Men's squash is NUMBER ONE
President Evan Dobelle
T
rinity's men's squash team became the first non-Ivy League school in 32 years to w in the National Intercollegiate Squash Racquets Association (N!SRA) T eam Championships when it beat Harvard, 8-1, on February 28 in Cambridge. Trinity is the first Division III school to win this title. The team, coached by Paul Assaiante, has a season record of 17-0 and an individual-match record of 150-3. Trinity ente!ied the tournameht as the top seed, with the men having won a total of 124 games out o{ 126. In the first round of the NISRA championships, the Potter Trophy bracket, the Bantams blanked the Wilhams College Ephs, 9-0. E ight of nine Trinity players won 3-0 matches.
During regular-season play, the Trinity team drew crow ds and made h eadlines, including in early February when it ended Harvard University's 91-match home w inning streak. At the time of the match,, which Trinity won 81, Harvard had last Jost a home game in 1982, against Princeton. Squash Maga z,ine called the Trinity team "the best re-
All- American Charles Saunders
cruiting class ever to enter a college squasli program. " Jack Cavanaugh wrote in The New York Times, "Hyperbole aside, little Trinity has stolen this season's thunder from
Harvard, Yale and Princeton, w hich have dominated collegiate squash for more than six de cades." The Trinity team boasts four returning AllAmericans, including twotime defending U.S. Singles Champion Marcus Cowie from Norfolk, England, and five new players from all over the world. The All-Americans - senior Charles Saunders of Haverford, P A and juniors Cowie, Preston quick of La ewootl, CO, and Loua Coetzee of South Africa and senior tri-captains Joe Pent:land of St. Louis, MO and Ian Conway of Marion, MA returned to the squad. The newcon1ers Gaurav and Rohan Juneja of India, Rohan Bhappu of Singapore, Akhil Behl oflndia, and Lefika Ragonste of Botswanaadded strength and a global dimension to the team. In its coverage ofTrinity's
Coach Paul Assaiante
exciti g championship victory, the web site SquashTalk.com reported, "Tritaity's win is a healthy change and hopefully the beginning of a trend in squash. Trinity's team is visibly much more diverse , heterogeneous, and integrated than any of the Ivy teams. This is right in line with Trinity's vision for its vitality as a school i~ the 21st century."
Photos from Championship day are reprinted from the web site SquashTalk.com courtesy of Ron Beck.
All-American Marcus Cowie
Members ofthe 1999 championship men's squash team are, left to right: first row, J. Miller, R. Sheldon, N . Wimmer, M. Cowie, P. Quick, D . Pearson, and R. Bhappu; second row, R. Goldsmith (manager), G. Juneja, I. Conway, J. Pentland, J. Chur~hill, L. Ragontse, L. Coetzee, R. Juneja, A. Behl; and third row, Coach Paul Assaiante, 0. Buitrago, D. Burn, M . Bastien, and C. Saunders.
5