Squash squads squish college and professional competition
By Hilary Becker
Published on Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Co-captain Todd Wood '07, sporting a purple headband, has led the men's squash team to its early successes.
This past weekend Dartmouth played host to the 21st annual Snowflake Tournament, which saw the men's and women's squash teams compete against a variety of opponents, including players from Wesleyan, Northeastern, Smith and Hamilton. Among the 85 participants were local athletes and club members from the greater New England Area.
In what has typically been viewed as a training vehicle for the teams, Dartmouth's athletes gained match experience and attained largely successful results. Big Green men and women earned high finishes in the tournament's top brackets. The weekend has no bearing on the teams' respective records.
"The Snowflake Tournament was a great way to come back and play some individual matches. It helped everyone get back into a competitive mindset after break," women's co-captain Avery Eyre '07 said.
On the men's side, the competition was separated into four draws, descending in ability from A to D. The Dartmouth men competed in the A and B divisions, with Andrew Boumford '09, Ted Newhouse'09, and Michael Shrubb '10 comprising three of the four semi-finalists in the A bracket. On one side of the A draw Boumford defeated Shrubb in four games, and on the other Newhouse upset Canadian Bernie Reid in a dramatic fifth game tiebreak. Reid is a touring professional on the Professional Squash Association circuit, but Newhouse managed to rally after losing the first two games. He went on to win games three and four and won the match in the last game by a two-point margin.
Boumford took the final in four games.
"I felt I played well throughout the tournament," he said. "Unfortunately I had to play two fellow teammates in both the semi and finals but it just goes to show that our team is looking strong this year."
Co-captain James Crandell '07 agreed: "Given our results this weekend, I am happy with team form and optimistic about our chances for banging up our opponents this season."
Crandall said the team is ready to test itself when it hosts Yale and Trinity on Saturday -- matchups he said are "sure to be a challenge." The team is also gearing its training for "key matches" against Williams, Cornell and Amherst during the next month.
The Dartmouth women performed similarly well in both women's brackets. Ashley Malenchak '08 lost the women's A final to Shona Kerr, Weslyan's head coach and a former professional. In the B draw Helen Woolworth '10 defeated team member Danielle Fuschetti '10.
"Based on the performances this weekend, I can tell that the girls have been working hard over break," Eyre said.
The women will play the majority of their matches in the next month, Eyre said.
"Everyone has trained hard all fall and we're looking forward for the intense match play that's ahead in our season," she said, singling out Yale and Trinity as some of the toughest matches.
"They have always been two of the top squash schools. I think it's time for our hard work to pay off and take on the challenge of beating these two teams," Eyre said.
Aside from "warming up" Dartmouth's men's and women's squash squads, which finished last season nationally ranked seventh and sixth respectively, the tournament provided an opportunity for local squash enthusiasts to test themselves against a wide variety of opponents. The Snowflake's eldest competitor, Dartmouth squash's volunteer assistant Ken Cucel, 72, and its youngest, Dartmouth Squash Club's Max Reed, 10, met in the D consolation match in which, as head coach John Powers proclaimed, "age prevailed."
The Dartmouth men and women will take on perennial powerhouses Yale and Trinity this Saturday, Jan. 13 at home at 11 a.m.