Club Sports Athletes from Women's Hockey, Cricket Recognized

While club sports may arguably not receive the same amount of attention which their varsity counterparts attain, the athletes involved in these competitions deliver a similar amount of work and effort.

The dedication of two of Harvard’s club athletes were recognized by the Harvard University Athletics Department as senior Bridget Nestor and classmate Ibrahim Khan were honored as the 2014 Female and Male Club Sports Athlete of the Year out of more than 1,900 athletes throughout 65 sports.

Nestor, who is a captain and goalkeeper of the club women’s hockey team, led the Crimson in just its third year of play. As the one of the founders of the club, Nestor was in charge of organizing team trips, games, practices as well as team activities.

Nestor also shone in front of the net, leading Harvard to the semifinals of the Independent Women’s Club Hockey League Championship where they would fall to eventual undefeated champions Salem State. The senior also commanded the team to other displays such as holding then-No.2 and league runner-up Westfield State to a solitary goal in a 6-1 victory despite Westfield averaging six goals a contest coming into the match.

On the male side, Khan earned his award for the impressive work he has done with the cricket club team. As a captain of the Crimson, Khan scored over 400 runs from the lead-off spot, setting a single season record in the American College Cricket league, while ranking second in amount of wickets taken in the conference.

In addition to being named Club Sports Athlete of the Year, Khan was named the ACC Player of the Year as well as the ACC Player of the Tournament.

Khan is one of the founders of the Cricket club, and in addition to being invaluable to his team on the field, he helped organize the squad off the field by leading the efforts in fundraising, organizing team trips, as well as starting the club by finding both faculty advisors and sponsors for the team such as sports bar Hit Wicket.