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Volume CXXXII, Number 11 |
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Squash led by youth
LUKE WILSON
STAFF WRITER
At the beginning of the season, Men's and Women's squash coach Tomas Forston was not sure what was in store for the future of the women's program. Having lost many of the veteran players with last year's graduating class, Fortson was relying on the strong base of returning varsity players as well as new additions to carry the team.
"What we had before was nine players that had played together for four years," said Fortson. "That team won the cup twice, and placed second twice. When we graduated those seniors, we had to start all over again."
This year, the addition of first-year Niki Clement, the number-ten ranked junior in the country last year, has added a lightning bolt to the team line-up that will carry the team through to the finals. Clement has already shown her prowess in intercollegiate squash by remaining undefeated thus far in the number one slot, handily dispatching the ranked Dartmouth's top player in their match earlier this season.
But veteran talent still rules the court and will prove decisive for the team as the season continues. Wins from senior captains Whitney Hodgkins and Lindy Stanley and a strong performance from fellow seniors Rachel Rones and Merrill Muckerman will be essential to success this year.
Juniors Eileen Schneider and Melissa Miness, and first-years Molly Dorkey and Margaret Fuller, will need to provide big wins against strong opponents in the heart of the line-up. With two juniors abroad this year, the team needs to compensate for the loss of depth and carry not only the one through four positions, but also the five through nine spots.
This season the team has already proved that it can contend in the upper echelon of its division. Having defeated Franklin and Marshall 9-0 and Tufts 8-1, two important wins, the team dropped a tough, but hard-fought match to a Dartmouth team ranked number five in the division according to preseason rankings.
But that loss was soon forgotten, and the women plowed past Colby, vanquishing the Mules 9-0. In that match, Schneider, Miness and Rones stretched their matches to five games, handily defeating their opponents in the end.
The Bowdoin Women's Squash Team has always been one of the top programs in the nation and a perennial powerhouse with past champions in their division. But success in squash is transient, as Fortson concedes, and success one year does not guarantee success in the next year.
The team has a history of division championships and wins over NESCAC and other schools. With a big match coming up against a strong Wellesley team and a tough rematch against Colby in February, the Polar Bears will have to fight to regain the coveted Howe Cup.
But the strength and depth of the team, coupled with the spirit and effort of the individual players, will make this quest for victory all the more satisfying when it is fulfilled.
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