Columbia University announced on March 11 that several of its athletic teams, including softball, baseball, golf, men’s tennis, and lacrosse, will compete in a series of away games and tournaments from March 13 to March 17.
The upcoming competitions are significant as they mark key moments in each team’s season. The events provide opportunities for the Lions to build momentum and test their skills against strong opponents across the country.
The softball team is set to participate in the Maverick Invitational in Arlington, Texas, facing South Dakota State and UT Arlington over three days. The Lions recently improved their record with three consecutive wins at the MUSB Invitational II hosted by Mercer. Eleni Katsivalis was named Ivy League Player of the Week after achieving a .643 batting average during the tournament and setting a program record with five hits in a single game. Following the invitational, Columbia will play Manhattan College in Riverdale, New York.
Columbia’s baseball team recently secured a win against No. 23 West Virginia but lost two subsequent games to close out the series. The team will finish its season-opening road stretch with games against USF in Tampa and UCF in Orlando before starting Ivy League play against Harvard at home later this month.
The women’s golf team will compete at the Valspar Augusta Invitational hosted by Augusta University. Earlier this month, Columbia won the More Than Golf Invitational led by first-year Emily Zeng, who finished as tournament medalist with a score of one under par. Kristina Xu was runner-up at even par.
Men’s tennis travels to Arizona for matches against Grand Canyon University (scrimmage) and No. 17 Arizona. The Lions have won four straight matches and hold a 9-4 overall record this season. Michael Zheng recently earned his 116th career singles victory while Nicolas Kotzen reached his 89th career win.
The lacrosse team heads to California to face San Diego State after posting a strong non-conference record so far this year. Cecelia Messner leads Columbia with 18 goals and is close to joining the program’s “100 goal club.” Men’s golf will compete at the ECU Intercollegiate in Greenville, North Carolina, where senior George Rubelsky leads the squad with a stroke average of 73.11 for the season.
For more information on schedules and live coverage links for all events, fans are encouraged to visit GoColumbiaLions.com or follow @GoColumbiaLions on social media.