The main storyline of the Men’s Super-G on Friday was whether or not American skier Bode Miller could finally shake the monkey off his back by winning the first gold medal of his career. Miller ended up taking the silver, and he was unexpectedly joined on the medal stand by fellow American and Dartmouth alum, Andrew Weibrecht ’09.

Weibrecht was the third skier out of the gate, and set the bar high for the rest of the competition with a mark of 1:30.65. Miller finally knocked Weibrecht out of the top spot, eclipsing his time by a mere 0.03 seconds. The pair of Americans were pushed lower on the podium, though, when Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway took the lead and kept it to take home the gold.

A bronze medal was more than was expected of Weibrecht going into the competition, and the 24-year-old described the experience as “incredible.” The medal was the first of these Winter Olympics for the Ivy League, but more are expected, mostly from the hockey rink, where the Ancient Eight has ties to 11 players from four countries.

Edit: As noted by our commenters, Weibrecht is still at Dartmouth “because of the flexibility of the D-plan.” Confusing! Anyway, congratulations to Weibrecht and to Dartmouth.

How the mighty have fallen. The Cornell basketball team, which was previously unbeaten, was trounced by Penn, 79-64, last night at the Palestra. This game was a David vs. Goliath matchup, as Penn entered the game with a 3-15 record (2-2 Ivy), but the Quakers took a one-point lead into halftime and never looked back. Junior Jack Eggleston (pictured) led all scorers with 24 points and sophomore Zack Rosen chipped in with 22 of his own. Big Red seniors Louis Dale and Ryan Wittman each had 16 points and senior Jeff Foote contributed a double-double in the losing effort.

The Big Red rose to No. 22 in the ESPN/USA Today rankings this week, but will likely fall out of the top 25 with the loss. Tomorrow night Penn will try to earn a weekend sweep as it takes on Columbia. There will be no rest for the weary Big Red, as they must travel to Princeton to take on the only remaining undefeated team in the Ivy League.

About fourteen months ago, Colin Cloherty was reveling in the Ivy League Championship that he and his teammates at Brown secured with a lopsided 41-10 victory over Columbia. Today, the 22-year-old tight end is looking to earn another ring, this time with the Indianapolis Colts as they compete against the New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl.

Cloherty did not get picked in the NFL draft—no surprise there—but was signed by the Colts soon after. He spent most of the season on the practice squad, but was bumped up to the active roster prior to the Colts’ Week 16 game against the Bills. Since the Colts had had their run at a perfect season the week prior, many of their starters saw limited playing time in a snowy game against the Bills. There, Cloherty played for the first time, recording one catch for two yards. He was declared inactive for the Colts’ first two playoff games, but remains on the 53-man roster for the big game tonight.

If you’re a fan of Ivy League football, you should remember Cloherty as being the quietest receiving threat—but a threat nonetheless—on that high-octane Brown offense of ’08. Though he played third fiddle to standout receivers Buddy Farnham and Bobby Sewall, he was easily the best tight end in the Ancient Eight. In his senior season, Cloherty made 40 catches for 418—both tops among league tight ends—and caught three touchdowns.

If you’re not a fan of Ivy League football, you’re probably wondering how in the hell an Ivy League football player is playing in the NFL, let alone the Super Bowl. You may be dismayed to hear it, but there are actually nine former Ivy Leaguers—Cloherty included—who are currently in the NFL, three of which already have Super Bowl rings. Zak DeOssie (Brown) and Kevin Boothe (Cornell) were members of the Giants when they won the Super Bowl XLII and Sean Morey (Brown) played for the Steelers when they beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL and currently is on the Cardinals.

Of the remaining five former Ivy Leaguers who are in the NFL, four hail from Harvard and one is from Princeton. Ryan Fitzpatrick (Bills), Matt Birk (Ravens), Desmond Bryant (Raiders), and Chris Pizzotti (Packers) represent the Crimson while Dennis Norman (Chargers) is the lone Tiger in the NFL.

Whether or not Cloherty plays tonight, he represents one of the few football success stories that have come from the Ancient Eight in recent history. In case you’re wondering, Cloherty wears #46 — keep a lookout.

Our sports analyst Matt Velazquez tells us what’s up in the NCAA, where an Ivy League team, somehow, got nationally ranked.

With unbeaten Ivy records and impressive nonconference wins, Cornell and Harvard were set for a clash of the titans this past Saturday at Newman Arena in Ithaca—or so we thought. What actually happened was an assertion of dominance from the two-time defending Ivy champion Big Red, as it drubbed the Crimson, 86-50, in front of a sell-out crowd.

All five of Cornell’s starters scored in double digits, led by center Jeff Foote who contributed 16 points and fell just one rebound shy of a double-double. Probably more impressive, though, was that the Big Red defense held the Crimson to just 50 points while forcing 25 turnovers. Harvard standout guard Jeremy Lin was the lone bright spot for the Crimson as he turned in 19 points, but outside of Lin, the Crimson shot just 25.9 percent.

In decimating Harvard—the only other team legitimately expected to challenge the Big Red for the Ivy League title—Cornell made a statement not just to the league, but the college hoops world as a whole. After beating Alabama, Davidson, St. John’s and UMass and narrowly falling to No. 1 Kansas in its nonconference schedule, Cornell had built up a strong RPI (Relative Power Index) going into its game against Harvard.

By winning in such dominant fashion the Big Red’s RPI rose to the 33rd-best in the country and effectively vaulted them to greater national recognition. In this week’s ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, the Big Red earned its first ranking in 59 years entering the poll at No. 25. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Coaches Poll, it is made up by a panel of 31 Division I coaches who decide on the top 25 teams in the country. Cornell received 53 points, edging out Mississippi (52 points) for the final ranked spot for this week.

The last Ivy League team to be ranked in a national poll was Princeton during the 1997-1998 season. That year, the Tigers finished ranked No. 8 in the AP Poll and No. 16 in USA Today/NABC Poll. Currently, the Big Red is not ranked in the AP top 25, as it sits on the outside at No. 27.

Despite the fact that the Ivy season is still very young and there remains another unbeaten team in the league (Princeton), it seems like a foregone conclusion that the Big Red will reach the NCAA Tournament for the third successive year. Through four league games, Cornell’s average margin of victory is 29.25 points. Put simply, this team is scary good.