Men's basketball isn't the only sport that Cornell excelled in during the winter season.

Three-time All-American wrestler Troy Nickerson won the 2009 NCAA championship at 125 pounds on March 21 with a 2-1 tie breaker win over Paul Donahoe of Edinboro. Nickerson previously placed third and second in 2007 and 2006 respectively. The wrestling team, after winning the EIWA Championship for the fifth-straight season, finished fifth at the NCAA tournament. In all, Cornell sent nine out of a possible 10 wrestlers to the national championships, with four of them -- Nickerson, Jordan Leen (third at 157 pounds), Steve Anceravage (fifth at 174 pounds) and Cam Simaz (eighth at 197 pounds) -- earning All-American honors.

In women's indoor track and field, senior Jeomi Maduka was the lone Cornell competitor at the NCAA Championships, but she propelled the Big Red to a tie for 20th place by scoring 11 points. Maduka was the runner-up in the long jump and finished sixth in the triple jump. While she was the star on the national stage, both the men's and women's teams captured the Heptagonal Championships on Feb. 28 through March 1 in Cambridge, Mass.

The men's hockey team advanced to the NCAA tournament for the 17th time in program history, earning an at-large selection to the final 16 for the first time since 2006. Cornell will face Northeastern of Hockey East on Saturday, March 28, in Grand Rapids, Mich., in the semifinals of the Midwest Regional. The Big Red finished as the runner-up in the ECAC Hockey tournament last weekend in Albany, N.Y., defeating Princeton, 4-3, in double overtime to advance to the championship game, where it fell to Yale, 5-0.

The fencing team sent four athletes to the NCAA Championships March 21-22 in State College, Pa., with the Big Red finishing in 19th place. Tasha Hall was the team's top finisher, placing 19th in épée, while Alex Heiss and Jessica Tranquada were both 20th in saber and foil, respectively. Sallie Dietrich was the fourth finisher for the Big Red, taking 24th place in épée.

In gymnastics, the Big Red took second out of seven teams at the ECAC Championships on March 21, tying the program's best-ever finish at the meet. Cornell's only other second-place finish at the championship came in 2004. Kerri Lavallee took the vault championship, scoring nearly a point higher than any other competitor. The Big Red will await individual selections to the NCAA Regionals on April 4 and will compete as a team in the USAG National Championships on April 9.

The men's and women's polo squads advanced to their national championships, which will be held from April 4-11 in Charlottesville, Va. The women's team captured the Eastern regional final with a 1-0 forfeit victory over Connecticut, while the men's team defeated the Huskies, 21-20, to claim the Eastern regional title.

Kevin Zeise is assistant director of athletics communications.