Princeton University Athletics
William W. Roper Trophy Winners
August 01, 2000 | General
JOHN MACK:
John Mack can do it all.
He's intelligent. He wouldn't have attended Princeton if he wasn't.
He's personable. If anyone has ever heard a bad word about him, please make sure that we are talking about the same John Mack. He's willing to help people. He's hard-working.
Oh yeah, by the way, he's fast. How fast? Oh, about 10 Heptagonal titles worth.
John Mack doesn't need you to tell him that he is good at what he does. He doesn't want you to. For the sake of argument, he was a cornerstone of a track and field dynasty the likes of which the Ivy League has never before seen. He leaves Princeton having not lost a Heptagonal championship meet since his freshman year.
Take 1999, his junior season for example. As a team Princeton polished off the second of three three-peats. Mack left his mark by winning two individual events and a relay title in the outdoor championships. It is no wonder why he was selected the Most Outstanding Performer at the meet. You can throw in another individual title and a second-place relay finish during the indoor season for good measure.
He capped his rookie season by winning two Heps titles and by being awarded the Babb Trophy, given to the team's most outstanding freshman. In 1998 he won the 200 meters outdoors and missed the 400 meters by seven-tenths of a second.
This season Mack could not pull off the rare feat of winning the outdoor 200- and 400-meter titles a second time. After finishing second in the latter of the two events to the same athlete he defeated in 1999, he simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "We'll still win the team title." And they did.
That is the kind of person John Mack is. He never lets his individual honors cloud the big picture of the team honors. That is why John Mack is one of Princeton track and field's finest ever. Hope you didn't blink. Remember, he's fast.
by Matt Ciciarelli
John Mack's Career Highlights
o 2000 team captain
o 1999 Most Outstanding Performer at outdoor Heps
o 1999, 2000 outdoor Heps 4x100-meter relay champion
o 1999 outdoor Heps champion, 200 meters and 400 meters
o 1997, 1999, 2000 indoor Heps champion, 400 meters
o 1998 outdoor Heps champion, 200 meters
o ran anchor leg of 1997 indoor Heps champion and school-record-setting 4x400-meter relay
o 1997 Babb Trophy
JOSH SIMS:
Josh Sims was playing on his sport's greatest stage for the final time, and he was not going to let this opportunity slip away. Across midfield he came, ball in his stick, headed to the Virginia goal. He closed in on the left side of the cage, ball cradled in his stick on his left side. At the last moment he switched the stick to the right and slid the ball low past the goalie on the near side.
"I look at the things he can do," says Princeton freshman midfielder Brad Dumont, himself a rising star in the sport, "and I think to myself `Why am I on the same field that he is?' "
Josh Sims is going to be remembered for all kinds of accomplishments at Princeton, team and individual, athletic and academic. Most of all, though, he'll be remembered as a winner, one who may still help bring national championships to Princeton after he has left.
Sims came to Princeton in 1997 and immediately became part of a dynasty. He scored an overtime goal to beat Johns Hopkins in his first career game, and he never slowed down.
By the time his sophomore year was over, Sims had been a member of two national championship teams and had established himself as one of the best players in the game. He built an amazing resume: Princeton's second three-time first-team All-America (Scott Bacigalupo '92), three-time first-team All-Ivy, Ivy League Player of the Year, three-time Academic All-America (including first-team as a senior), two-time national midfielder of the year, school records for goals in a season (34) and career (103) by a middie, 24-0 record in Ivy games.
He may have saved his best for his senior year, though, when as one of the few older players on the team he carried the Tigers past defending champion UVa and into the NCAA championship game. It was quite an example for a team loaded with freshmen and sophomores, a group that undoubtedly learned a few things about winning from Josh Sims.
by Jerry Price
Josh Sims' Career Highlights
o 2000 team captain
o 2000 Ivy League Player of the Year
o 1998, 1999, 2000 first-team All-Ivy League
o 1998, 1999, 2000 first-team All-America
o 1998, 2000 midfielder of the year
o 1998, 1999, 2000 Academic All-Ivy League
o 2000 GTE/CoSIDA first-team Academic All-America
o 1998, 1999, 2000 GTE/CoSIDA District II Academic All-America
PETER YIK:
Don't be fooled by the baby face and the fact that he stands barely more than five feet.
He has devastating power and quickness, mixed together with the heart of a champion and the killer instinct of a lion. You watch him and you marvel, not just at what the athlete has accomplished but also because he can single-handedly make you appreciate just how wonderful his obscure sport can be to watch.
You watch Peter Yik play squash, and you know that you're watching something special.
"Since I was here as a freshman in 1973, Peter is the best squash player I've had the pleasure to watch in action on the college level," Princeton coach Bob Callahan says. "It's rare to find a player who is such a great player and so universally admired among his teammates and opponents. He's made a huge impact on our team and on a generation of Princeton squash players."
Yik brought to Princeton overwhelming success on the individual and team level. His resume includes the 1999 and 2000 individual national championships as well as the national coaches' sportsmanship trophy in 2000. He was a four-time first-team All-America and All-Ivy selection, as well as the 1999 and 2000 Ivy Player of the Year. Just for good measure, he was also an Academic All-Ivy selection.
He capped his career with a three-set romp past old-rival Marcus Cowie of Trinity in the championship match. A fellow senior, Cowie had won the national title his freshman and sophomore years before Yik took it away as a junior and kept it as a senior.
Cowie jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first game before Yik got hot, rallying to take Game 1 15-14 and then the next two games 15-1, 15-4.
"He was devastating," recalls Princeton coach Bob Callahan. "It was one of the most dominant performances I've ever seen."
Before that, Yik also brought Princeton its first outright Ivy title since 1982 when he defeated Harvard's Tim Wyant to snap a 4-4 tie.
by Jerry Price
Peter Yik's Career Highlights
o 2000 team captain
o four-time first-team All-America
o 1999, 2000 individual national champion
o four-time All-Ivy League
o 1999, 2000 Ivy League Player of the Year
o 2000 national sportsmanship award winner
o 2000 Academic All-Ivy League