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Sports Spotlight

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Sports Spotlight

When Peter Carter ’69 first arrived at Harvard, he planned to join the men’s ice hockey team. A five-year starter in high school at Milton Academy, Carter expected his college experience to be defined by his time spent at the rink. But after losing the starting position to the other goalie in his year, he decided he did not want to spend his collegiate career on the bench and pivoted to an entirely different sports team: alpine ski. 

“My brothers and I started skiing pretty much as soon as we could walk decently,” Carter explained in an interview with the Independent. For him, this meant stepping into a pair of skis at age two under the supervision of his father, a member of the U.S. Ski Team in the 1930s. Carter grew up skiing year-round on Cannon Mountain, N.H., staying at his grandparents’ house in Jefferson; this house would later house the Harvard Ski team during their East Coast competitions. He began skiing competitively at age twelve, following in the footsteps of his family members. 

After switching to the ski team, Carter shifted his schedule to be on the mountain as much as possible. “I had a combined studies program of economics, government, and history with a Latin American flavor… It worked perfectly for me, because I had no requirements other than the requirements that I proposed to the different departments,” Carter said. Frontloading his classes on Mondays and Tuesdays, he trained up north the rest of the week. 

Carter’s undergraduate career was extremely successful, including a team near victory in the Eastern Championships in 1969. In his three years on the team, Harvard qualified for the NCAA every season and ranked in the top three in the country. After graduating, Carter worked with an MIT professor to develop a new system to make artificial snow. The machines they developed proved highly successful, and after selling the company, he returned to Harvard—this time not as a student, but as the head coach of the team.

Upon his return, Carter was faced with the challenge of continuing a nationally competitive program while on a minuscule budget. “While I was coaching, I think we never spent a night in a hotel, as our budget was very meager at that point… We would mooch off of friends for sleeping arrangements we didn’t have [and] we didn’t have a van or anything at that point. Fortunately, there were enough local people that we could use local cars, so that the ski team was functioning on a shoestring at that point.”

Despite budget constraints, Carter arranged international travel for the team, taking them to train in Argentina and Chile alongside international teams during the summer. Carter recalls one particularly eventful trip in September of 1973, which found the team in Santiago, Chile, during a military coup. 

“When we got to Santiago the day before our flight back home, there were major riots in response to General Augusto Pinochet and the military trying to take over the government. Naively, we walked around the city until people started getting shot. At that point, we immediately headed for and holed up in our hotel. The next day, we caught the last plane out of Chile before President Salvador Allende was assassinated with the support of the CIA,” recounted Carter. Had they failed to make that flight, the team would have likely been imprisoned in a local soccer stadium along with other foreigners. 

Beyond the stories from his coaching tenure, one of Carter’s lasting impacts on the program was to combine the men’s and women’s teams. While the men had operated at the Division I level since its founding in 1934, the women’s team was functioning more akin to a club sport. 

“When I started coaching, the women pretty much had a caretaker, not a coach. They didn’t have anybody who knew skiing,” he said. “So I joined the women’s and the men’s teams together so that they could train with us, and it really brought the level of the women’s team way up, because they had not had decent coaching and no recruiting or anything. That was one thing I was proud of, which was really bringing the women up to the level of the men’s team.”

After four years as coach, Carter decided to step down and focus full-time on pursuing his law degree; during his tenure, he was concurrently taking classes at Harvard Law School. While his time as head coach was short, his impact on the program was significant, as the coaching position title was renamed after him in 2020. “I was very surprised and shocked, and pleased. It was a real honor that I hadn’t expected at all,” shared Carter. He said that Paul Finnegan ’75—the man who donated the money for the endowment—did so as a dedication to the positive atmosphere coach Carter was able to create. 

The balance of being both serious and having fun was a defining principle of Carter’s tenure—an approach that resonated beyond collegiate athletics and offered a valuable life lesson applicable in any field. “They’re not mutually exclusive. No, in fact, I think you do better when you’re having fun,” Carter said.
Kate Oliver ’26 (koliver@college.harvard.edu) learned how to ski on an artificial mountain in the middle of Missouri.

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Sports

NCAA Volleyball Regional Schedule Set

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December 8, 2025

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The fourth-seeded Indiana volleyball team (25-7, 14-6 B1G) will play in the Sweet 16 for just the second time in program history. The NCAA announced start times and dates for next week’s regional semifinals on Sunday (Dec. 7) afternoon. The Hoosiers will play top-seeded Texas at Gregory Gymnasium on Friday (Dec. 12) afternoon at Noon ET on ESPN.

 

Following the greatest regular season in program history, IU was awarded a top-16 national seed and the chance to host the opening two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers made quick work of their first two matchups, sweeping Toledo and fifth-seeded Colorado in Bloomington to advance to the Sweet 16.

 

IU is one of five Big Ten programs remaining in the NCAA Tournament. Of the 16 schools left in the big dance, IU is one of two teams (Cal Poly) that didn’t make the big dance last year. The Hoosiers have already set a single-season program record for wins (25) and will attempt to advance to the regional final for the first time in program history.

 

The other matchup in the Austin Regional will pit second-seeded Stanford and third-seeded Wisconsin against each other. Their match will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of IU’s. The winners of both regional semifinals will meet on Sunday (Dec. 14) afternoon for a spot in the national semifinals in Kansas City.



