The Essentials

If you buy this cute plush bear and toss it out on the ice at the Cornell men’s hockey game Nov. 28 at Madison Square Garden, the bear will be autographed by team members and then donated to Cops, Kids & Toys.

In addition, money raised from the purchase of this exclusive bear will be donated to the Franziska Racker Center and The Finger Lakes Cancer Resource Center in Ithaca.

The Fourth Annual Teddy Bear Toss is sponsored and coordinated by the Cornell men’s ice hockey team. It’s how the red-hot team – with help from its fans – can make a Big Red difference. The bear is $5.99 and is available online.

- Susan S. Lang

The Cornell men’s and women’s basketball teams were honored Nov. 14 with the unveiling of their Ivy League championship banners, won during the 2007-08 season. For a few minutes before the start of the men’s season opener, last year’s magical run was relived as a rambunctious crowd at Newman Arena waved red and white towels while the banners were uncovered.

Last year’s historic season ended with the men and women playing in their respective NCAA tournaments – the first double championship for any Ivy League school. It was the women’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament and the first for the men since 1988.

The game tipped off just after the ceremony, and the Big Red’s season got off to a fine start, as they beat the University of South Dakota Coyotes, 79-69.

The Cornell men’s and women’s cross country teams, fresh off their season-opening dual-meet wins over Army, are both ranked fifth in the Northeast Region by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

The Big Red men trail only Iona, Providence, Syracuse and Dartmouth. The women’s team is the top ranked Ivy League team in the region, with only Providence, Boston College, Stony Brook and Syracuse ahead of the Big Red. The Northeast Region includes six of the eight Ivy League schools (Penn and Princeton belong to the Mid-Atlantic Region).

The Cornell women return to action on Saturday, Sept. 19, competing at the Iona Meet of Champions at Van Cortlandt Park. The men’s team is off until Oct. 3, when it will run at the Paul Short Invitational, hosted by Lehigh.

The field hockey program opens play at its new facility, Marsha Dodson Field, with a dedication ceremony Sept. 20 at 11:45 a.m. followed by a game against Penn at noon and Georgetown Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. Construction of Marsha Dodson Field began in early July on alumni fields behind Bartels Hall. AstroTurf, a permanent scoreboard, portable bleachers and a portable scorer’s table were installed. “We are thrilled with our new field,” said head coach Donna Hornibrook. “Having an opportunity to play on a dedicated field hockey surface of this caliber is a dream come true for us, and will not only benefit our athletes’ quality of life, but will also have a major impact on our ability to attract top student-athletes and schedule quality home contests.”

On the 20th anniversary of her Olympic experience, Cornell volleyball head coach Deitre Collins-Parker was filled with emotion watching the United States compete in Beijing. Collins-Parker served as starting middle blocker for the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team in Seoul, South Korea, and was an alternate for the 1992 team in Barcelona, Spain.

“Watching the Olympics this year brought back so many memories,” Collins-Parker said. “I watched the opening ceremonies and remembered my own experience lining up in a field outside the stadium, getting ready to enter with my country. For me, that is when it really hit home that I was at the Olympics. I still get chills and can feel the excitement.”

Collins-Parker played in more than 130 international matches and earned bronze medals at the 1986 Goodwill Games and the 1987 Pan-Am Games. Several players who competed in the 2008 Olympics were members of the U.S. Junior National Team that she coached to gold, silver and bronze medals at the national qualifier in 1998, 2000 and 2001.

A pair of Cornell alumni – Bruce Arena ‘73 and Dave Sarachan ‘76 – are teaming up to lead the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer. Arena has been named the new general manager and head coach, while Sarachan will be associate head coach of the MLS’s flagship program, led by English midfielder David Beckham and American forward Landon Donovan.

“I am very excited to assume this position with the Los Angeles Galaxy,” said Arena. “My ultimate goal is to win championships and build a club that all of our fans will be proud of.”

Last November Arena resigned as head coach of the New York Red Bulls, which he had directed since the middle of the 2006 season. Last November Arena had served as manager of the U.S. National Team for eight seasons, becoming the all-time winningest coach in program history and guiding the U.S. on its historic run to the quarterfinals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan/South Korea.

Sarachan, who begins his third coaching stint alongside Arena, served as head coach of the Cornell men’s soccer program from 1989 to 1997, compiling a 64-63-16 mark and leading Cornell to NCAA tournament berths in 1995 and 1996.

Jeomi Maduka ‘09 advanced to the women’s long jump finals at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field trials in Oregon. She jumped 20 feet, 10 inches to earn the 12th and final spot. Maduka, a two-sport athlete who hails from Arlington, Texas, is a four-time All-American, earning the distinction twice in outdoor track, once in indoor track and once in women’s basketball. She is also the 2007-08 Ivy League Women’s Basketball Player of the Year and the 2005-06 Ivy League Women’s Basketball Rookie of the Year.

When legendary NBA coach Pat Riley coined the phrase “three-peat,” he was referring to his 1989 LA Lakers team as it attempted to win its third consecutive NBA championship. Nearly 20 years later, the Big Red men’s lightweight crew brought home its own three-peat at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championships Regatta, held June 5-7.

The IRA championships are the collegiate national championship of rowing. Despite being the oldest collegiate rowing championship in the United States, lightweight crews did not participate until 1990. Since then, no team has won three straight titles until the Big Red, which walked away with the crown in 2006 and 2007, made history by besting Navy.

Former Cornell baseball players will gather during Reunion Weekend for the 13th annual Cornell Baseball Alumni Game, which serves as a fundraiser for the baseball program and is one of the most popular alumni weekend events.

The first pitch will be thrown by Cornell University President Emeritus Dale Corson. During Corson’s tenure (1969-77), the Cornell baseball team won its fifth league title in 1977, finishing that season with 29 wins – still the most in a season in school history.

The game will be played June 7 at 11:30 a.m. at Hoy Field. All former players and reunion year classmates are invited to suit up for the game. Information.

For most golfers, it’s a dream to play in the U.S. Open. Cornell sophomore Robert Cronheim’s dream is one step closer to reality: He has advanced to the Sectional Qualifying Tournament, to be held June 2. Cronheim, a native of Watchung, N.J., shot a 73 in the local qualifying tournament, good enough to place him in the field of 550 who will advance to the sectional qualifying round. He will vie for one of 156 spots in the 2008 U.S. Open, to be held June 12-15 in San Diego.