have to offer. Some choices weren't easy, but all were more than deserving of today's honors.
And without further ado, the best of 2006-07...
TEAM OF THE YEAR
Softball
A NESCAC Tournament trophy, a NCAA Tournament appearance, a NESCAC Coach of the Year award, a NESCAC Rookie of the Year honor, one All-NESCAC Second Team and four First Team selections. All in all, 2007 wasn't too tough on the softball team.
After dropping a doubleheader to Williams during a rocky stretch in the middle of the season, the team turned it around in time for the league tournament, ousting Williams from its throne atop the league in the semifinals, and regaining its hold on the crown with a 5-0 title-game win over Trinity - its fourth title since the tournament's inception in 2001.
With the win, the squad secured itself an automatic spot in the NCAA Tournament. The team stayed alive for five games, only to fall to the Rhode Island College Anchormen for a second-straight time, eliminating Tufts from the playoffs just a weekend shy of a trip to the World Series in Salem, Va.
The squad will graduate four seniors today, but will return a young and talented crew composed of seven freshmen.
ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
Cat Beck, junior (Women's Track)
It seems a weekly occurrence that junior Cat Beck shatters school records.
Beck kicked off the year with the best cross country campaign of her collegiate career, winning three regular season races and breaking two course records in the process. The junior continued to impress at the championship meets, leading the Jumbos with a third-place finish at NCAA New England Championships before securing 30th place in the NCAA Div. III Championships. Her finish earned her All-American honors and helped Tufts to its first-ever top-five finish.
At BU's Terrier Invitational, she shattered her school-best mark in the 5,000-meter run by 27 seconds, automatically qualifying her for indoor track Nationals. Just one week later, Beck broke her own Tufts record in the mile, running a time of 4:53.45, good for another automatic qualifier.
After winning both the mile and the 3,000-meter run at New England Div. III Championships, Beck was part of a DMR team that clocked in at 11:39.08. The mark topped the New England record and the Tufts record by nearly 20 seconds. At the same meet, Beck took second in the 3,000-meter run to break yet another school record, eclipsing the previous mark in 9:31.90 and again surpassing the New England best in the event.
The season culminated with double All-American honors for Beck, who along with the rest of the DMR squad was narrowly edged out by Wisconsin-Platteville to take second place. Beck again took the track the following day to compete in the 5,000-meter run, racing to a fifth-place finish.
Throughout the outdoor campaign, she has continued to anchor the team, winning the conference championship in the 1,500-meter run for the second-straight time and automatically qualifying for Nationals in the event at Open New England Championships, where she posted a time of 4:31.28.
Fred Jones, senior (Men's Track)
It's not every day Tufts can boast a gold-medal winner.
For his entire career in the Tufts track program, Jones has repeatedly turned heads, holding his own against some of the nation's best.
Jones capped off a stellar winter with his explosive performances at Nationals. Taking second place in both of his events with marks of 23-11 3/4 in the long jump and 48-8 1/4 in the triple jump, Jones well outperformed his fourth and ninth seeds, respectively. In addition to breaking both of his own school records and earning double All-American honors to give him nine for his career, Jones, Tufts' lone representative at Nationals, scored 16 points for the Jumbos to leave them tied for seventh overall.
Jones has been just as impressive this spring, taking the top spot in the 4x100-meter relay along with senior Mickey Ferri, junior Nate Scott and freshman Andrew Longley at the Coast Guard Invitational in addition to his individual feats in the jumping events. Jones has qualified provisionally in both the long and triple jumps for Nationals this spring, jumping a 48-1/2 in the triple jump at MIT and then going 23-4 1/2 in the long jump at NESCAC Championships. His long jump performance, good for second at the meet, in addition to a second-place finish in the 4x100-meter relay, helped Tufts to tie the Williams Ephs for the conference title, the Jumbos' first since 1991.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Carla Berube (Women's Basketball)
After the year the women's basketball team had, coach Carla Berube was an easy choice for NESCAC Coach of the year - and the Daily didn't have to deliberate much either.
In her fifth season at the helm of the organization, Berube compiled an 18-8 clip, edging her career total to 77-44. But it was the team's 8-1 regular season conference record that earned her the attention of coaches across the league.
The team recorded its first-ever playoff victory - against Middlebury on Feb. 17 - on its way to a NESCAC championship match-up with perennial powerhouse Bowdoin on Feb. 28. A pair of losses to the Polar Bears during the 2006-07 campaign had Berube and her squad on the outside looking in at the NCAA tournament teams, however.
Regardless, the former UConn Husky compiled her most successful career in the Brown and Blue. Although the team will lose four seniors, Berube will have the luxury of 10 returning players when November comes around.
ROOKIES OF THE YEAR
Casey Sullivan, freshman (Softball)
For Sullivan, there was no case of rookie jitters this spring.
After junior and reigning NESCAC Player of the Year Danielle Lopez tore her ACL in early March, the team was in desperate need of someone to fill the void at second base.
Sullivan had no trouble there. And the league took note, awarding her the NESCAC Rookie of the Year award.
Not only did she complement junior shortstop Heather Kleinberger up the middle, but she also took up much of Lopez's slack in the lineup. Settling into the number three hole for the team's championship run, the rookie made her presence known throughout the league, batting .399, amassing a .431 OBP and slugging .655, in addition to leading the Jumbos with nine homers and 43 runs batted in.
On a team that boasted seven first-years, Sullivan made an early impression on coach Cheryl Milligan, pounding out four hits in her first day of collegiate action - an indication of what was to come in 2007.
Jon Pierce, sophomore (Men's Basketball)
Playing his first season of college basketball in 2006-07 after transferring to Tufts from Drew University, Pierce immediately made his presence known in his first year on campus. He dominated in his collegiate debut on Nov. 17, dropping a game-high 26 points on visiting Lasell, and he went on to become the Jumbos' leading scorer in 2006-07, averaging 16.5 points per game to lead a Tufts team that led the NESCAC in scoring.
Highlights of Pierce's season included his first double-double, a 20-point, 12-rebound effort against Western New England; his 22-point performance against Keene State, which included a buzzer-beating three to force double overtime; and the Jumbos' 102-85 win in a crucial NESCAC showdown with Trinity, where Pierce paced the Tufts squad with 26 points.
Despite his absence from the starting lineup, the sophomore was awarded the NESCAC Rookie of the Year award. He came off the bench in 24 games this year, and looks to break into the starting five next winter with the departure of former tri-captain forward Brian Kumf, who graduates today.
