Harvard Places Four on Academic All-America Team
Courtesy: Harvard Athletic Communications
           Release: 05/23/2008

   Four Harvard athletes earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 1 at-large recognition for their efforts in the classroom and in athletics. Caitlin Cahow of the women’s hockey team and Alexa Weingarden of the women’s fencing team were named to the women’s first team. Swimming and diving’s Geoff Rathgeber was a first team selection on the men’s side, while Brady Weissbourd of men’s volleyball earned second team honors.

   Rathgeber left his mark on the Harvard swimming and diving record books during his career. The history and literature concentrator earned All-America status for the second consecutive year after finishing sixth in the 200 individual medley at the 2008 NCAA Championships with a time of 1:45.61. He earned All-America honorable mention with an 11th place finish in the 400 IM (3:47.65).
The Kensington, Conn., native finished his career a 21-time Ivy champion, including seven Ivy titles this season. The senior was a two-time Most Outstanding Swimmer at the Ivy League Championships and received the Harold Ulen Award for most career points at the league meet.

   A social and biological anthropology concentrator, Cahow, a team captain, scored 37 points, which ranked her second among the nation’s defensemen. She also ranked second in the country with 12 power play goals and led the nation’s best scoring defense. The senior led Harvard to the No. 1 ranking, a trip to the Frozen Four and the Beanpot, Ivy League, ECAC regular-season and ECAC tournament titles in 2007-08. The Vinalhaven, Maine native was a top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Trophy, was a RBK Hockey/AHCA All-America first-team selection and was a unanimous first-team All-Ivy pick. She was named to two All-ECAC teams during her career while also earning three ECAC All-Academic selections and one Academic All-Ivy honor.

  Weingarden, a earth and planetary sciences concentrator, won 16 matches in sabre at the 2008 NCAA Championships to lead the women’s fencing team to a sixth place finish. She earned second team All-America honors for her eighth-place finish. The senior from Edina, Minn., went 14-4 during the Ivy League Championships and was named First Team All-Ivy for her efforts. She was also named to the 2008 Academic All-Ivy League team and compiled a 10-1 record at the IFA Championships. Weingarden was named to the All-Ivy League first team as a freshman in 2004-05.
 
  A junior captain and human evolutionary biology concentrator, Brady Weissbourd averaged 3.78 kills per game, 1.35 blocks per game, 0.58 digs per game, 0.24 aces per game and hit .439 for the season as the starting middle blocker. He finished the season ranked seventh in the nation in hitting percentage and tied for eighth in blocks per game. The Chicago, Ill., native was named the EIVA Hay Division Player of the week Feb. 5 and reached double digit kill totals in all but three matches. He hit over .500 in eight of team’s 16 matches and over .400 in 12 matches. Weissbourd was one of four Crimson players to appear in all 55 games played in 2008. He started every match.