Sophomore catcher Monica Montijo might be the most entertaining figure in the Harvard University sports universe.

That's no small statement.

As these pages, the athletic department and our crew-rowing blockmates constantly remind us, Harvard has the most diverse athletic program in the country. We've got 1,500 athletes spread out over 41 varsity sports. It's hard to make a superlative claim about any one athlete.

Montijo is an exception. Someday, she could be an All-Ivy catcher. But if an Ivy League All-Decibel team existed right now, she would be a unanimous selection. She'd make the team all four years. Her booming voice stands out on an already boisterous team, one that cheers just as energetically down 5-1 as it would up by the same score.

Montijo is also tough as nails. In a game against California-Berkeley earlier this year, she suffered a horrific injury at the plate when an opposing player cleated her while sliding into home. The result was an immense gash on her thigh that required 300 stitches. To most people, 300 stitches isn't a three-week absence-it's a sweater. But she was back in under a month.

Monica Montijo is an appropriate symbol of the Crimson team that left its heart on Soldiers Field this weekend but still fell just short making the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. They probably had more fun than any other team representing Harvard this year. But you'd be foolish to think that they weren't serious about what they were doing.

Like every other aspect of the spring semester here, the softball season goes by far too quickly. With only six home games on the schedule, not enough people get to go out to the park behind the park behind the stadium and see the Crimson in action. It's not just a matter of seeing a very good team play-although if you never got to see senior hurler Chelsea Thoke pitch, you lost out.

But the best part of softball games is the cheers. I can't say why the softball culture has always been more conducive to vocal, coordinated cheering for teammates out of the dugout than baseball. All I know is that we're very good at it.