Happy Graduation

Since I'm now officially a junior, assuming I don't fail too many of my classes, I'd like to bid a fond farewell to the DPOSTM alumni who helped make this year a little less hellish.

Thanks first go out to Zachary Levine and Josh Hirsch, both of whom were the first to train myself, Krista Hutz and Sebastien Angel in the ways of the DP. Without them the 123rd DP board would be a shambles. And I think their headcuts managed to pop up on this blog a few times over the past couple years.

Thanks also go out to our other seniors -- Matt Conrad, who I succeeded at the DP; Jeff Greenwald, who put in two terms as an editor; Matt Meltzer, a four-year staffer; and Sarah Lem, our resident senior walk-on. Also props to Fred David, our top sports photographer, who doubtless covered more Penn games than anyone over the last four years.

One final thanks to Evan Goldin, who put untold hours into making this blog actually look like a blog.

So on behalf of The Buzz, thanks for a great year. And thanks to our readers for keeping up; be sure to check back with The Buzz over the summer -- unlike our opinion-oriented counterpart, we don't slack off when school's not in session.

Two not-so-quick notes before I depart:

The women's tennis team was bounced from the NCAA Tournament by Wake Forest. That was no surprise. What was shocking was that the Ivy League rookie and player of the year and Penn's No. 1, Ekaterina Kosminskaya, didn't play.

For the athlete who probably had the biggest impact on any Penn program this year, her absence is more than a little bit strange -- especially after all the trouble it took to get her here.

Edit, 2 pm: Penn coach Mike Dowd told me this afternoon that Kosminskaya had to go home to Russia for "personal, family reasons" that coincided with the Tournament. But she will play in the individuals in Athens, Georgia, where her and doubles partner Maria Anismova -- another freshman -- will be the first Penn women's doubles team ever to compete. End update

Lastly, congratulations are in order for the women's lacrosse team, which took care of business against Boston University on Sunday. A typical Penn performance, holding the Terriers to their second-lowest point total of the year and getting goals from seven different players. Next up: No. 5 Maryland on Saturday -- this time on turf, not grass.