Senior kicker Brian Kotz of the Harvard football team received the 1989 Gerry Nason Award for Senior Achievement, awarded by the Football Writers of New England "to the senior who has persevered against all odds to succeed in football."

Three years ago, Kotz had surgery on his right lung to remove a benign tumor. But his illness didn't stop him from returning to play football. Kotz enjoyed a strong season this year, converting on five field goal attempts and 23 of 26 extra points for 38 points. He was instrumental in the 6-5 victory over Dartmouth, tallying the winning field goal with less than one minute remaining.

"I was really pleased with the way I played this season," Kotz said. "I was very happy, particularly that we beat Yale in the last game. That made the season for me."

Although his football career has come to an end, Kotz has much to look forward to in the near future. On June 9, two days after graduation, Brian Kotz will marry his fiance, who is attending Harvard as well--a fitting cap to both a trying and triumphant college career.

"Looking back, it was an amazing experience," Kotz said.

Slip Slidin' Away: The Harvard ski team begins its preparation for the upcoming season December 15 when it starts a week of intense training at Killington, Vt. There are 24 members on the ski team, six each on the men's and women's Nordic and men's and women's downhill squads.

The competitive season begins in January and runs through the end of February. Except for one week allotted for exams, the Crimson will be competing in a two-day carnival each weekend during the season. Two runs of the Nordic race and downhill slalom are held on the first day of each carnival, followed by two runs of the Nordic relay and downhill giant slalom the next day.

The Crimson competes in Division II, which consists of 10 teams. The same 10 teams compete in each carnival, and the top men's and women's team, determined by a combined cumulative score of Nordic and downhill competition, will qualify for the Division I championships held at Middlebury on February 23-24. The top five skiers in each event will also travel to Middlebury. From there, the top skiers can earn individual entries in the NCAA championships March 7-10 at Stowe, Vt.

The Crimson was without a full- time coach last season, but has hired JohnLeserte to head the team this year. And the moodon the team is optimistic.

"It could be a really good season," CaptainGreg Kavet said. "We have some strong freshmenthis year and we've lost only one senior."

Catamount Alert: The Harvard women'sbasketball team, looking to even its record at3-3, will square off against Vermont tomorrownight at 7:30 p.m. in Briggs Cage. The Crimson iscoming off an impressive win over Hartford at theCivic Center, and the bomb squad will be lookingto light it up again on the home court.

Three-pointers have been coming in flurries forthe Crimson this season, and the backcourt ofjunior Beth Wambach and sophomore Maura Healy hasled the way. Freshman guard Erin Maher has alsocome off the bench to provide deadly long rangeshooting.

But Harvard needs to establish its inside gameif it hopes to go far this season. Senior forwardsSandy Springer and Jody Fink had strong games inthe paint against Hartford, and the Crimson willneed more of the same against Vermont. Harvardwill also look to junior forward Jen Mazanec andfreshman center Debbie Flander-meyer for instantoffense.

Vermont has lost some of its top seniors, butthe Catamounts are always tough on the boards.

"We'll play our game," senior forward SandySpringer said. "We don't usually make too manyadjustments for each different team, but we areworking on cutting down on the turnovers, slowingthe game down, and working the ball inside more.