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Louisville volleyball NCAA Tournament bracket, Texas A&M vs UofL game

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December 8, 2025

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Dec. 6, 2025Updated Dec. 7, 2025, 6:08 a.m. ET

After defeating Marquette 3-2 in the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament on Saturday night, No. 2 Louisville will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska, and take on No. 3 Texas A&M in the Sweet 16 at 7 p.m. Friday.

This will be the Cardinals’ seventh consecutive regional appearance but first with Dan Meske as head coach.

Here’s everything you need to know to keep up with the match from home:

No. 2 seed Louisville versus No. 3 seed Texas A&M will be broadcast live on ESPN or ESPN2.

Authenticated subscribers can access ESPN2 via TV-connected devices or by going to WatchESPN.com or the WatchESPN app.

Those without cable can access ESPN2 via streaming services, with Fubo offering a free trial.

Buy Louisville volleyball tickets here

After defeating Marquette, UofL will play Texas A&M in the Lincoln, Nebraska, Regional Friday at 7 pm. Here’s a look at the tournament schedule:

  • First and second rounds: Dec. 4-6
  • Regionals: Dec. 11-14
  • Semifinals: Dec. 18 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri
  • Championship: Dec. 21 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri



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The Omaha World-Herald’s Nebraska All-Class volleyball teams

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December 8, 2025

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Men’s T&F Opens Season at Diplomat Open

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December 7, 2025

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Lancaster, PA (December 6, 2025) – The DeSales University men’s track & field team opened the 2025-26 indoor T&F season competing at the Diplomat Open at Franklin & Marshall College on Friday.

The Bulldogs posted 10 MAC qualfying times/marks in the meet.

Among the qualifying times were junior Bryce Guthier taking second in the 400-meters with a time of 52.08. It is the fifth fastest time in indoor history.  Senior Davis Trump also qualified in the 5K with a time of 16:20.32.

In the field events, DSU posted eight qualfying marks. Junior Weston Simak qualified for the MAC Championships in both the long jump (6.52m) and triple jump (13.72m). His triple jump mark was the second best in team history.  First-year Luke Heimann also qualfied in the triple jump (11.86m).

Junior Jonathan Castronovo took home first place in the long jump with a mark of 6.58m, the second best long jump in team history.

First-year John Amoretti qualified in the shot put (12.33m), seniors Jonathan Eudja and Giovanni Wellington qualified in the weight throw with marks of 14.85m and 14.23m. First-year Ryan Rodriguez also quallified in the weight throw (11.89m).

The Bulldogs won’t return to action till the New Year at the Blue and Grey Invitational on Jan. 17th.

 



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Women’s Track & Field Turns in Multiple High Marks to Begin Season at Cornell

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December 7, 2025

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RESULTS

ITHACA, N.Y. –

The Ithaca College women’s track & field team opened its 2025-26 season over the weekend as the Bombers made the short trip across town to compete in the Greg Page Relays hosted by Cornell University on December 5-6.

Lola Gitlin posted a time of 10:25.57 in the 3000-meter run to finish third overall.

Rachel Larson was a fourth place finisher with a time of 8.58 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles. That time is currently No. 1 in Division III after the opening weekend of the season.

Aynisha McQuillar took fifth in the 200-meter dash in a time of 26.61 seconds. McQuillar also ran in the 60-meter dash and posted the 11th fastest time in DIII during the prelim with a performance of 7.78 seconds.

Lyla Powers was fifth in the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:21.75.

Lily Seyfert claimed fifth in the shot put with a heave of 12.78 meters, which is currently ninth in the nation.

Bree Boyle and Erin Eastwood each cleared 3.54 meters in the pole vault, which is tied for 11th on the Division III performance list.

Alexis Brown turned in a leap of 11.02 meters in the triple jump for the 17th best mark in the country.

Ithaca is off for the remainder of 2025 and will return to Cornell on January 10 for the Southern Tier Invitational.

 



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Men’s Track & Field Opens Indoor Season at Cornell Greg Page Relays

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December 7, 2025

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RESULTS

ITHACA, N.Y. –

The Ithaca College men’s track & field team opened its 2025-26 season over the weekend as the Bombers made the short trip across town to compete in the Greg Page Relays hosted by Cornell University on December 5-6.

Anik Vossschulte claimed third in the 200-meter dash in a time of 23.32 seconds, while Jacob Antilety was seventh at 23.71 seconds.

Matt Lokshin posted a time of 8.65 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles to place third in the event. Aidan Irwin took fourth in the high jump with a mark of 1.70 meters.

Quinten Lewis posted a mark of 13.73 meters in the triple jump to place fourth and Sebastien-Oliver Lacrete was sixth at 12.68 meters, while Evan Cherry secured fifth in the long jump with a leap of 6.84 meters.

IC’s 4×400-meter relay team of Damian Simmonds, Griffin Lupes, Noah McKibben and George Nilson placed sixth in 3:34.49.

Luke Ellor finished sixth in the shot put with a mark of 14.40 meters.

Three Bombers finished within the top eight in the 500-meter dash as Brad Kellogg was sixth in 1:09.73, Peter Tysiak followed in seventh with 1:10.74 and Matthew DeJulio was next at 1:11.59.

Kaiden Chandler and Luke Ferrer posted times of 4:41.29 and 4:53.44 in the mile to finish in seventh and eighth.

Raf Campanile was seventh in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.25 meters.

Ithaca is off for the remainder of 2025 and will return to Cornell on January 10 for the Southern Tier Invitational.

 



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