Five Tiger Seniors Share Top Athletic Honors
May 30, 2000 | Men's Track and Field
May 30, 2000
Goga Vukmirovic left her war-torn homeland to become the greatest player in the young history of her sport at Princeton. Blair Irwin's four-year career can be described in a single word: perfect.
Together they share the 2000 C. Otto Von Kienbusch Award, presented in memory of a member of the Class of 1906, goes annually to "a senior woman of high scholastic rank who has demonstrated a general proficiency in athletics and the qualities of a true sportswoman."
Three all-around athletes who spent four years showcasing their talents in very different venues share the 2000 William Winston Roper Trophy.
The three winners are John Mack, the cornerstone of a dynasty in track and field, Josh Sims, as good a player as college lacrosse has seen in the last four years, and Peter Yik, one of the greatest players in squash history, have been named as this year's winners.
The award is presented by Mrs. William Winston Roper and the Class of 1902 in honor of Princeton's famed football coach. It goes annually to "a Princeton senior of high scholastic rank and outstanding qualities of sportsmanship and general proficiency in athletics." Vukmirovic came to the United States seven years ago after a late-night escape from her hometown of Sarajevo, in the middle of the war in the Balkans. After being introduced to the sport of water polo at a prep school in Connecticut, Vukmirovic came to Princeton the same year the Tigers began a varsity program in the sport.
Since then she has led Princeton to national prominence in the sport, including an eighth-place national finish and the ECAC and Eastern championships this past season. During her four-year career, Vukmirovic, the goalie, helped her team to three national collegiate championship tournaments and the inaugural Ivy League and ECAC championships her junior year.
Vukmirovic was named first-team All-East and the College Water Polo Association Mid-Atlantic Player of the Year as a senior. She was also a first-team All -CWPA selection and a first-team All-Mid-Atlantic selection as a junior and senior.
Irwin was part of two national champions in women's squash in her four-year career at Princeton. Individually, Irwin did not lose a single match in her dual-meet career, going 44-0 overall. She was also perfect in Ivy League matches and Howe Cup matches.
Irwin, a native of Rochester, N.Y., was a four-time first-team All-America, as well as a four-time All-Ivy League selection. Princeton won the 1998 and 1999 Howe Cups as national champion and the 1998 Ivy League championship. The Tigers were runners-up nationally last year.
Both players were named Academic All-Ivy League and served as team captains as seniors. Irwin is a chemistry major, Vukmirovic majored in molecular biology with a certificate at the Woodrow Wilson School.
Mack, a psychology major from New Haven, Mich., won a total of 10 Heptagonal championships in his career and was named the Most Outstanding Performer at the 1999 outdoor meet. He helped Princeton to the indoor and outdoor championship each of his last three years.
Among his titles were the 1997, 1999 and 2000 indoor 400 meters and the 1998 and 1999 outdoor 200 meters. He won the 400 title outdoors in 1999 and was a member of four Heps relays champions.
Sims, an economics major from Edgewater, Md., is the 2000 Ivy League Player of the Year and a three-time first-team All-Ivy League selection. He has already been named first-team All-America as a sophomore and junior, and he is an overwhelming choice for the honor again when the team is announced next week.
Sims helped Princeton to the 1997 and 1998 national championships, four Ivy League championships and a perfect 24-0 Ivy League record in his four years. He was the 1998 national midfielder of the year and is a strong contender for that honor again this year. His 98 career goals are fifth all-time at Princeton and the most ever by a Tiger midfielder. Sims, who will conclude his career this weekend at the NCAA Final Four, is also a two-time Academic All-America and a three-time Academic All-Ivy League selection.
Yik, a psychology major from North Vancouver, B.C., is perhaps the greatest squash player in Princeton history. He was the 1999 and 2000 national collegiate individual champion and a four-time first-team All-America. He was named the Ivy League Player of the Year as a junior and senior and was an All-Ivy League selection all four years as well.
As a senior Yik led Princeton to its first outright Ivy League championship since 1982 by scoring the decisive point in a 5-4 win over Harvard. He also took Princeton to a No. 2 national ranking.
Another Academic All-Ivy selection, Yik also was honored with the national sportsmanship award, voted on by the squash coaches.